OH MY! Those are beautiful!
CLOSED: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Chat
That's the joy of growing orchids, particularly when one I grew from a tiny seedling finally blooms for the first time. I get to be a "daddy" over and over. What could be more fun?
Ken
It is always a joy for me to see something bloom that I have grown from a tiny thing. It makes the hard work worthwhile.
Ken, good to see you out and about here. Your orchids are beautiful as usual! I plan to own at least one of them one of these days!
Annette
lovely! The green ones are my favorite out of those. The girls at work in accounting love to have orchids that they give ice cubes to, it just kills me to see a tropical get ice cubes on their feet so I kinda chide them for it The they always die.. I don't grow orchids.. well, the kind that grow on trees, I grow the ones that come from corms in ground. Golly, I can't wait for my nunns to bloom.. since I can't smell, ( and a lot is blooming fragrant right now) it is sad, but I am glad to still have eyesight.
Annette, I have been caring for this crinum for almost 6 years, it is Queen Emma from Prita, she is supposed to be spectacular, All She shows me is the GREAT big wings and her body is getting very very large. I un potted her this year an stuck her into the ground under the pear tree.. all she did was GROW.
here she is in 2009, if u can find her, in ground- in late afternoon shade, 2011, 2012,2013,
2014-now . She's been everywhere.. out front out back south fence basement. She was a bulb about as big as a tangerine when I got her.She is such a tease!
Sheesh! 8 degrees in the am again and the high is going to be 11 !!!!! Thought we were having a heat wave today at 2 ish, sun was out, stuff melting, seemed like it was in the 40's but the high was 27..
What a nice crinum, Debra. I have several and hoping they all survive this cold snap. It's going down to 1° tonight and we won't see any above freezing temps again until Sunday. :( We could have a few snow flurries. As far as I'm concerned, the Polar Votex can go right back to where it came from.
I hope she blooms for you soon Debra.
Ken those orchids are so beautiful. I just can not grow them. I have tried a few time. I gave up do not like killing plants.
It is so clod here and snowy and blowy. We have another 3 to 6 inches on the way. We have evaded this and were hoping not to get so much snow.. haha. My son is home for two weeks, he is inthe Army in Texas. its cold out we do not want to go anywhere. So I am hoarding him.... lol. Glad to do so.
I took three days off. Enjoying talking to him. He said the trip here was okay jntil he got to Illinois. Then the weather broke loose.
I don't want anyone to get mad at me, but I just don't understand why anyone can't grow orchids. Basically, they need the same care as any other tropical plant, except you don't use "dirt". By the way, the vast majority of our houseplants are tropical plants. If you can grow them successfully, what's the big deal about growing orchids. Believe me, God did not just decide to bless me by giving me the ability to grow orchids (and staghorns, and bromeliads, and tillandsia, and fiddle leaf ficus, and............well, you see). All these plants grow side-by-side. I have no special ability or special knowledge about growing all these plants (and lots more).
Ken
What kind of plant dirt do they use?? I can do regular hoseplants fine. But I think orchids need extra moisture or something. Lol. I just may have to try one again. I am not mad. Just tried them before and no luck...
I ask the same question about the soil. When I see them at Walmart, they are always in soil.
Orchids, at least the vast majority of them that you will see for sale, are epiphytic plants, the so-called "Air-Plants". They don't grow in soil of any kind. Soil (and often the sphagnum moss that most of the Phal. you see sold in the big-box stores are shipped in) will quickly suffocate the roots of orchids, and like any other plant, without viable roots, the plants will die. Thus, you would want to grow orchids in an "orchid-media". A common media would be Douglas fir bark, horticultural charcoal, expanded rock, and perhaps coarse perlite. You can find this media, or one similar, in all the big-box stores. Many commercial growers simply use fir bark or cypress to grow their orchids in.
The second part of the equation is to be sure your orchids/roots/media can dry out. Since most orchids grow in trees in their natural habitat, they will dry out quickly after rainfall/fog wets them. In the tropical climates, orchids might receive rain every day for months and when growing in hill regions, might get fog every night/morning. So its not the fact that they get wet. It is the fact that they dry between wetting. You just want to mimic as closely as possible what is found in nature. Use some sort of pot that drains well (and completely) and better yet, use one that has slots/holes in the sides of the pot so that air can aid in their drying. Don't every let your orchid pot sit in a catch-saucer full of water.
The third part of the equation is to have some sort of air movement if possible. Again, in their natural habitat there is wind, and this aids in drying the orchid's leaves, roots, and media. Just a small fan, blowing a gentle breeze across the orchid(s) will do the trick.
No dirt, no sphagnum moss, no excessive wetness, and a bit of air movement. So, what's hard so far? LOL
Ken
well gee, If I can grow a staghorn, I can TRY an orchid. Just what I'd need, another addiction.. LOL
But a good addiction and as a bonus, you get fragrant flowers! It's too bad that our stags won't flower. They are so interesting plants to grow and are also "Air-Plants".
Ken
WOW! Thanks for the education Ken. I had no idea. When it gets warmer I will have to try again. I can keep it on the front porch table, out of full sun.
I know you can do it, Debra. :) LK too.
Sure, you all can!
