Orchids

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As you see, orchids could most probably be the easiest plant to be grown in your garden. Why? I’ll explain….

To start off, try to get your hands on one orchid. It is a good investment if you love plants. Orchids are sold widely.

What do orchids require? Orchids are not fussy plants. They are generally wild plants and they do not require soil to live. Orchids can grow on their own (on rocks, on dead woods, on ...
...the results within a week. Orchids will grow well as their roots will crawl all over the pot overnight, grabbing whatever is in the way, holding everything firmly, all that done in order to keep itself firm on the pot or ground. Orchid roots are very strong, thick and they hold things firmly. Most orchid roots grow very fast and they might even grab hold of the pots. If that happens, there is nothing you can do if you might want to transfer it to ... more

Today I’m gonna write something about orchids. I hope this start does not sound like I’m lecturing.

Before you go further, I would like to tell you not to forget to view the pictures which I have pasted below. Once finished reading the review, please look at it and tell me what do you think about it ok? Thank you very much!

As you see, orchids could most probably be the easiest plant to be grown in your garden. Why? I’ll explain….

To start off, try to get your hands on one orchid. It is a good investment if you love plants. Orchids are sold widely.

What do orchids require? Orchids are not fussy plants. They are generally wild plants and they do not require soil to live. Orchids can grow on their own (on rocks, on dead woods, on branches, on plastics), without even having soil. All you need is a pot, or a plastic pot, fill it with broken pieces or charcoals, chipped woods, coconut husks, broken tiles, broken pots, or red bricks. Try to get a rough, clay pot. Place the orchid on those raw materials and see the results within a week. Orchids will grow well as their roots will crawl all over the pot overnight, grabbing whatever is in the way, holding everything firmly, all that done in order to keep itself firm on the pot or ground. Orchid roots are very strong, thick and they hold things firmly. Most orchid roots grow very fast and they might even grab hold of the pots. If that happens, there is nothing you can do if you might want to transfer it to a bigger pot. All you can do is just break the pot, and put the whole thing in a whole new bigger pot. You might also want to try tying an orchid to a piece of branch and after a week, you’ll find it grabbing on the branch itself. As I say, orchids can live on it’s own, without soil, or any other things, which means, it will grow and look like an ‘octopus’ standing on it’s own root. Orchids are independent on where they grow on. It’s best if you hang the orchid on a pole or a beam. Orchids are meant to be hung and not to be planted on the ground.
Their roots may pose a problem as they seem to grow like hairs. You might want to trim it if you find it annoying but don’t go to the extent off trimming it too much.

All they need is NOT so much of your care, being watered once a day, and being given fertilizers once a month. When it gets bigger and heavier, all you need to do is to transfer it into a bigger pot. That is all!

Temperature:
Orchids can thrive in horrible conditions and is also able to cope with drastic temperature changes. They can resist temperatures from 15 degrees Celsius to 30+ degrees Celsius. However, it is recommended that a temperature of 18-28(night/day) degrees Celsius would be much better for it to live healthily. Orchids are tough plants and their thick moisten filled leaves enable them to cope especially in hot climates. Try giving it a natural habitat as orchids are tropical climate plants. If you are unable, don’t worry, just give your orchid some time to adapt to the conditions around but try not to let it freeze.

Blooming: orchids usually bloom 4 times a year, or sometimes more often than that. They bloom uncertainly always. They can bloom from 1 to 3 flower branches at one time. Mine was able to grow 5 flower branches at one time! And each flower branch could hold up to ten flowers at most! This would mean 5x10=50 flowers from one single plant! Flowers could grow overwhelmingly sometimes and the pot might fall on one side as it becomes too heavy. NOTICE: Orchid flowers bloom towards the morning sun. No matter how hard you turn the pot or change the position, the flower branch will always direct itself towards the morning sun. It would be interesting watching the flower branches grow until they mature and the flowers start to bloom. When the flowers bloom, it will usually last for quite along time, usually more than 1 month, but some can last for 2 months+.

Colour: Orchids comes in many colours, sizes, and shapes. They could be either single coloured, or mixed (spotted, striped). Rare orchids would come in red, or yellow, or orange, while those commons ones would be purple or white.

Tending: You can trim off dried out roots or cut of empty flowerless branches. You may also want to cut off any yellow leaves which shows signs of drying out.

Price: orchids cost me only around 1-3GBP, depending on the variety and rarity. Usually, common orchids would cost me only around 1 or 2 GBP, for the whole plant including the pot. It’s worth a buy as orchids grow fast, bloom fast and easily multiplied. When you buy one, after a month, you’ll have two and you can give it to your friends the other one! You’ll always benefit!

Smell: For your info, orchids DO NOT usually have any smell. I have more than 30 pots at home and out of all, only 1 has a faint smell.

Disease:
Basically, orchids don’t easily get affected by diseases. The only common disease would be the leaves turning yellow or have black spots. Sometimes you might find their stem a little skinny, sorta shrivled kinda look. Basically, they lack of nutrients or sometimes, too much nutrients. What is important is that you’ll just have to look out for snails which feed on the roots of orchids. Besides that, watch out for tiny weeds, which look like algae covering the roots and body of the orchids. They sometimes cover all the roots, and suck out all the nutrients from the orchids. They are parasitic and should be discarded by using tweezers, and a lot of your patience. Dipping the whole plant in the water allows easier removal of the parasite plants. I certainly would not recommend you using weed killers. They are too dangerous and you risk your orchid’s life!

The young shoots of orchids are easily separated. All you need is extra care. You can separate them by cutting in between the old shoots and the new shoots, or just by simply using your hands to pry them open. Try your best not to cause too much damage to the roots. Once separated, put the new shoots in chipped woods in a new pot and water it. NEVER put them in soil as too much nutrients would kill it.

One of the orchid sellers in my area once told me that using GUINNESS STOUT was good as a fertilizer. He told me to mix a tablespoon of Guinness stout with 500ml of water, and spray on the roots of the orchids. This method substitutes the use of fertilizers. I took his advice and my orchid seems to bloom and grow well. I guess Guinness stout is not only good for you but also good for the plants. Besides that, my dad uses cow dung! I’m sure it sounds gross and you might be wondering why he uses such disgusting thing! Well, there is some cow straying around near the foothills, which is also near my house. If there are cows, there’s dung too. My dad took some dung and dried it up over the fire, chopped it into tiny bits with the spade and used it as fertilizers.

All the orchids in my house’s garden belong to my dad and he loves them very much. Try plucking one of his orchid’s flower and the next minute you’ll find yourself chopped up into pieces ending up in a dump site.

He tends all of them everyday and once he’s back from work, he never forgets to water them. Now my house is almost filled with orchids, and I believe once I’m back to my home after studying abroad for a few years, I could hardly recognize my house as I predict it would turn out to be an orchid jungle. I then would have to use combat knives to cut my way through to reach my main door.
Most of my plants in the garden are being slowly substituted by orchids, as roses and others do not really grow well in my place.

Why I love orchids? The reasons cos’ it’s easy to maintain and easy to take care of. Besides that, it’s very… very… very… very beautiful!
I wish you all the best if you plan to have one.

I am having a 1 month holiday and since I’m not going anywhere and I have nothing to do, I’ve been tending the orchids everyday.

Please have a look on the orchid pictures which I have posted below, thanks!

Thanks for reading, Ken.
 

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