Gardening!
- Thread starter Hayles66
- Start date
I couldn't imagine what it would look like, when you wrote that your orchids are attached to the palm trees. We have them in flower pots.
They're gorgeous! What a difference to ours!
Would love orchids like that to grow here in Michigan...but it just won't happen. Our weather isn't conducive for that. Great pic. You're lucky to live in a region that grows such beautiful tropical flowers, Leelai!
Those are wonderful, leelai. I would enjoy living in a part of the world where orchids grow wild.
My wife and I love the orchids as well. Too bad we could not keep them alive. Actually, beside of weeds, we are not good growing anything. Even our most precious sugar apple tree that we cared for 2 years is now 'RIP', thanks to the last winter.<img src="http://www.ipadforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=57119"/>
I think it's just our climate here that my plants do so well!
I'd never heard of a sugar apple but your plant looked like what we call custard apples.....so I had to look it up and sure enough it is, although ours is just a little different. What a shame yours didn't last through the winter.....I just loathe when my plants die!
I have oodles of them attached to my palm trees.....these ones are on a tree fern. I just tie them on with a stocking and after a while they send out their tendrils to attach themselves, then I just pull off the stocking. I'll show some more when they bloom.
That is such a shame that you can't grow orchids there......it's all about the weather! I feel very lucky in that respect with my garden.
Thank you Hayley! I do so love them, they are just such beautiful and unusual flowers.
Those are wonderful, leelai. I would enjoy living in a part of the world where orchids grow wild.
You would love to walk through our rain forests here, where King Orchids, staghorns, elkhorns, crows nests and all manner of unusual plants grow wild. You need just the right conditions for them to grow wild....our garden which is all tropical and cycads is just about there as I do have quite a few plants just appearing themselves now! It's just wonderful when that happens as you know you just must be doing something right!
Leelai--How did you know to tie your orchids to your palm tree to get it started. That's a nifty idea!
Well they grow naturally in rain forests like that and I'd seen others put them in a fork of a tree, but palms don't have those but I had already done staghorns, elkhorns and crowsnests like this and thought why not try orchids too. I put a bit of sphagnum moss behind them first to retain moisture, this gets caught up in their tendrils, so stays there after I pull the stocking off. The stocking rots after a while also, so it's very easy to pull off. I'll post a pic when I get home again....some of the tendrils can go quite a ways up the trees, so they are very fixed to the trees! I'm not sure if you can see them in my pic.
They will only come off if they are allowed to dry up over a long period of time, same goes for the stags etc. When we had the drought here I had a terrible time getting water up to them as we weren't allowed to use a hose, only buckets! Then we installed water tanks and a pump and that made it much easier! Thank goodness for them!!
Well they grow naturally in rain forests like that and I'd seen others put them in a fork of a tree, but palms don't have those but I had already done staghorns, elkhorns and crowsnests like this and thought why not try orchids too. I put a bit of sphagnum moss behind them first to retain moisture, this gets caught up in their tendrils, so stays there after I pull the stocking off. The stocking rots after a while also, so it's very easy to pull off. I'll post a pic when I get home again....some of the tendrils can go quite a ways up the trees, so they are very fixed to the trees! I'm not sure if you can see them in my pic.
They will only come off if they are allowed to dry up over a long period of time, same goes for the stags etc. When we had the drought here I had a terrible time getting water up to them as we weren't allowed to use a hose, only buckets! Then we installed water tanks and a pump and that made it much easier! Thank goodness for them!!
That's so interesting. I noticed that there are lots of Orchids planted to Palms when we visit Disney's Animal Kingdom. I had wondered if that was the same technique that they used too as you mentioned. We are able to buy orchids in planters from the the flower store/nursery. I love how the flowers last for some time, but than afterwards its so hard to maintain and to re-flower again. Maybe I am not a green-thumb for in-house orchids.
Would love to see pics of it.
I am hoping to mulch tomorrow if weather permits. I am very behind schedule this year and really need to get a move on!
Oh really, they're in a Disney.....I'll have to go look when we visit!
I wonder if some may use a type of silicone....I've seen Tillandsia attached to small logs in that way but I think any good size orchid would be too heavy for that type of thing.
All orchids here are sold in pots also with a very well draining mix....you see a lot of polystyrene in them here with bits of bark. I cut off all flowering stems as soon as they die, that promotes new flowers for the next time....well I think it does....I've done experiments with lilies and agapanthus and it works for them.
I honestly don't do a thing with my orchids, just attach them to a tree and let Mother Nature take care of the rest!
. It's all about the watering when you have them in pots I find. You have to get that just right and of course the right mix! Good luck with your mulching, we did a big pile last week and it's still sitting there to be spread....maybe next week! Good luck with your weather!!
Yes, I do smile when I see my orchids in bloom! They are a beautiful splash of colour amongst the greenery!
And you're right, I see these orchids as soon as I open my front door!
Oh really, they're in a Disney.....I'll have to go look when we visit!
I wonder if some may use a type of silicone....I've seen Tillandsia attached to small logs in that way but I think any good size orchid would be too heavy for that type of thing.
All orchids here are sold in pots also with a very well draining mix....you see a lot of polystyrene in them here with bits of bark. I cut off all flowering stems as soon as they die, that promotes new flowers for the next time....well I think it does....I've done experiments with lilies and agapanthus and it works for them.
I honestly don't do a thing with my orchids, just attach them to a tree and let Mother Nature take care of the rest!
Good luck with your mulching, we did a big pile last week and it's still sitting there to be spread....maybe next week! Good luck with your weather!!
I would think too that it would be a lot easier for Mother Nature to takes its course and help with the growth of orchids. It seems like such a delicate flower/plant to try to maintain indoors...however, yesterday when I visited my cousin a few hours away her orchids were in bloom again! So who knows here...maybe it is the owner of the plant!
Weather is not permitting to work outdoors. It's raining. That's alright though, I have so much to do today before work tomorrow. Maybe this week I will get to the mulch!
I don't think that it's the owner of the orchid. I certainly don't have a green thumb.I would think too that it would be a lot easier for Mother Nature to takes its course and help with the growth of orchids. It seems like such a delicate flower/plant to try to maintain indoors...however, yesterday when I visited my cousin a few hours away her orchids were in bloom again! So who knows here...maybe it is the owner of the plant!
Mine seem to love the windows of my living room (looking East). Watering them once a week, or even after two weeks, is enough.
I don't think that it's the owner of the orchid. I certainly don't have a green thumb.
JA--that may have been my problem early on--watering too much. I also heard later that you should put an ice cube in twice a week and that too is sufficient watering.
Maybe I will try my hand at buying another one and try. They are just so pretty to look at, aren't they?
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