Celebrate international day of the orchid with us!
Today is International Day of the Orchid so I thought it would be good to do a post to celebrate this amazing plant! Would love to see pictures of your orchids or hear your orchid stories. Here are some pictures of mine from earlier this year when they were in flower plus my current pride and joy, my Oncidium Twinkle which now has four flower spikes #OrchidLovers #PhalaenopsisOrchid #PlantsMakePeopleHappy
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@RealSimpleMama thank you! Iβm still on my break from work for my mental health, but am definitely having better and more positive days now and feeling more and more ready to go back to work, so am heading in the right direction at last! Hope you are feeling great too!
@karmynsprops these are beautiful and so healthy looking! I would love to add a dendrobium or two to my collection one day - when I was branching out from phals, I decided to go for orchids with pseudobulbs (then I learnt that dendrobium canes are actually pseudobulbs!), and orchids with canes are next on my list! I absolutely love the variegated leaves on your phals! I think my NoID mini phal (in this photo) has some Sogo Vivien in it, though it doesnβt have variegated leaves
@little_dude beautiful! And weβll done for getting them to bloom so soon! They must be very happy and your leaves look beautiful and healthy too! Iβm on the lookout for the yellow one with the pink veins - I think sheβs stunning!
@Linette8521 thank you for sharing! They look healthy! there are a few things you can do to get them to rebloom. When was the last time you repotted? A repot can help rejuvenate them. It looks like you have two orchids in the same pot (the second photo) - is one of these orchids a keiki and attached to the other, or are they independent plants? If they are two separate plants, they donβt actually like living together in the same pot and can compete for resources like water and nutrients, so repotting them individually could help them to bloom - ignore this if one is a keiki as they are best left attached and wonβt compete with each other for resources). The top leaves look a little bit smaller than the leaves below and this can be a sign that they are perhaps not getting enough light, though this could also be if they are competing with each other for resources. To rebloom, energy/light, nutrients and a cooler overnight temperature usually gets them going. Phals like plenty of light though are prone to sunburn so south facing windows (if you are in the northern hemisphere) will usually need a blind or shade in spring and summer. This will help them store energy to bloom - blooming takes a huge amount of energy. Nutrients also help and using a good quality orchid fertiliser will help your orchids stay healthy. MSU fertiliser (this is called Rain Mix in Europe) is considered to be the best, but you can use any orchid fertiliser that doesnβt use urea - cheap orchid fertilisers use urea for nitrogen, but phal roots canβt actually break this down and get the nitrogen from it like terrestrial plants can and this eventually can lead to nutrient deficiency. Most phals need a nightly temperature drop of around 10 Celsius to bloom - it sends a signal to them that blooming season is coming. Some phals will respond very quickly to the temperature drop, others will need it for several weeks or longer - this is down to their genetics so thereβs nothing you can do to speed it up, just perseverance. I find that I only get the nightly temperature drop consistently in my home in autumn and winter so mine tend to bloom once a year, though I like this as it gives them time to recover and make leaves and roots when they arenβt blooming!
@MotherOfOrchids I've learned a lot and done really well with my mini Sogo.V phal LOL shes constantly putting out a new leaf or spike for me! So I figured I'd see how i do with something different. I'd love to show you the weird growth that my Dendrobium has thrown out lol... I'm used to the new canes but this looks different and its taking a LONG time to grow π
I just recently bought myself the variegated phalaenopsis... kinda resembles Sogo.v but has more...lips? I think? LOL! I don't know all the terminology yet. But I snapped a pic of her ID tag to share with you.
I just recently bought myself the variegated phalaenopsis... kinda resembles Sogo.v but has more...lips? I think? LOL! I don't know all the terminology yet. But I snapped a pic of her ID tag to share with you.
@karmynsprops she is an absolutely stunning orchid and it looks as though she might be peloric too! She literally has it all - stunning, beautiful leaves and peloria. Iβve screenshotted what a non-peloric Chia E Yenlin looks like. On yours, you see that some of the petals are different and have a similar marking to the lower lip? Thatβs peloria! Itβs a genetic mutation and weirdly, the next time she flowers, depending what genes are expressed, she could go back to looking like a regular Chia E Yenlin (though the peloric genes could still come out again in the future!). This is one of the reasons I adore phals - they are fascinating! I also have a phal thatβs peloric - my Sweet Memory Liodoro, Iβll tag you in a pic. I know very little about dendrobiums, though it could be worth checking out some Miss Orchid Girl videos. Her videos often help me figure out whatβs happening with my plants.
@karmynsprops this is my peloric phal and a screenshot of what sheβs supposed to look like! She and her keiki are growing flower spikes at the moment (sheβs a warm bloomer) and Iβm excited to see if the flowers look like they are supposed to or will be peloric.
Beautiful!π My bestest loved orchid is one I inherited thatβs been in my family since the 70βs. Itβs in my oasis along with tons of propagated clumps. I give them as housewarming gifts to friends who love plants. Itβs a 70βs Cymbidium. οΏΌπ I keep a few propagations on hand in case anything happens to the mothership.
@little_dude phals are fantastic plants because they can grow in cool, intermediate and warm environments - they arenβt fussy and are usually really hardy (though itβs 32 Celsius in my flat at the moment as we are having a heatwave and humidity is low and mine are flagging). Sounds like your room would be good for other cool to intermediate growing orchids!
@BambooLover oh wow. This plant is absolutely stunning! And the flowers are gorgeous. Iβm in awe that sheβs been around since the 70s - I love that. My mum has some roses in her garden that belonged to my great-grandad and have been in my mumβs garden since the 70s. It really gives me a sense of connection to family members who are no longer here but are somehow still here as their plants live on!