Orchids

Mama B

I have a new love. Orchids! I am by no means an expert on them, as a matter of fact, this is a love that has grown on me over the past 2 years, and it wasn't by design on my part.

Our son, Devon, gave me my first orchid two years ago for Mother's day. Then our other two sons and their partners in love, each brought me an orchid for Mother's day last year, unbeknownst to each other. They didn't know that I had one from the previous year, either.

I could never see the attraction of these plants before I owned one. I didn't think they were particularily pretty. Now, however, I love them - they are amazing!

At first, after the flowers died off, I thought that the life of the plant was over. I did do some reading up on them and I bought some orchid food and added it to the watering regime, but I was sure that I was doing too little too late. I wasn't really sure what to expect. The one that Devon gave me didn't bloom last year, but the leaves stayed fairly healthy and green, and they added a splash of colour to the window area where I had put it, as did the other two. 

I didn't think that they would bloom again and kind of neglected them. Periodically I would take them to the kitchen sink and stick them under the running water and let them fill up and let them drain until no more water ran out the bottom holes, then I put them back into their ceramic pots and stuck them back by the window. Who knew that is what orchids need to thrive - I certainly didn't! One day, I noticed that two of the plants had thin, new stems growing up next to the dried up old ones. The other orchid didn't get new stems, but they did get this weird looking growth on them. At one point as I remembered to water them, I figured out that these odd looking shoots were actually roots for another orchid, and I thought that maybe I should cut them off and plant them in their own pots. By the time I figured that out, it was too late as new buds were forming and I thought it best to leave them be for now. I got the most pleasant surprise as each orchid burst into bloom and filled my window with beauty. 

The blossoms have fallen off the first one that bloomed, but there appears to be new buds where the old flowers had been. I am wondering now, if there will be new blossoms or if these will turn out to be new roots forming. I still know next to nothing about these amazing plants. I don't even know how to tell what kind of orchid I have. None of the three I have even look the same! 

What I have learned is that orchids don't need soil to grow in.
They are quite happy in a mulch type growing medium. They don't need to be watered very often - they actually survive off the moisture in the air- a couple of ice cubes tossed in their pot every couple of weeks and they are more than happy!. That is the extent of my orchid knowability. I am anxious to see what happens next with them. I have some questions about what I should do to keep them going. For instance, on my white orchid, after the blossoms are done, should I snip the base of the new growth off the older stem and put them in their own growing medium in new pots or would that kill them? See? My knowability about orchids needs to be expanded!! I really don't want to kill it off by doing something, that shouldn't be done!! 

​For now, though, I am just going to enjoy the beauty of my new love.