Orchid Bloom! 3 of 4...

Hot damn, I'm on a roll! I'm starting to get kind of cocky about this Orchid Challenge. I only need one more and that Spaceship Orchid Epi is still looking good.

So this little beauty came from my boss as a rescue back in the beginning of 2008. I boldly said I would make it bloom and two years later I am relieved that it did! It has a short little spike, but seems like it will bloom about 8 flowers if not more. It's a super happy little plant but I still don't know what it is. Anyone know? I'm sure it's a garden variety supermarket/Trader Joe's gift.

New Orchid...Just Shoot Me.

For crap sake! What the hell was I thinking?

I put full blame on the Orchid Society and their damned perky people who came to the Sacramento Zoo's Bloomin' Crazy event. Stupid perky crack dealers. They sucked me in with entertaining conversations and interesting facts and threw in Orchid Show tickets. And what did I get? Another damn orchid. What is wrong with me?

Well, it is adorable. And I don't have one like it. It's an Epi (Epi. Centradenium), but doesn't look anything like the other Epi I have. This one has thin, grass-like leaves that grow across from each other. I've already had a few leaves dry up and fall off, so I think I need to watch this one closely and water it a bit more than the others. That doesn't bode well for it's survival, but we shall see.

Orchid Bloom! 2 of 4...

YAY! The second orchid has bloomed! This the Aussie Chip orchid I got at the Orchid Show in 2009. It's part of the orchid challenge of getting half of mine to rebloom, and it started sending out buds last month.

It doesn't look quite as healthy as it did when I bought it. I'm thinking it wants a little more indirect light so I might have to find a new home for the little guy. It looks like there will be about 5-6 spikes of flowers when it's all done. I don't know how this one works, but it seems like most of the spikes are coming off newer shoots.

How ever it works, those are some damn cute little spotted flowers. I think I just might win this challenge.

Orchid Care, My 2 cents

Recently, I was asked by a few friends on Facebook how I care for my orchids. I'm no expert, but here's what I told them...

So they really don't want their little roots wet. If you have one in that is in a crappy plastic pot, and then shoved into a decorative container - it's probably not happy. It likes its crappy plastic pot with all the slits on the side.

I water mine about once every 7-10 days either by leaving it under running water for a minute or two, or soaking it in the sink for a few minutes. That way the bark it lives in gets wet which is where it likes to find the water.

Most like a fair amount of indirect light but can handle and enjoy some direct sun unless you live in Arizona and it gets vaporized on contact.

I find orchid death occurs mainly because it's being over watered (drowning roots), or not watered at all. You can sort of tell when they are getting desperate for water because the bulbous parts start shrinking.

That's my 14 cents on the orchid care.