Absolutely gutted!! - Orchid Board

Kevstar · #1 10-03-2018, 05:01 PM

I got home from work today and done my daily orchid rounds and discovered my 2 lovely children have cut 4 leaves off of one of my phals!!!!

I'm absolutely gutted!!!

They are only children but seriously.. Why??!!!

It was so beautiful!!!!

Anyway, I had to share as no one else will feel my pain!!!

Ray · #2 10-03-2018, 05:21 PM

Ouch!

How old are the kids?

Sounds like a "teaching moment" to me, possibly accompanied by some "loud, one-way conversation".

If it makes you feel any better, I have done at least that much damage just dropping a plant, and they will recover...eventually.

Kevstar · #3 10-03-2018, 05:32 PM

One is 4 and one is 6 both boys.. They were apparently making a potion in the garden and needed leaves.

Its quite late here so only the older one was awake so I'll have to wait till morning to have my "chat" with them.

They are a mischievous pair but this is a new one for them!!

Well I will nurse it back to health and use it as a learning experience I guess.

I hope I can find another similar one.

SillyKeiki · #4 10-03-2018, 05:42 PM

EleanorChang · #5 10-03-2018, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevstar

.. They were apparently making a potion in the garden and needed leaves.

Ohhh noooo! I feel your pain. Why oh why pick on your phal - aren't there no leaves in your garden? Isn't it a bit early for potion making? Halloween isn't till the end of the month.

kingd · #6 10-03-2018, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EleanorChang

Ohhh noooo! I feel your pain. Why oh why pick on your phal - aren't there no leaves in your garden? Isn't it a bit early for potion making? Halloween isn't till the end of the month.

Moms special and magical plant is most likely the reason.

EleanorChang · #7 10-03-2018, 06:42 PM

With your own children, you can have some stern words with them. BUT if they were your friends kids and they decided to pick the flowers off your precious phal because they were pretty, you cannot do anything but hide away in a corner with your orchid, heart broken for a while...well that's what I did.

Leafmite · #8 10-03-2018, 08:01 PM

We had a friend whose child ate a Phal--they called us to ask us if it was poisonous.

I had three children. They were always knocking the orchids off the porch, shelves, etc., even as teenagers. I lost quite a few orchids, including my favorite NoID Dendrobium (22 flowers per spike, was in bloom more than ten months a year--I'd had it for ten years before they got it). Now, I have the little Maltese-Poodle dog that does her best to get them.

Dollythehun · #9 10-03-2018, 08:29 PM

Last year my cat betrayed me in a similar manner. Now just look at this sweet face...

Leafmite · #10 10-04-2018, 06:53 PM

Fortunately, dogs do not jump like cats do so I have been keeping the orchids out of reach...except for the few that I put outside for the summer.

The frustration with orchids is that they grow so slowly that when a child or pet damages them, the damage is visible for a long time. With my other plants, it is just a pruning and might actually even improve the aesthetics of the plant. Interestingly enough, a couple of people at my orchid society could not believe I would choose my little furry pal over the orchids...I wonder what they would have said about the children.... :0