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White orchids and orchid babies

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I have three Orchids. Two are the more common variety and one is a little different – but I can’t remember what it’s called! The one that is slightly less common produces white flowers that look like this:

White Orchids 15

This is actually my oldest Orchid. It hasn’t bloomed for a while – like maybe three years. It was too busy producing baby plants!

Orchid air roots and baby

It has two or three baby Orchid plants growing on it. All are high above the main plant and have well developed air roots.

I’ll cut them off in the near future and plant them and hope that they continue to grow. Odd looking air roots though aren’t they?

The second white Orchid is brand new. I just bought it in early January and it was in bloom when I bought it and it’s STILL blooming! That’s almost two months worth of blooms!

White Orchids 11

I’m so happy that so many of my “indoor” plants are blooming this year. We’ve had flowers all year round between the plants in the garden and my seemingly every blooming indoor plants. It certainly helps keep the winter blues at bay!






Some shots of my Amaryllis in bloom

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Since I was telling you how I rescued my three Amaryllis from the basement in my last post I figured that it might be worthwhile posting some photos of the Amaryllis that I grow. I have no idea what kind I have, all I know is that I have two types. Two that I purchased as bulbs and grew on my own and one that I inherited from my parents. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of my parents Amaryllis in bloom. If it blooms this year I must take a photo of it.

Here’s a close up of one of my Amaryllis blooms:
amaryllis

And for those that don’t grow Amaryllis, here’s a shot taken from a distance, just to show you how large the blooms are!

amaryllis

You can see one of my orchids blooming behind the Amaryllis just to the right. Orchid blooms are about two inches in diameter or perhaps a little smaller … so you can imagine just how big those Amaryllis blooms are!

Excuse the tacky curtains in the background! These pictures were taken in 2004 and those were the kitchen curtains that came with the house. They’ve since been replaced with cream white curtains.

The Amaryllis plants are starting to green up. You might remember that I said in my last post that when we brought them up from the basement they had new leaves on them, but that they were a pale green. Now that they’ve had a couple days of sunlight they are becoming greener. In a week or so I’ll start giving them a very weak dose of fertilizer and hope for blooms in two or three months.

A new Orchid

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My husband I were shopping yesterday and we ended up in Walmart. We didn’t know before going to the closest store that it was closing down. Apparently a new Superstore Walmart will be opening a few blocks up the street from the current store on Wednesday.

Anyway, we got some great deals since they were marking down a number of products that they didn’t want to have to move.

As we went to the cash to pay for our items I noticed an area that had a number of potted flowering bulbs. They were all daffodils and they were flowering already so I didn’t feel that they were worth buying. Then, in the corner of that display I noticed a lone Orchid. I decided to check out the price and I was told it was only $5 so I got it. What a great deal!

The orchid was flowering, and has 6 flowers right now. The blooms are a delicate light mauvey pink. It’s a Phalaenopsis. The Phalaenopsis seems to be the most commonly sold Orchid and in general they are fairly easy to care for.

I already have two Phalaenopsis, and one other type of Orchid. Unfortunately I can’t remember what the name of the other Orchid is, but it has spiky leaves that are somewhat like thick grass.

My only concern with this Orchid is that it doesn’t have any leaves. I looked at it’s roots and it has a well developed root system and the roots look healthy. I’m hoping with some care that the Orchid will begin to grow leaves again and do well. At least it wasn’t too expensive.

One of my other Phalaenopsis is a baby of another one and it’s doing great. I’ve noticed that it’s leaves have really grown quite a bit in the last month. I’m hoping that the baby will bloom this year. It’s about two years old.

If you are thinking about getting an Orchid start with Phalaenopsis. They are the easiest to care for. Basic care instructions are:

Temperature – This species of Orchid does well at room temperatures between 60 F to 85 F. They do not tolerate cool temperatures at all.

Lighting- Partial sun, avoid direct sunlight. Place near an east facing window if possible.

Watering- Orchids like to have slightly moist substrate but they don’t like being wet, and they don’t like drying out. Watering about once a week should be sufficient.

Feeding- Orchids don’t need to be fertilized often. When I do fertilize I use one that is high in nitrogen but I weaken the strength of the mix by half. Do not fertilize any more than once a month.

Care – after the Orchid has flowered, you can cut the flower spike down to two inches.

Blooming- Phalaenopsis bloom at least once year, but sometimes bloom two to three times. I’ve found that each flower lasts two or more weeks, and the flowers don’t come out all at once. You can often get a month and a half to two months of blooms at a time.

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