Ok My grandmother recieved an orchid plant last year.
It was really pretty, bloomed a long long time.
She had gotten ill
and her orchiid was simply placed in the laundry roon out side of the home with anoter plant or two to deter then from getting frosty out in the open.
She has passed away, now we have pulled the orchid out of it hiding place,
on the stalks where the flowers were there are now 2 plantlets with large grey colored roots about 3 inches long and another piece emerging from it with no leaves apparrant.
What do I do with theis plant, I have absolutely no clue how to care for it
Do I romove the plantlets and give them each their own pot?
What kind of soil is to be used?
Do I simply put the plantlets down into the existing soil where them mother plant is growing?
Do I leave them attached to the mothe plant bloom stalk?
My Grandfather would like to keep them alive but he's more clueless to even the questions to ask.
Please Help, I am guessing this is not as difficult as I am making it out to be, but I di tend to get a bit panicky at times...LOL
No Clue about Orchids...LOL
Buffy, so sorry about your grandmother, and nice that you want to keep her plant alive. Is there any way you could post a picture of the plant? Different orchids need different care, soil, light and water so it's best to see if we can identify what type it is before advising you.
It's encouraging that the plant has survived so far, and is making babies with roots!
I know right it had not been watered in quite some time...I guess there is a certain amount of water in the air in the laundry room. I don't have a blooming pic, but I will get a pic of what it looks like now tomorrow when I go to see my Grandfather :O)
That will be great. With orchids, often too little water is better for them than too much. So don't go crazy pouring water on it, just a quick rinse or spray is good.
I apologize I didn't get to get over to take a pic today we were at our towns local Music Teacher's Irish Fling rehersal today and it last wayyyyyy longer than I had ever anticipated...LOL...
Looks like it was fun!
I got the pics I am having trouble getting them off the vid.Cam. I have been looking around at some things arout the net and it looks like a phalenopsis, which would be most probable since that's all I see when looking at the big box stores, and I know it had to come from one of the local ones...Probably Walmart:O)
Still need to see a pic to advise you on potting it etc.
Assuming it is a Phal, it will do fine near a window that does not get any direct sun. IF it's been in the cool and dark out in the laundry room, it might decide to put on a flower spike when you move it to a new spot in the house. A temp. change from cool to warm often makes them bloom. Once it starts making buds you don't want to move it again, so be sure it's somewhere it can stay and not be in the way. Also somewhere your grandfather will see it, so he will enjoy it and also spritz it with water/fertilizer fairly often.
Get a little package of soluble fertilizer labeled specifically for orchids, and a quart size spray bottle. (be sure to rinse it thoroughly if you re-use something like a cleaner bottle). Mix a very weak solution of the fertilizer in the bottle = about 1/4 the strength they recommend on the package. Maybe stick a label on it for your grandfather, to give the plant a light spritz once or twice a day (depending on how warm and dry his house is) and leave the bottle near the plant. It doesn't need to be really watered (i.e. pour water through the pot) more than once a week or so - less if the weather's warm and humid - if it's getting misted with the weak fert solution fairly often.
Orchids like to dry out between waterings, and they need their roots to "breathe" so you'll need to stick your finger in the pot under the plant to see if you can figure out what kind of potting medium it's in. Many Phals from the big box stores have soggy moss in the pots, and this is usually a death sentence for the plants. Since this one of your grandmother's was let to dry out thoroughly, it might have survived because the moss was let dry! If it does have moss, it's probably necessary to re-pot, but let's see the picture first.
In another month or so, you can move the plant outside, to a nice shady spot if you can find one. But if it's making flower buds, it's best not to re-locate it until it finishes blooming.
I was workin on it.....LOL
There are several things on the third pic, coming out like arms, there is one coming out of the flowering stalk with no leaves attached as well
I was a little curious about those?:O)
Good on the ID, it is a Phalaenopsis. First pic shows me that it is potted in sphagnum moss. This is absolutely not the best potting medium for Phals. When it comes time to re-pot it, go to Home Depot or Lowe's and get a bag of "Phalaenopsis Mix" which is a mix of small bark pieces, perlite and charcoal. No soil whatsoever. I know this seems so wrong, but that's what these orchids like.
Second pic, the big fat shiny grey protuberances are good new roots. You'll notice if you spray them with water they will turn green which means they're absorbing the water. Those are very likely what has kept this plant alive all this time. It's fine for them to be out there waving in the breeze, again sort of counter-intuitive to what a 'normal' plant likes (roots buried in the ground). Orchids are designed to gather water and nutrients from the air. That being said, where they live naturally, there's a LOT of water and nutrients in the air, so when we grow them in our homes we have to supplement. Hence the spray bottle with weak orchid fert in it.
Third pic is indeed a flower stem with buds, and yes, the flower stems do branch without leaves like that. I was sort of hoping the plant wasn't trying to flower again, because now you may want to wait until the flowers are finished before you re-pot the plant. It's a trade-off at this point - if you re-pot it now, the buds will probably drop. If you wait and let it flower, the plant may expire from being in that mossy growing medium. Its survival in the current pot will depend on you being very careful not to get that moss too wet! If you put it outside, you'll have to remove it from the white cachepot and hang or set it on a tree branch or somewhere it will drain and dry out well after it rains. Btw, if you leave it in that white pot, be very sure no water sits in the bottom of the pot. The plant's roots MUST dry out after watering.
