OK I'm so excited to see this section finally has arrived!!! I was going to post in the photo thread that has been started but I will clog it fast with all my photos so I thought I would start my own.
I bought my first orchid years ago and promptly killed it by what I assume to be overwatering. It took a couple years to want to try again. I bought another and it did fine! The third did well while flowering then that one died too, not from overwatering, I think it was because I didn't re-pot as soon as I got it. Yes contrary to what others do I re-pot right away, unless there is a major reason for me not to (ie I just got a new phal that I want to do real well and i worry going from a nice warm wet greenhouse to my dry winter home will do it harm enough. Once the blooms fade I will re-pot it.) With this re-potting I can see how healthy the roots are, how strong the plant is, and mostly put it in the mix I'm most comfortable using.
Over a couple years I bought a few more orchids. Mostly NoID phals. I then got a Brassidium that caused me to go nuts! I'm not sure what happened. he bloomed very well for me, then hasn't since then. So I started coming here more regularly to see if I could get him to bloom again! It's driving me nuts! I divided a shoot off him which is doing well, but the original plant isn't looking great. The new growth is great, but the old is just sitting there, not looking well at all but also not dying. I may cut all the new growth off him and start over, but again I want to allow him as much sun and chlorophyll as possible.
Since coming here I've been learning all kinds of stuff about how to better care for my orchids. I switched from regular glazed pots to the ones with holes in them to allow more air to circulate around the roots and medium.
I now have phal, Brsm, paph, encyc, dend, catt, and psychopsis.
For all these plants I have only killed the 1st and 3rd phal and more recently last year I had a oncidium which I rarely watered and still managed to die. He seemed happy at the store but as soon as he came home he started looking real sick. I don't think he was healthy to begin with. When i watered him it just seemed to speed up his demise.
I started growing on my kitchen window above the sink. It's an east window with morning sun in the summer only for an hour since we have huge overhangs. Once I started getting more I put them on a bookcase by the dining room window which faces south. It had a tree in it which blocked most of the sun, but that is gone now so I have since put up a sheer, and will close it in a month or so depending on how strong the sun gets and when. After the bookcase got over crowded my husband got me a metal storage shelving unit. It's a nice black and yes it looks like a utility shelving unit, it does the job well! The plants love it. I bought cheap deep cookie sheets that hold fish tank gravel and about 24ozs of water. This time of year I have to fill them three times a week. In the summer I will most likely allow them to go dry so they don't build up too much mold.
For medium I use better gro orchid mix, which is bark, charcoal and perlite and I mix it with spag moss to keep it slightly moist. I water heavily once a week letting the water run through until it gets heavy, then I let it drain for a few minutes, then I run a mixture of fert through. I use better gro bloom booster mixed with a tiny bit of seaweed and vodka on occasion. I prefer the bloom booster for this reason- when I use one that's got a higher N (nitrogen) number it seems to promote leaf growth but slows the bloom growth. The same thing happens with my outside plants. I will rarely also use bat guano. I use fert weakly weekly. Meaning I use it 1/4 strength every time I water. I reason this because in nature you basically get the same nutrients all the time. You don't suddenly get a huge pile of goodies once every six weeks. Maybe that's just me?! I also have recently started using rain/snow water for watering some, mixed with tap, but straight for spritzing to keep the build-up on the leaves down.
Here is my attempt at melting snow since there is no rain right now.
OK now on to my plants!
This little girl is what got me into expanding my collection more. It is a NoID dendrobium hybrid wich was the second orchid to grace my south window and got me into wanting to try other kinds.
Here is the brassidium that frustrated me and had a hand in introducing me to OB!
Here is my first paph, his tag just said phap laser, not sure if it's a straigh laser or if it's a hybrid of them?? I had him close to my bathroom window which gets a bit of sun, but he really grows much better in the south window.
I'm not sure how many photos I can have in one post so I'll add more in other posts...
---------- Post added at 10:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 AM ----------
Here is the first orchid I got to live! ha ha! It's a NoID white phal. He is getting huge! He is in spike right now for the third time for me! I was so happy to get an orchid to re-bloom that I went right out and bough another. Which sadly died.
After he died I decided to give myself another chance and try again soon.
He is now on his second re-blooming (well he's in bud) for me!!
Here is what the kitchen window looked like a few months ago. The bsdm on the left was moved to the south window in the hopes more light will help him bloom.
Here is the little phal I got last winter that is also in bud right now for the first time for me! Here's what he looked like when I got him. Sadly his spike is single and did not branch like this again.
Here is the first orchid I mail ordered. I got it from Ray here on OB. I hope he gets more orchids soon as I'd like to buy another from him! It was reasonably priced, shipped fast and had a flower and two buds which wasn't stated on the site! Such a wonderful surprise!
He's on the little bookcase that was in the window, it's now to the side of the shelving unit and only gets dappled sun for an hour each morning.
---------- Post added at 10:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 AM ----------
OK the site seems to be putting my posts into one. I'll keep doing it as different posts in case they are too photo heavy.
Here is the shelving unit when I first got it, before I loaded it with orchids:
Here it is as my trying different arranging on it as I get more orchids.
the humidity trays
more shots:
My newest phals one is a blushing pink too cute to resist, the other is a deep purple which I can't get to photograph well. Both were very cheap NoIDs that I hope do well. I worry the darker one won't since I bought that at a big box store, the couple that died on me were all bought at various big boxes, although I have had a couple do well too.
This blue bird catt was hiding at my favorite garden center where I buy most of my orchids. They have been getting mostly NoIDs so I was so happy to see him. No clue what he looks like, so I asked if they discount since it wasn't in bloom and won't be for months yet, and they gave him to me for half off!! Well I'm glad they did as he was so severely root bound with not much potting mix at all! Part of him was breaking off, so I cut it off and put it in another pot. Well as of right now the larger section has two new pbulb growths and the cutting has one! yeah!!!
And these two may be the last few I get for a while. I won't be working any more in a couple months so funds will be very tight. I bought a few orchids over the last couple months knowing this was coming and I wouldn't be getting any more aside from gifts.
The first is an encyclia cochleata, there is a sheath that hasn't done anything yet, I'm really hoping for a spike soon!!!
and the second is a phal schillerianna, my new baby! This is the only one I've gotten in the last couple years that I didn't re-pot right away. She seemed a bit weak, her leaves are still wobbly. But she's gaining strength and is now in bloom! Once the blooms fade I'll re-pot her as she's in moss right now and I think staying a bit too wet for my liking. I LOVE her foliage too!! So cute!! I can't wait for her to get huge and bloom all over for me!!
I'm sure I'll be posting a lot more in this thread and in others in this section!!
My windowsill gardens
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