Orchid !

indigo

At New Year I was given a very beautiful Orchid......from someone
special ....

Never having had a an Orchid before........does anyone have any
good tips as to how I care for this plant- - - -
:?: :?: :?:

I do not want to do the wrong thing and 'kill' it off......... :oops: :oops:

My special person may think I don't care.. :!: :!: :!: :!:

All helpful tips and advice are welcome.....

Must be a lot of Orchid ' Lovers ' here on the forum......

Love Indigo x

indigo

rehab44 wrote:

indigo wrote:

At New Year I was given a very beautiful Orchid......from someone
special ....

Never having had a an Orchid before........does anyone have any
good tips as to how I care for this plant- - - -
:?: :?: :?:

I do not want to do the wrong thing and 'kill' it off......... :oops: :oops:

My special person may think I don't care.. :!: :!: :!: :!:

All helpful tips and advice are welcome.....

Must be a lot of Orchid ' Lovers ' here on the forum......

Love Indigo x

Joan Lawson is the resident Orchid expert, I am sure if you ask her nicely she will advise you on how to look after it. Flowers are like friends they need attention and kindness to thrive, abuse them and you will lose them

I always had so much success in the past......I am entering new
territory here......with this particular plant........it would appear
it requires a lot of attention and needs to be in the spot light..
but then it is very dramatic.........

Indigo x

mellman01

Just don't make the common mistake of drowing the poor thing, my wife has a few and over watering is the big problem a lot of people have,you will also need proper food for it/them, but as rehab said ask Joan as although I may be right about watering them don't rely on me council as I can kill a plant just by looking at the flippin thing!.
I don't know why I love plants and trees by I'm like the grim reaper of the botanicle world one touch and it's instant death. :oops:

elnafinn

Hi Indigo

Keep in a light, airy place, water sparingly. You can feed it orchid fertilizer but I never bothered with mine. They are indeed beautiful and flower for months.

Luv
elna x

moonseed

More useless information but interesting: Orchids are where vanilla pods come from. Not sure if they are a special breed though.

I had one bought for me last year but it died on me. I think I should have left it alone instead of keep watering it. I did talk to it (joke). P'raps it didn't like the sound of my voice.

Good luck with it anyway.

Steph x

ninakang

We need Joan to answer this, but I'm pretty sure she said you need to leave it be and not water it much.

I wouldn't quote me though, I've been known to let cactii die from lack of water!

Nx

robertls

I've got several Orchids..................apart from a drop of water..........and a feed once every 6 weeks............thats about it.....

Little bit of attention............and some gentle consideration......

Seems they thrive for me...........

Like several others say........Joan seems to be 'font of knowledge'...

We wait for her words of wisdom....

I'm sure your 'special person' will appreciate you've done the best you can........all anyone can do...

Rob x

tkachev

Hello Indigo,

I received one in March and managed to kill it by September.I kept watering it and kept it on my kitchen window.I didnt give it any special feed.
I love bunches of flowers but not keen on potted plants.
Hope you have more success than I did!
Elizabeth X

joanlawson

tkachev wrote:

Hello Indigo,

I received one in March and managed to kill it by September.I kept watering it and kept it on my kitchen window.I didnt give it any special feed.
I love bunches of flowers but not keen on potted plants.
Hope you have more success than I did!
Elizabeth X

Hi Elizabeth

Sorry you killed your orchid, but you did all the wrong things :!: here's how to succeed if you get another one.

1. Orchids need to be placed out of direct sunlight, where they get light, but not strong sunlight.

2. They MUST get light to their roots, so place the transparent pot they come in inside a glass container. Or you can buy special orchid containers. If they don't get light to the roots, they die.

3. Water about twice a week only. Use tepid water ( rainwater is best) never cold water. Fill up a jug, and put in a little orchid food, which you can buy at garden centres. Then run the water through, and allow it to drain. NEVER allow the pot to stand in water.

4. In between watering, spray the plant with a fine spray on the roots and leaves to maintain humidity.

5. As the shoots grow, support with a stick, or you can buy some very attractive support especially for the job.

6. After flowering, cut back the stem to the second notch up You will see this clearly on the stem.

Follow these rules, and you should get almost constant flowering. Last summer, I counted over 50 flowers on one plant, and at present, I have three orchids in flower.