If it were mine, I would re-pot it now and risk losing the flowers. (but then I have lots of orchids, and don't mind waiting) It will very likely grow stronger and healthier over the summer and might bloom again in the fall. Your choice.
If you decide to re-pot, there are good instructions on the bag of Phal mix. Or write in here again, and you'll get good advice.
Cheers Elaine
This message was edited Mar 7, 2012 2:58 PM
the spagnum is just on the top
it has a bark and black mix of chunked stuff underneath
it is not potted in the white swan pot it's another pot sitting down inside of it.
I was planning on hanging it back into the laundry room just beside the window, since it seemed happy in there.
If i do repot, should each piece go into it's own pot, or should I put them altogether in one large orchid growing thing.
thanks for the good info
sorry the pics weren't great the day I was over there all I had was my mini video, and on the 1.5"screen it looked clear...lol
btw
~v
Sounds like a good plan to put it back in the laundry room, Buffy. Just check that the sun won't hit it through that window. Will it get it's occasional spritzing in there? The pics were fine, good enough to see what we needed to.
Glad to hear there's not much moss in the pot. In that case, probably wait until it's finished blooming to re-pot. It might grow another leaf or two once it starts getting sprayed with fert solution.
As you know, the flowers last a really long time on those Phals. It will be a couple of months at least before you're ready to re-pot. How about you send some new pics then, and we'll get a second opinion on potting up the baby plants (they're called keikis) then.
I'd guess you wouldn't want to bother trying to start new plants from those babies. They'd take 3 or 4 years to get to a size where they would bloom. That's why orchids are pretty expensive to buy in bloom. Somebody's patiently grown it for years to get it to that size.
Wow and these babies are not even a year old yet...I think it was after Easter last year when Nanny had gotten this particular orchid.
The one with the really long roots is about 4" across the foilage and 6" long...lol
I will have to get some orchid fetilizer
is there any homemade organic mix that's good to use?
I rarely purchase any fertilizers any more and only use composts & vermipost teas.
~v
Buffy, There are special orchid fertilizers where the nitrogen is NOT derived from urea. Since orchids don't live in soil, there aren't the microbes to break down the urea and make it available to the orchid. Your vermipost tea should work in light doses . You can try it for awhile, but watch your plant closely. You didn't say whether that cache pot has a drainage hole. If not, remove the small pots when you water so they can drain before putting them back in the cache pot. If that spagnum is just for looks, you can ditch it, but it does help with the humidity a bit.
Good luck with it!
the inner pot is suspended off the bottom so it will not be sitting in any water
wow i'd leave it until it flowers. Yeah as long as you don't start over watering it now, its been without alot of water and looks fine and budding. Love to see a pic of the flowers.
The Orchid is now MINE...TeeHee
I May get artistic with it and make a planter so it can hang in my bathroom, something to match my colonial women with hats decor, maybe plant it in an old victorian birdhouse I think I have a couple around still, for now I think I will just set the pot in it until it does bloom...I've never grown orchids before, crap...I know it's gonna be another addiction...I just know it.
And we live near Carter and Homes too
Good thing I am going back to work so I can afford at least one really special one.
Have a great day, I am sure I'll be back with some other issues because things never go as smoothly as I'd wish them too...LOL
~Victoria
Congrats on your new addiction . .. uh, plant!
Yes, orchid growing absolutely IS habit forming. Mine grew from a gift of two orchids a couple of years ago, so I started saying "well if I'm doing the orchid thing for two plants I may as well . . . " Now 40-odd orchids later . .
Lucky you, to live near Carter & Holmes! But there are less expensive places to shop for orchids if you do get hooked. Keep an eye out at Lowe's, believe it or not. Some stores sell off their orchid plants after they finish blooming for less than half price. If you're patient and nurse them along to bloom again - like you're doing for this one we've been talking about - it's so satisfying.
But send your friends and family to C & H for gifts for you. (I keep a Wish List with my daughter)
I have grown patience as a gardener, and I think house plants are not in my forte, due to lack of space, and having a blind man knocking things around inside...I could put things 20 feet off the ground and that is excactly where he's gonna have to fiddle with something...So this one little orchid will probably be my one and only. I am getting rif od all my house plants this week. I am just tired of having to pick that uninhabited space and then finding them spillen and torn up...Maybe I will get a greenhouse this year and I will have my own space for all my plants and I can reconsider collecting again
Victoria, don't forget your little orchid can very likely spend the summer outside hanging in a tree, if you want to put it out of harm's way. It's a toss up whether it would do better in the humid air outside but a little bit too warm, or inside in the a/c - dry and too cool. I'm betting on outdoors for mine. As long as you can find a spot where you'll walk by it often so you don't forget about it. IF it's somewhere that a sprinkler will give it a light mist fairly often, that would be an excellent spot.
