Taking Orchid Notes

I have a total of 18 Orchids, yeah I know! Once I started this blog everyone kept giving me their orchids once they were out of bloom or if they were dying. I love these orchids and I had to create a system to keep track of them somehow. With so many orchids it is hard to remember when I last watered, fertilized and treated them. I found that taking notes on them is the easiest way stay organized.

Here is some background on my orchids. I repotted 13 of them so far. The other 5 were bought in bloom, off cycle, and I am waiting for them to loose their blooms so I can repot them. And around another 5 were bought in bloom earlier this fall, again not in their normal bloom cycle, and they were repotted but will probably wait till next fall to shoot new spikes.

5 of the 18 shot up new spikes this fall and are about to bloom! Not all my orchids re-bloomed this year, for a variety of reasons. That might not seem like very good luck but most of my orchids were in really bad shape when I got them (rescued from friends etc.), three actually died due to under watering and lack of repotting from a previous owner.

I number each of my orchids and keep track of their habits. Number 5 is my rock star! I successfully repotted it last year and it has spiked beautifully! Here is a pic of it on January 5, 2012.

It has 15 little blooms off it, including a shoot that sprung from another node. I found this plant abandoned and because it was not in bloom, I can't wait to see what color it's blooms will be!

Here is an example of the notes I take on it…

5. Already bloomed orchid Last bloom unknown before Aug. 201. Repotted on Aug 17, 2011. Went up a pot size. Good condition/Healthy roots. Detected spike Sept 15, 2011. Detected new root on 9/29/11. On 10/4/11 and 10/18/11 set bigger spike on stick. 10/27/11 no new dev except spike is bigger. 11/1/11 2nd spike shot off from 1st spike/node!

I also keep track of when I water, fertilize and treat my orchids. Each orchid has a plant label that I number and then write down everything I do to it. This helps with having so many orchids because I loose track of when to fertilize etc.

FOR EXAMPLE:1/11/11 15, 16 and 17 Got the works (9 day watering difference) *2* 5 just watered (19 day watering difference) *4*

5, 15, 16, 17 are different orchids I have.

“Got the works” means I watered, fertilized, cleaned the leaves and treated my orchids.

“Just watered” means it's the 4th time I have watered my orchid and I don't use fertilizer (or any other product) so as to flush out the salts built up by fertilizing. Click here for a more detailed explanation of why this is important.

The numbers *2* and *4* at the END of the sentence is the treatment sequence it is in…*1* = Got the Works*2* = Got the Works*3* = Got the Works*4* = Just watered

And finally, I also like to see how many watering day difference there is…which is shown in the parentheses above. I find this helpful because sometimes I can tell by moving my orchids where the dry spots in my house are or if I need to increase humidity etc.

Hope that Helps,

Hannah

Feel free to leave comments or questions.

 

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How to Stake Orchid Spikes

My orchid is growing a shoot. Should I stake it?

Staking orchids is easy and essential for growing your standard indoor orchids. Most orchids do not naturally grow up, as we see them sold in our local florist shops. In nature they sometimes grow on trees, clinging to them and sometimes growing down (as shown below). It will not hurt your orchid to stake it, we simply do this because it looks pretty growing in our homes.

Overview

I normally wait till my spikes are at least 3 – 4 inches long and then I gentle attach them to a stake and wait for them to grow even longer before attaching a second clip. They are so fragile at first and will break very easily. This has happened to me before and I was heart broken. Then you can gradually add more clips and manipulate it straight up.

On the other hand if you wait till they are much longer and try to stake them then they can break as well becasue at this time they have hardened a bit. You have to start when they are smaller but be very careful because the new stalk is tender and gradually gets much firmer as it grows.

How to stake an orchid

1. Once your orchid shoot/spike has begun growing it will grow upwards for a couple of inches before it would naturally starts falling. At this time get a stake (I get mine from here) and gently push it in the mix next to the shoot (as shown below).

2. Then take ties/clips to secure it to the stake.

Note: be careful with orchid spikes…as stated above, they are fragile until they are bigger. I recently went to clip the spike of an orchid to a stake and the tip broke off. It was very upsetting. Make sure they are a couple of inches (at least 3 inches) long before clipping them and be very gentle!

There are many ties/clips you can choose from. Here are two examples of basic clips and then some fun clips…

3. As your orchid shoot grows you will need small to large steaks. Gently replace the stakes, with larger ones, as it grows (as shown below).

4. Eventually it will begin to show bulbs and at this point you can let it fall naturally at that top to create an arch, which will give it a nice full look (as shown below).

Below is what your orchid should look like when fully bloomed and staked properly.

Hope that helps,

Hannah

Feel free to leave comments or questions.

 

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Root & Spike Difference

What's the difference between a root and spike?

*Above two picture is one of my Phalaenopsis orchid spiking. You can see the small buds growing.

If you have successfully repotted your orchid (it's on a natural schedule) and Fall has arrived you should be anxiously awaiting for it to spike. By “spike” I mean the beginning of the shoot that becomes the bloom.

The big question is it a SPIKE or is it a ROOT?

It is very easy to confuse a root for a spike. But once you see a real spike you will not confuse them again! They look like little “mittens” or little hands, as shown in the picture above and will grow upwards towards light. And easy way to remember this…it's cold out (fall) look for “mittens”

You should expect to see these little “mittens” on your orchid by Thanksgiving. Spikes emerge from the same area of the plant as some ariel roots which is why it easy to confuse them. In the picture below you can see both a root and a spike. Can you tell the difference? The spike is bright green, aiming upwards and has that classic ” mitten” shape…it's in the middle. The root is growing lower and is smaller and has a dusty green/white color.

Here is another example…In this picture the spike is again bright green, growing up and has the mitten shape. While the roots, below it, are again a dusty green/white color.

In this last pic we see a better picture of the roots. You can see a big, more established, spike/shoot on the left – which is growing behind the stick and is probably in bloom. This orchid has a bunch of ariel roots, they are growing all around this pot. In this case the orchid needs to be repotted soon to push some of these roots down in the soil.

Each spike on a orchid will have at least a few nodes going up the spike prior to the blooms. A node, shown below, looks like a little half envelope going up the branch and each node has the potential to branch off and have it's own bloom!

Make sure you have stakes on hand to hold up your new spike. For spiking tips go here.

Hope that helps!

Hannah

Feel free to leave comments or questions.

 

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