We officially own 7 orchids now
9 Sep 2023 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cimorene... because I bought one (stunner, from the florist) yesterday and then at the grocery store we collectively bought two more (slightly lower grade).
I decided that with this being a shared hobby, I should stop by the florist periodically to see what she has. And she had this beautiful large phalaenopsis orchid with magenta on the central lip and column and delicate veining on the white petals. The placement also reminded me of anime shading on the cheeks to indicate blushing, so this is Usagi (named after Sailor Moon at Wax's suggestion):
And at the grocery store they'd clearly gotten in a new shipment, and we bought this one with densely dotted, pointillist fuchsia petals - Wax named him Georges Seurat - and this smaller one with only two flower stalks because it's such a lovely lemon yellow - Wax named her Ostara. (I named the first four, so this is fair of division of labor.)
We've gotten expert at repotting orchids by now, and all seven of them have come from the store with at least some root rot, so repotting immediately is advisable.
First we put the orchid pot in a Tupperware a bit larger than it and fill it with water to the soil line. After soaking for twenty minutes, the roots are softened.
I squeeze the pot a bit and pull it off, and then we gently brush off all the potting medium. If there is root rot the medium is contaminated by micro-organisms, so it needs to be discarded no matter how fresh it seems. Tweezers may be necessary to get all the bark chips out of the roots. They have all included a pellet of spongy moss at the center of the pot, and this is a big source of root rot. That stuff also needs picked out.
Then you can rinse them under running water and inspect them for damage, cutting off any rotten or dead bits with sharp, sterilized scissors or nippers (boiling water or alcohol is fine). The living roots are firm to the touch, so any parts that squish when you pinch them are dead and should be cut off to prevent rot from spreading.
Phalaenopsis roots change color when they're hydrated, so a transparent pot lets you easily see when to water. They also need ample aeration and drainage, which is why bark chips are the base of most orchid potting mixes. Sphagnum moss is a more water-retentive medium and is often added to the orchid potting blends for that purpose (a very little, in the Finnish one we got). Phalaenopsis are notoriously easy to please, so they're probably fine with any commercial orchid potting mix - just as long as there's enough ventilation to prevent stagnant water from breeding micro-organisms.
It's good for the pot to have holes or slits on the sides to let air through. Slitted orchid pots are available in North America and through Amazon, but they haven't penetrated the Non-internet-going market in northern Europe. Since the clear plastic pots they come in aren't that beautiful anyway, though, I see no reason to order them internationally rather than cut holes in the ones I've already got. You put the plastic pot in an outer pot anyway, if you care what it looks like (or if it's really top-heavy). A soldering iron is probably better, but I've been using a large nail heated in a candle flame to punch 4-6 holes in the bottom and then like 20-something in the sides. The pot needs to be sterilized if it had rot in it, so before the hole-punching we wash it with dish soap and rinse it with boiling water.
And then you can put the clean roots in the clean pot with fresh potting mix - scatter a little in the bottom, then carefully hold it up at the desired level and gently put the potting medium in first one side, then the other, a handful at a time, wiggling and tapping to work it between the roots so there are no large voids. You can also poke a bamboo skewer in to eliminate those. You can put the bamboo stakes back when the pot is half full and clip the flower spikes to them last. Finally, we run water through the pot to wet the potting medium. Make sure there's good drainage under the pot so the roots won't end up in standing water if it collects underneath - some of ours are sitting on a layer of pebbles to prevent this.
You have to stand so far back to get them all in shot that you can barely see Roy (R), because he's a miniature one, unlike the others. Sue Storm the Oncidium orchid is also tiny, but she's moving to another window soon anyway; she needs more sun.
We planted like 110 bulbs this afternoon too! Daffodils, single and double tulips, crocuses and some mini lilies, plus those huge allium sphere flowers. We still have irises to plant tomorrow.
I decided that with this being a shared hobby, I should stop by the florist periodically to see what she has. And she had this beautiful large phalaenopsis orchid with magenta on the central lip and column and delicate veining on the white petals. The placement also reminded me of anime shading on the cheeks to indicate blushing, so this is Usagi (named after Sailor Moon at Wax's suggestion):
And at the grocery store they'd clearly gotten in a new shipment, and we bought this one with densely dotted, pointillist fuchsia petals - Wax named him Georges Seurat - and this smaller one with only two flower stalks because it's such a lovely lemon yellow - Wax named her Ostara. (I named the first four, so this is fair of division of labor.)
We've gotten expert at repotting orchids by now, and all seven of them have come from the store with at least some root rot, so repotting immediately is advisable.
First we put the orchid pot in a Tupperware a bit larger than it and fill it with water to the soil line. After soaking for twenty minutes, the roots are softened.
I squeeze the pot a bit and pull it off, and then we gently brush off all the potting medium. If there is root rot the medium is contaminated by micro-organisms, so it needs to be discarded no matter how fresh it seems. Tweezers may be necessary to get all the bark chips out of the roots. They have all included a pellet of spongy moss at the center of the pot, and this is a big source of root rot. That stuff also needs picked out.
Then you can rinse them under running water and inspect them for damage, cutting off any rotten or dead bits with sharp, sterilized scissors or nippers (boiling water or alcohol is fine). The living roots are firm to the touch, so any parts that squish when you pinch them are dead and should be cut off to prevent rot from spreading.
Phalaenopsis roots change color when they're hydrated, so a transparent pot lets you easily see when to water. They also need ample aeration and drainage, which is why bark chips are the base of most orchid potting mixes. Sphagnum moss is a more water-retentive medium and is often added to the orchid potting blends for that purpose (a very little, in the Finnish one we got). Phalaenopsis are notoriously easy to please, so they're probably fine with any commercial orchid potting mix - just as long as there's enough ventilation to prevent stagnant water from breeding micro-organisms.
It's good for the pot to have holes or slits on the sides to let air through. Slitted orchid pots are available in North America and through Amazon, but they haven't penetrated the Non-internet-going market in northern Europe. Since the clear plastic pots they come in aren't that beautiful anyway, though, I see no reason to order them internationally rather than cut holes in the ones I've already got. You put the plastic pot in an outer pot anyway, if you care what it looks like (or if it's really top-heavy). A soldering iron is probably better, but I've been using a large nail heated in a candle flame to punch 4-6 holes in the bottom and then like 20-something in the sides. The pot needs to be sterilized if it had rot in it, so before the hole-punching we wash it with dish soap and rinse it with boiling water.
And then you can put the clean roots in the clean pot with fresh potting mix - scatter a little in the bottom, then carefully hold it up at the desired level and gently put the potting medium in first one side, then the other, a handful at a time, wiggling and tapping to work it between the roots so there are no large voids. You can also poke a bamboo skewer in to eliminate those. You can put the bamboo stakes back when the pot is half full and clip the flower spikes to them last. Finally, we run water through the pot to wet the potting medium. Make sure there's good drainage under the pot so the roots won't end up in standing water if it collects underneath - some of ours are sitting on a layer of pebbles to prevent this.
You have to stand so far back to get them all in shot that you can barely see Roy (R), because he's a miniature one, unlike the others. Sue Storm the Oncidium orchid is also tiny, but she's moving to another window soon anyway; she needs more sun.
We planted like 110 bulbs this afternoon too! Daffodils, single and double tulips, crocuses and some mini lilies, plus those huge allium sphere flowers. We still have irises to plant tomorrow.