GOOD LUCK :!: :!:

Joan

tkachev

rehab44 wrote:

Joan has had an orchids for a long tme apparently and posted something about there care to some-one, cant remeber whn and where though

It was to me Rehab.I had seen the photo of her splendid orchid and asked how she had been so successful having killed mine off despite my best efforts to grow the thing!
Elizabeth

margaretschild

joanlawson wrote:

tkachev wrote:

Hello Indigo,

I received one in March and managed to kill it by September.I kept watering it and kept it on my kitchen window.I didnt give it any special feed.
I love bunches of flowers but not keen on potted plants.
Hope you have more success than I did!
Elizabeth X

Hi Elizabeth

Sorry you killed your orchid, but you did all the wrong things :!: here's how to succeed if you get another one.

1. Orchids need to be placed out of direct sunlight, where they get light, but not strong sunlight.

2. They MUST get light to their roots, so place the transparent pot they come in inside a glass container. Or you can buy special orchid containers. If they don't get light to the roots, they die.

3. Water about twice a week only. Use tepid water ( rainwater is best) never cold water. Fill up a jug, and put in a little orchid food, which you can buy at garden centres. Then run the water through, and allow it to drain. NEVER allow the pot to stand in water.

4. In between watering, spray the plant with a fine spray on the roots and leaves to maintain humidity.

5. As the shoots grow, support with a stick, or you can buy some very attractive support especially for the job.

6. After flowering, cut back the stem to the second notch up You will see this clearly on the stem.

Follow these rules, and you should get almost constant flowering. Last summer, I counted over 50 flowers on one plant, and at present, I have three orchids in flower.

GOOD LUCK :!: :!:

Joan

No wonder mine died, thanks Joan if I ever get another one I'll know better

Linda

robertls

joanlawson wrote:

tkachev wrote:

Hello Indigo,

I received one in March and managed to kill it by September.I kept watering it and kept it on my kitchen window.I didnt give it any special feed.
I love bunches of flowers but not keen on potted plants.
Hope you have more success than I did!
Elizabeth X

Hi Elizabeth

Sorry you killed your orchid, but you did all the wrong things :!: here's how to succeed if you get another one.

1. Orchids need to be placed out of direct sunlight, where they get light, but not strong sunlight.

2. They MUST get light to their roots, so place the transparent pot they come in inside a glass container. Or you can buy special orchid containers. If they don't get light to the roots, they die.

3. Water about twice a week only. Use tepid water ( rainwater is best) never cold water. Fill up a jug, and put in a little orchid food, which you can buy at garden centres. Then run the water through, and allow it to drain. NEVER allow the pot to stand in water.

4. In between watering, spray the plant with a fine spray on the roots and leaves to maintain humidity.

5. As the shoots grow, support with a stick, or you can buy some very attractive support especially for the job.

6. After flowering, cut back the stem to the second notch up You will see this clearly on the stem.

Follow these rules, and you should get almost constant flowering. Last summer, I counted over 50 flowers on one plant, and at present, I have three orchids in flower.

GOOD LUCK :!: :!:

Joan

There you go Indigo..............Job sorted QED

Rob x

page35

i got one few months ago i think i'll give it to the mother in law now ive read that, im bound to kill the poor thing.

joanlawson

Hi Page

That's what I used to think, but orchids aren't too difficult to grow really. If I can do it, anyone can :!:

The nice thing is that the flowers last for months before they fade.

annebr

I can kill any plant! Cut flowers I can keep for weeks but plants no way that is OH domain. We had seen a lovely orchid but didn't buy it as we thought they were a lot of work.

After reading Joans tips (Thank you) we are going to pop out tomorrow and buy one.

Thanks again for your guide Joan, I will keep you up to date on the progress.

Anne

joanlawson

Hi Annie

If you or anyone else wants any more orchid advice, just PM me, and I will try to answer.

skezier

Hi Joan,

You ok today? I got orchids, not that many but there are a few out in the hedge rows. They are never more than 4" high and most are not more than 2. They do the blue and yelow flower and I just wondering do you know if are they close or distant relatives of your beautiful one? They don't get sun cus they tend to grow under a hawthorn but nature doesn't really care for them, we oftn have endless rain and yet they manage to be there. They are really beautiful as well but nothing like yours. Luv and purrs to Tommy, Cris x

annebr

Joan,

I went out today and bought a beautiful pink orchid. I have copied your instructions from this thread into a separate doc for my oh to follow. I will keep you updated in the progress.

One question, when the flowers die, it will reflower?

Anne

joanlawson

skezier wrote:

Hi Joan,

You ok today? I got orchids, not that many but there are a few out in the hedge rows. They are never more than 4" high and most are not more than 2. They do the blue and yelow flower and I just wondering do you know if are they close or distant relatives of your beautiful one? They don't get sun cus they tend to grow under a hawthorn but nature doesn't really care for them, we oftn have endless rain and yet they manage to be there. They are really beautiful as well but nothing like yours. Luv and purrs to Tommy, Cris x

Hi Cris

I think the ones you refer to are in the same family of plants, but the large ones like mine would grow in tropical countries.

