Bull in a China Shop

[cowboy51278]

Well I was a total blundering idiot today. I did some cleaning and straightening up of my grow room as I watered. Somehow I managed to snap the spikes off two plants. The first was "THE FIRST" orchid I ever purchased. A box store phal from sprawl mart. It was a rescue mission. I bought it with no roots and a spike loaded up with flowers. This little guy just kept putting out flowers and no roots. I eventually got smart and cut the spike off so it would put its energy into growing roots instead of blooms. Well It hasnt spiked since (probably 5 years or so)........and I went and broke it off. It has two bracts below the break so it'll probably get some blooms on it eventually but how annoying

The second was Lycaste lassioglossa. I was trying to sneak my Phrag lindenii (who is spiking) back into its place on the shelf without damaging the buds and I popped a bud right off the Lycaste. Luckily it has 3 more on it so it wasn't a total loss.

At any rate I can tell Im growing as a grower. Several years ago I would have been really upset and Im sure dropped some very descriptive words. I would have been afraid I'd never get them to bloom again and allow myself to become frustrated. Today I just muttered 'You Idiot!' under my breath. Perhaps its knowing that I will get it to bloom again and its not the end of the world.

So to all you new growers out there, don't give up or get frustrated. Things won't seem to take forever...forever. If you know what I mean. And the things that seem so huge now will be minor annoyances in the future. We all snap a few spikes, drop a few pots and all the really fantastic growers out there....yeah....they kill orchids too. The only difference between you and them is they've killed a few more. What makes them fantastic growers is that they have learned from they're mistakes.

I guess this long winded post was to put a few words of encouragement out there and make something good come from a few broken spikes.

[stonedragonfarms]

Paul:
Hopefully you'll see flowers more often now that you are in the gh...I know the "instant culture upgrade" that I went through when I switched from under lights to under glass pushed me try new things and make lots of mistakes along the way...this will be my 3rd winter in my new digs, and I'm finally starting to get the hang of things...
Good growing, and good luck with your bullishness,
Adam

[cowboy51278]

the greenhouse structure is up, but not finished. still under lights til spring unfortunatley. my partner was laid off so my 'fun money' went away for a while.