grow orchids

but there are some shoots coming up. Are they leaves or blooms?

to buy another orchid yesterday. I’d like to concentrate on getting one of my orchids to bloom again.

that are all alive. I haven’t been able to get any to bloom again, but they have sent out new leaves.

another one died.
this one never had good roots (from when it came from the store as a mere pup)

& then there was one…

has been added to the collection. It is an Oncidium. One of my Phalaenopsis is sending up a new shoot. I haven’t killed any of them yet!

I bought my first orchid after I completed spring term of nursing school last year. I bought another one after fall term. For some reason I forgot to get one after winter term (maybe lack of funds). I am about to complete my final term in nursing school, so it’s time for another orchid. I want to get something unusual- but affordable. Any suggestions?

it’s official orchid season (if there’s such a thing…) in australia – cymbidiums are out in bloom, and my little supermarket baby is looking good – 3 flower spikes on the way. today was orchid porn day – the victorian international orchid fair was on – what made it international is beyond us (although there was a guy there who’d flown in to sell from adelaide, and the organisers are from sydney…hmmm…). haul = paph ho chi minh: (search at: http://slipperorchid.org/), a large division of phrag schroederae: http://www.orchidsonline.com.au/species1813.html .

spotted a guy checking out the teeniest orchid plants – hideous at growing orchids, yes, but picking the orchid nerds is easy – find the people who are choosing the small, unflowered varieties purely by name. what was he buying? oh…just a couple of things – this, and that… (scientific names inserted…) did i grow them?

tell story of growing and killing three, and get his story back – the little orchid in front of us was one of the first that he ever bought – he’d had and flowered it for over 2 years, and killed it due to naughty flatmates not watering while he was on holiday for over a month. it’s a great beginner orchid, and easy to grow though…

so, dear reader, count us the proud owner of one of the teeniest orchids we’ve ever seen: sophronities coccinea (story on miniatures with the pic at the bottom) : http://www.rhs.org.uk/learning/publications/orchidreview/orchid0904/miniature.asp. (also on flickr in native habitat: http://static.flickr.com/13/93286124_bc12013e3d.jpg?v=0 )
all that needs to be done now is keeping the things alive and coaxing them into flower…c’mon little fella…

To a complete n00b on the subject (me), this page has been very helpful: http://www.orchidlady.com/pages/faq.html

not blooming, but still alive!

My dear wife picked up an orchid for me from the local hardware store for a pittance. It’s a 4-inch pot, and as i’ve only been able to swiftly kill them in the past, i’ve got a couple questions:

1. Should i take it out of the plastic liner and put it directly in the clay pot, or leave the liner in the pot?
2. How often should i water it?
3. Any other tips?

It’s in a south-facing bathroom window right now, which i hear is a good place for them.