Thanks for the purr to Tommy xx

joanlawson

annebr wrote:

Joan,

I went out today and bought a beautiful pink orchid. I have copied your instructions from this thread into a separate doc for my oh to follow. I will keep you updated in the progress.

One question, when the flowers die, it will reflower?

Anne

Hi Anne

When the flowers die, cut the stem back to the second notch up. The plant will then grow a new stem, and eventually it will flower again. I've got some orchids which I have kept going for several years now, and they get more flowers every time they bloom.

annebr

Joan,

I thought I would post you a little update. As you know I had thought the orchid we bought was going to die. But, we have followed your advice and it is looking great at the moment. We will do as you advise when the flowers die and hopefully it will reflower.

Thanks for your help.

Anne xx

joyful164

I have often wondered how you look after orchids and have made a note to move mine tomorrow.
However, I gave my friend Angelica one 3 years ago and it has stayed in the same pot it came in. It has only stopped flowering twice and then more shoots came and it has kept flowering ever since with three stems now growing from it. Amazing and confusing.
I bought a tiger orchid two years ago and again I have left it alone with just a drop of water every week. It's not flowering at the moment but it has flowered 3 times since I've had it. It was beautiful over Christmas. There are three new bulbs growing out from the original one and I have wondered what you do with these.
I think I shall just end up leaving it alone. I would welcome any advice though.
I also bought some giant Amarylis bulbs at Christmas. They were selling them off cheaply. I planted them with some of the bulb sticking out of the pot and they are now sending off the usual big buds on long stems. One of them, however has sent the bud through the side of the bulb (strange) whereas the other two are shooting in the right way. There are three buds on one of the bulbs which should be pretty fantastic later.

So if anyone has advice on these I would welcome it.
Perhaps we should have a Gardener's world on Chit chat.
fascinating stuff gardening.

All the best greenfingers.
Joy

joanlawson

annebr wrote:

Joan,

I thought I would post you a little update. As you know I had thought the orchid we bought was going to die. But, we have followed your advice and it is looking great at the moment. We will do as you advise when the flowers die and hopefully it will reflower.

Thanks for your help.

Anne xx

Hi Anne

I'm glad that your orchid recovered. If you cut it back as I advised once it has finished flowering, you should be able to keep it going for a long time.

Joan

joanlawson

joyful164 wrote:

I have often wondered how you look after orchids and have made a note to move mine tomorrow.
However, I gave my friend Angelica one 3 years ago and it has stayed in the same pot it came in. It has only stopped flowering twice and then more shoots came and it has kept flowering ever since with three stems now growing from it. Amazing and confusing.
I bought a tiger orchid two years ago and again I have left it alone with just a drop of water every week. It's not flowering at the moment but it has flowered 3 times since I've had it. It was beautiful over Christmas. There are three new bulbs growing out from the original one and I have wondered what you do with these.
I think I shall just end up leaving it alone. I would welcome any advice though.
I also bought some giant Amarylis bulbs at Christmas. They were selling them off cheaply. I planted them with some of the bulb sticking out of the pot and they are now sending off the usual big buds on long stems. One of them, however has sent the bud through the side of the bulb (strange) whereas the other two are shooting in the right way. There are three buds on one of the bulbs which should be pretty fantastic later.

So if anyone has advice on these I would welcome it.
Perhaps we should have a Gardener's world on Chit chat.
fascinating stuff gardening.

All the best greenfingers.
Joy

Hi Joy

The bulbs on the tiger orchid you mention are pseudobulbs, which are essentially swollen stems used for water storage. It is best to leave them alone, as you said.

I have a beautiful Amarylis in flower at the moment. It has four large deep red flowers, and a second shoot is growing too. I have never managed to get an Amarylis to flower again though. I think once it is gone, it is gone.

Joan

joyful164

Hello Joan

I did manage to get one Amarylis to grow twice but I couldn't get it to go anymore. The bulbs just dry up. I think the ones that I bought cheaply were for growing for Christmas.

Needless to say, there are now 2 flower heads coming on 2 of the bulbs so they should make a good show eventually. By the way, did you try to draw your amarylis? I did a rough watercolour sketch of my Christmas Cactus last year. They are interesting to draw. Such beautiful colours.
Regarding the Tiger Orchid, would you advise moving it to a bigger pot or leave it alone?
Joy