A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Orchids Require Patience


I bought these orchids several months ago. I have 7 of them. I have kept a strict watering schedule, because I tend to water houseplants to death. Literally. I have researched them in my gardening books and in every article that I find in magazines. I feed them like I've been told and spray them with warm water most everyday. They have a grow light. They are sitting on humidity trays. Here is what I want to know....
I haven't seen much change in them. They are dark green and a couple of them have new leaves. Only one of them lost a leaf. They have terrific roots.....nice and green and plump. I can see that a couple of them bloomed before, from the stem that was cut off. I have patience with things that I know will succeed, but these orchids are something else. I don't think that the leaves are especially pretty. I hesitate to buy any ceramic or terra cotta orchid pots to display them in, because they may fail and I would be left with the orchid pots. Should I expect them to start growing soon? How about blooms? I am a patient woman, but I want some sign that they are going to grow. I also have a Clivia plant in the dining room. I've had it two years. It's growing by leaps and bounds, but hasn't bloomed. I'm looking forward to spring to see some blooms on that. Oh, patience...don't desert me now.
Balisha

5 comments:

Pat said...

My daughter gave me a beautiful orchid plant which I quickly killed. I'm usually good at keeping plants alive and was very disappointed to have lost it. I can understand your lack of patience waiting for a bloom...but you at least have leaves...so try not to toss your plants out the door if they don't bloom in the spring!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Balisha, it took a year for mine to rebloom. They are now blooming, water about once per week. I am not as great about feeding them often but I do feed them when I think about it. I am not sure I am an Orchid person, lots of care for limited bloom time!

Eileen

Judy said...

I used to have so many plants, but now am down to one violet. It just sits there--I keep waiting for it to bloom. I have never had an orchid.

Lona said...

I wish I could help but I killed the one that I had. I tried not to over water it but... It takes a while for them to bloom I think.

Anonymous said...

They are very slow growers and flower once a year. You might be seeing a flower shoot soon. Give it time and don't give up on them as you may be buying those pots after all!