You are welcome, Linda Kay. My wife says I am a terrible businessman. She says I would much rather talk about my orchids than sell any...........LOL She is right. How sad.
Visit my website if y'all have a chance.
Ken
post the address of your website please
The Gods of DG will get on my a** if I do. I will have to go behind their collective backs and send you a D-Mail, Crystal. I stay in enough trouble as it is......LOL
Ken
I did not know that was forbidden. People post stuff from facebook where they are trying to sell stuff.
]
Ken r ya on ebay?
According g to DG rules, if we want to sell anything, we have to do it here...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/bulletins/all/
Yep, but it costs $5 for every ad and the ads only run for 2 wks. I tried the classifieds last year and had absolutely no response to several ads. I can (better) waste my money elsewhere.........LOL
I am on eBay but my website is much more functional, more up-to-date, and more complete than what I can post on eBay. It also is very hard to find my plants on eBay. There are just a ton of folks who post there.
Ken
Hi, everyone! I have bought orchids from Ken, and they are beautiful! Hanging in my sunroom. Keep looking for spikes on the mature one, but none yet. However, they are all putting out new growth.
I'm ready to start sowing seeds, but waiting until I get back from my trip to TN next week. Love my sunroom. Best investment ever. I have hibiscus blooming. I repotted some camellia seedlings and they are taking off beautifully. I have a one-gallon 'Dad's Pink' camellia that bloomed.
Keep posting pics. I love seeing them!
I am seriously considering turning my large porch into a sun room (you FL folks will call it a "Florida Room"). I enclose the porch every fall with clear, marine vinyl so that it will function as a greenhouse, but heating it is difficult. The porch is 32' wide and 8' deep. There are French doors leading out to the porch from the kitchen alcove and there are a pair of large, double windows looking out onto the porch from the great room. The porch has double-doors leading to a concrete patio.
My thoughts are to have the room perhaps 16' deep rather than the 8' depth, and making those double windows, French doors. The windows are about the same size as French doors. I would have it tied into the central AC/heat as well. The outside wall would all be double-pane glass (with a French door centered), with some method to open it all up to the outside when the weather is nice.
Just a thought right now, but perhaps I can talk my wife into doing it in the spring.
Ken
Okay, Ken. Thanks.
So we got about 9 inches of snow overnight. It is so cold and snowy the roads are absolutley horrid. Whiteout conditions. It still is snowing and we are suppose to get more snow overnight. So cold now it is only 5 degrees. Shoveled the driveway three time. Then of course the plow truck goes by and it is full all over again. Hard to drive thru with the slush and hard snow there. Every year I say so glad to live in michigan. I tried to go to my parents house but turned around. Glad I did too. There was a 120 car pile up on a highway in Galesburg today. Man the news has been covering it all day. Horrible accident. They had to transport all the drives to a middle school in Galesburg. One fatality. There was semi hauling fireworks they had to wait to put out that fire because of the stuff they make the fireworks with. Both sides of the highway is closed.
Gardenlady, please be careful. Hope you don't have to get out anytime soon. Praying for those involved in the accident.
Ken, your plan sounds great! My sunroom is my "home away from home!" :)
Oh Julie I am staying in. Just work tomorrow morning then home. Hopefully I can get out in the morning.
It has been so cold down here in TN so I know it must be very cold up north. I'm glad you are okay, Ronna. Looks like it's around 8° here right now but there is a warming trend coming tomorrow with a chance for rain or showers likely.
I would love a sunroom but it's too expensive to heat in the winter here. We did have a lanai patio out in CA and I loved it. I had a number of things mounted to boards and hung on the framework - staghorns, elkhorns, lots of other succulents, lots of epiphyllums in hanging baskets. I do miss that A LOT!
Everyone be safe in the cold weather!
IF I have that porch turned into a sunroom, the space will be added to my AC/heat central system. That's one reason I would do this, since heating the space now with 1500W electric heaters is inefficient as well as expensive.
Ken
Yep, that's the only way to go.
What made you move from California to Tennessee?
I heard on the news this morning it was 12 in Nashville, and 24 in Alaska.
Stay warm everyone.
Our situation changed and we then moved to KY to be closer to some of DH's family. After we got there, we couldn't take living in our small hometown so we moved here.
Do you have any family near you now?
Yes, a cousin about 90 miles north and DH's sister and BIL live about 3 hrs. north of us. They were just down here in September.
Ralph and I are on our way home we are driving south on US 64 in to Kentucky!! We will be going through Knoxville, then changing over to 75 and head towards Chattanooga, TN. From there it is just 3 hours to home! Sure wish I had thought to try to meet Debra while we were going this way. We might have gotten to have lunch or a snack together. ...
Any ways Ralph is doing great and I had a wonderful time with my family. But am glad to be going home.
Were you on vacation Kris? Where did you go?
Sounds like you weren't too far from me Kris. I am 3 hrs from Huntington WV on I-64 E. What part of WV were you in? I live right off I-64 in Mt Sterling Ky. It is about 85 miles from here to Ashland ky. Hope you have a safe trip home.
I have never been to Kentucky and only Nashville in Tennesee, sure would like to see those states before I leave this world ..and Georgia, and North Carolina and New Jersey and.. Maine! Lobster up there , yum!