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which_chickCome along! There are pictures!
I have three Phalaenopsis orchids. I did not pay for any of them. One of them for sure is white, no idea about the other two. Maybe someday they will bloom. Stay tuned.
Orchid the First, as regular readers know, was orphaned when its owner died and left it behind. My friend Amanda's mother owned the thing along with a few others, and I took them from Amanda and gave them to my friend Lala. She repotted one and gave it back to me because she didn't want three. Lala is not in any way an enthusiast about orchids but she can mostly-not-kill plants, including orchids. They don't thrive but also they are not outright murdered.
I took the orchid, whom we will call Orchid #1, home in March or thereabouts and have not managed to kill it yet. It has made new leaves and, currently, looks kind of OK. I have repotted it since getting it from Lala (there were some issues there, including orchid in tiny plastic cup in sphagnum moss, all of that plunked inexplicably into potting soil in a ceramic container without any holes in it. It survived that and survived being repotted at the end of August and still looks pretty good. I do not have an "on acquisition" picture, sorry.
How it's going:
Orchid #2 was the... second most sad-looking orchid at Lala's house. It may have also come from my friend Amanda's mother, not sure. It was very wrinkly and sad, dehydrated all to hell. I upgraded its potting situation and instituted a better watering regimen for it. It is looking better, but obviously this is only in comparison to what it looked like when I started.
How it started:
How it's going:
Orchid #3 was the third most sad-looking orchid at Lala's house. (The first most sad orchid is likely dead. I can't work with dead.) This was one of those that they dye blue? I'm pretty sure it's a straight up ordinary white Phal, but it arrived dyed blue with technology. It also arrived very sad and wrinkly. It is looking better, but, like, orchids are not fast at showing improvement. This is not like your petunias that look dead at noon and you dump water on them and by 4 that afternoon they look awesome again. The "better" is only visible in pictures --they still look sorta sad -- and it takes like a week or two to see any real improvement, even if the orchid is dehydrated and just needs a pot upgrade and some water.
How it started:
How it's going:
The two most-recent from Lala's house arrived with brown scale. I carefully picked off all the brown scale parts and have wiped down the leaves with rubbing alcohol as per internet directions. I will continue to monitor them situation on the scale front.
So that's the orchids. There's a peace lily (from Asheton's funeral in 2008. I have repotted it once (with a lot of thinning) and it's still alive but not interesting. The cats don't really beat it up so it lives in the north-ish window by the kitchen.
There's a Christmas cactus from my grandmother (who died in like... forever ago, maybe 2011, but we cleaned out her house and divvied up her houseplants well before that) and it's also Not Dead Yet but I have repotted it and am trying to do better there.
I have an Aloe Vera I bought last weekend after Fall Foliage because I didn't have one. And while I was there I also bought a Sedum probably Burro Tail because it was interesting looking and tiny and cheap.
A few weeks ago, my mom got me a Haworthia, the normal and cheap "everyone has them" kind. They're nice and spiky and I like them.
I do not have pictures of the non-orchid plants because there is no potential for "before" and "after. I have "before" pictures but there is not really any "after" yet, so... sit tight.
I have three Phalaenopsis orchids. I did not pay for any of them. One of them for sure is white, no idea about the other two. Maybe someday they will bloom. Stay tuned.
Orchid the First, as regular readers know, was orphaned when its owner died and left it behind. My friend Amanda's mother owned the thing along with a few others, and I took them from Amanda and gave them to my friend Lala. She repotted one and gave it back to me because she didn't want three. Lala is not in any way an enthusiast about orchids but she can mostly-not-kill plants, including orchids. They don't thrive but also they are not outright murdered.
I took the orchid, whom we will call Orchid #1, home in March or thereabouts and have not managed to kill it yet. It has made new leaves and, currently, looks kind of OK. I have repotted it since getting it from Lala (there were some issues there, including orchid in tiny plastic cup in sphagnum moss, all of that plunked inexplicably into potting soil in a ceramic container without any holes in it. It survived that and survived being repotted at the end of August and still looks pretty good. I do not have an "on acquisition" picture, sorry.
How it's going:
Orchid #2 was the... second most sad-looking orchid at Lala's house. It may have also come from my friend Amanda's mother, not sure. It was very wrinkly and sad, dehydrated all to hell. I upgraded its potting situation and instituted a better watering regimen for it. It is looking better, but obviously this is only in comparison to what it looked like when I started.
How it started:
How it's going:
Orchid #3 was the third most sad-looking orchid at Lala's house. (The first most sad orchid is likely dead. I can't work with dead.) This was one of those that they dye blue? I'm pretty sure it's a straight up ordinary white Phal, but it arrived dyed blue with technology. It also arrived very sad and wrinkly. It is looking better, but, like, orchids are not fast at showing improvement. This is not like your petunias that look dead at noon and you dump water on them and by 4 that afternoon they look awesome again. The "better" is only visible in pictures --they still look sorta sad -- and it takes like a week or two to see any real improvement, even if the orchid is dehydrated and just needs a pot upgrade and some water.
How it started:
How it's going:
The two most-recent from Lala's house arrived with brown scale. I carefully picked off all the brown scale parts and have wiped down the leaves with rubbing alcohol as per internet directions. I will continue to monitor them situation on the scale front.
So that's the orchids. There's a peace lily (from Asheton's funeral in 2008. I have repotted it once (with a lot of thinning) and it's still alive but not interesting. The cats don't really beat it up so it lives in the north-ish window by the kitchen.
There's a Christmas cactus from my grandmother (who died in like... forever ago, maybe 2011, but we cleaned out her house and divvied up her houseplants well before that) and it's also Not Dead Yet but I have repotted it and am trying to do better there.
I have an Aloe Vera I bought last weekend after Fall Foliage because I didn't have one. And while I was there I also bought a Sedum probably Burro Tail because it was interesting looking and tiny and cheap.
A few weeks ago, my mom got me a Haworthia, the normal and cheap "everyone has them" kind. They're nice and spiky and I like them.
I do not have pictures of the non-orchid plants because there is no potential for "before" and "after. I have "before" pictures but there is not really any "after" yet, so... sit tight.
