lets hear itfor the cymbidium orchid,you dont see them in the supermarket,but garden centres often have them for £10+,and they are great,can be put out side in Summer,june/Oct lots of foliage and beautifull sprays of flowers, had mine for 15 years,swap with friends and repot every 4 years and take new plants off..try them.
loved all the posts, this is my first orchid and I am definitely smitten. Can anyone tell me if I should continue to feed now it is winter? I have been using the special little bottles that you stand upside down in the compost.
I was given an orchid last Christmas and didn't know how to care for it apart from little watering and using an orchid feeder bottle as mentioned by Diane. I completely removed the flowering stem back to the base and thought I wouldn't see anymore flowers BUT it is flowering again and has 8 blooms as I write. Thanks to all the tips given by your site I am going to try to follow the advice and hope for even more flowers in the future.
Greenman: learn some manners. If you are going to leave mean-spirited, rude responses to articles, at least have the courage to do so under your real name.
The key is feeding them. Put in a drip feeder (sold in garden centres and probably supermarkets) and water occasionally. That's it. No need to worry about cutting flower spikes and humidity - it'll produce at least one flower spike if not more and mine has flowered constantly for at least 6 months if not longer.
I have lots of Phalenopsis happily flowering away in north facing windows; an odontocidium & several dendrobiums re-flowering for the third year on a south facing window sill; By my north-facing front door I have a rampant zygopetalum which is coming back into flower for the second time this year; In my greenhouse I had an anguloa and a vanda re-flower this summer but I can't keep paphiopedilums or miltonias!
I recently picked up a reduced price miltoniopsis with wonderfully scented, creamy yellow flowers. It had been neglected in the garden center and the top buds had died, but I was hopeful that I could give it enough TLC to see it thrive, however it is not doing well. I have tried it in various positions but the flowers and buds all died and now the leaves are yellowing. This is my third attempt at this type of orchid, can anyone help?
Further to the question of whether moth orchids should be left to the rainforest, most of the varieties on sale are nursery-bred hybrids!
I do think that they should come with more detailed care instructions, usually, due to being imported from abroad, they just have a set of vague diagrams and often they don't even have a proper name. I think it is sad that companies sell them as potted bouqutes and expect most of them to die - so that people will buy more! They can be such rewarding plants to grow.
I have four orchids, two are in flower now the other two finished flowering a month ago and already have new buds forming. The first orchid I bought about 4 years ago and until last month it had 54 flowers on four stems. The flowers fell from two stems and the remaining two stems still have 24 flowers! I have had my moneys worth from this plant alone as it is rarely without flowers, orchids, I love them!
I was given an orchid at the end of August 2008(an M&S one)It had 3 stems full of flowers&buds.I'm now down to 1 stem and the last 3 flowers.What a birthday present!,it has given me such pleasure for 14mths.Now looking forward to caring for it until it decides to throw up more stems.They may seem expensive but are really good value,but only in the right hands(or should that be green fingers!)
Yep. me too. Bought a moth from Sainsburys for £7 in Jan 2008, with a smile from the girl on the checkout. It has flowered ever since, a second spike coming as the flowers on the first were reaching the tip. Now this flower spike is reaching the end, it is producing two new leaves so i have bought a drip feed from B&Q. Otherwise just misted and moistened with rainwater. On a desk, near a radiator and a large north facing window
What a pleasure to read all the post about orchids after coming in from the garden ,frozen from picking up Bramleys. The hardy orchids are beautiful too and so easy to grow at the front of a border or in the rockery - just make sure they do not come from the wild.
Posts
I recently picked up a reduced price miltoniopsis with wonderfully scented, creamy yellow flowers. It had been neglected in the garden center and the top buds had died, but I was hopeful that I could give it enough TLC to see it thrive, however it is not doing well. I have tried it in various positions but the flowers and buds all died and now the leaves are yellowing. This is my third attempt at this type of orchid, can anyone help?
Further to the question of whether moth orchids should be left to the rainforest, most of the varieties on sale are nursery-bred hybrids!
I do think that they should come with more detailed care instructions, usually, due to being imported from abroad, they just have a set of vague diagrams and often they don't even have a proper name. I think it is sad that companies sell them as potted bouqutes and expect most of them to die - so that people will buy more! They can be such rewarding plants to grow.