Don’t Kill Your Orchids

This is literally the only orchid in my collection living in a standard orchid pot, and it hates it.

I'm really just keeping track of actually keeping orchids alive in th these posts. I'm noting when i got them so i can see how long they live ( gulp ) and when they bloom. It started before Valentine's Day, but i think i bought a dozen that day.

i found the CUTEST humidifier. it was so cute that i had to channel my friend Kerry to even manage to purchase the adorableness - usually this would be too ridiculous to even look at. But look at it! The pokemon humidifier is even more stupid looking in real life that i expected from the box and i LOVE it. By the way, you'll need a humidifier for your orchid room. Homes get dry at night with all that recycled air.

This identification stuff is way, way more complicated than i expected it to be. it seems more complicated than mushrooms, maybe because they are all hybrids. But i need a book. Honestly i probably need about twelve books. I want to know their specific species and stuff. Kinda want a room for each species but let's not get (overly) carried away. Yet. But look at it!

Orchids don't need you. They don't need soil. They're don't need pots. They want a little water and fertilizer sometimes, but only when they want it. They will tell you when they want it. You have to listen to your orchid. Otherwise you'll over care from them. They don't want it and will die. This is what orchids DO like: - LOTS of dappled sun or dappled light from LEDs, about 12 hours a day - HIGH humidity, over 60%. Get a humidifier or a plastic greenhouse if you have a super dry house - To dry out ENTIRELY between waterings. - To be in the same room with you but basically ignored. This is starting to sound like an astrological sign... Happy leaves look like this, glossy and dark: Happy roots look like this - half dry and light green, half damp and bright green: and happy flowers look like this:

DO NOT OVERWATER ORCHIDS ONCE A WEEK MAY BE TO MUCH They are epiphytes and live high up in rainforest trees. They want a good soaking and then to DRY OUT. the orchid above had blooms falling off, yellowing leaves, and was soaking wet in its nursery pot before i rehabbed it. - yellowing leaves means to much water - shriveled leaves means not enough sun or humidity - buds falling off means not enough sun You can definitely use them as decoration in a dark place, but they will need rehabbing The one above originally looked like this: And that is after I let the yellow leaves and sad blooms fall off. So i put it in a pot with drainage (not my style, but ok little baby), in the bright sun, and sprayed it with three squirts of water every three days. That's it. That's was just for rehabbing. one week later, we were here: when orchids are healthy, wait to ...

Cattleya "Kagaribi Dawn Red Star Cattleyas are the most stunning and Dr. Seuss looking of all the orchid species, in my humble opinion, and I now want all of them. I want to give them homes and keep them happy and sunny and I should really just move to South America at this point. They come in every color of the rainbow, and have the largest blooms of any orchids. I can't stand walking away from them for sale. Cattleya "Spring fires Lenette" And I won this one at the Blue Ridge Orchid society raffle: Catlleya "Fuchs orange nugget" After I had already bought a similar one: Cattleya "Netrasiri" So yeah. They're really cool. They don't bloom as long as the ones at the grocery store do, but they're bigger wierdos.

Orchid roots in a sealed terrarium   I pot my orchids in glass, so they are all already terrariums. Some of the orchids are fully inside a glass pot like this one: These ones I still have to water all the time. But sometimes if the orchid is sealed nice and tightly up against the top like so: Then you never have to water them, because the terrarium is sealed. I didn't mean to do it, but those are some HAPPY plants, so I may spend the rest of the day sealing all of my terrariums. To seal them, just pack rocks around them until the roots are floating above water in the bottom, but are always moist. I haven't watered this thing since I planted it.