Blooming Orchids
I rescued two orchids from the plant store the other day. Finally got a chance to repot them after doing a bit of research on how to keep them best happy.
Orchid care is a lot more trendy now that a deeper understanding of plant genetics allows for the production of cheap clones. These are phalaenopsis orchids, a fairly common breed of orchids. This family of orchids are epiphytes so they cannot be potted in soil, it would suffocate their roots. In the wild these orchids grow on the sides of trees but hey aren’t parasitic - this relationship can be described as one of mutualism. The blooms from these orchids can last 60-120 days.
In addition to the orchid potting mix I’ve a 20-20-20 plant fertilizer that I’ll use at half strength to give them a little boost as well.
I got two plants, one of them looked like it needed some TLC.
They seem pretty happy in my window and I am happy to finally have something free growing inside the house as well.
I've been timid to grow orchids because they look so fragile.
That’s a real fear, I took a chance on the dropping one and it’s blooms have died. I cut back the spike and I’m hoping that it will rebloom since it looks healthy still. What’s nice about orchids now is that they’re not nearly as expensive to produce so you can work on becoming an orchid doc w/o breaking the bank !