The orchid "business" was a 300 million dollar phenomenon in 2024, worldwide; and expected to increase to 400 million by 2033. Considering that it has to compete with all kinds of flowers and flowering plants - roses, irises, carnations, etc. - and a somewhat "high casualty rate", folks still love to buy them. Like millions of hapless folks, I too was responsible for the demise of close to a dozen plants over just a few years of buying them. Like clockwork after the last bloom had fallen off the stem, each one managed to survive for a bit, then expired.
But not anymore, because I've successfully decoded its secrets. And it's really not much of a secret.
1. A one-minute and a five-minute hour glass timer (clocks, wristwatches, oven timers, etc. will work too, of course) are the first two to have. They're cheap and a lot more convenient to use.
2. Water by immersion. With the plant in its (inner) plastic container, immerse it in lukewarm water in a vessel with a wide top, such as the cookie box shown below, with water level up to the brim of the container. Use a one-minute timer for a small plant; five-minute timer for a bigger plant. Do this at a specific day of the week (say, every Saturday morning) thus maintaining the time between watering. Pick the day and time that you can stick to with consistency.
3. Drain the plant and container completely.
4. Put it back in to its main container (usually what it came with from the store)
5. Orchids are supposed to bloom at least once a year; twice if all the planets are lined up just so, just kidding. But indeed, some new varieties are supposed to bloom bi-annually under the right ideal conditions.
This is the first time ever in my entire experience that orchids in my care re-bloomed. And only in the last two years that all of them survived.
Next two photos below are the new buds ever!
First ever re-blooms, below:
At last, a woodworking project from way back gets rewarded with blooming orchids. Over the years, it had seen all kinds of different plants. Slowly, the original residents had moved to different locations in the house, as one by one orchids (purchased one at a time, as occasions called for - my wife's birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions) had replaced each one at a time.
It is now called an orchid tree. It is at the right place - the east side of the house where the filtered morning sunlight provides ideal lighting.
Orchids do not like direct sunlight. In the wild they are usually protected by the canopy of tall trees. If cared for correctly, orchid flowers can last 3-4 months from day of purchase. I hope these new ones will last even longer.
Tip 1: If the stalk stays green after the last bloom had fallen off, it is possible for new blooms to come out of it, specially if tiny buds are showing. Of course, it must be cut off if it turns brown. Leave it alone if it remains green - you might just have it re-bloom as what happened to three of them in our case.
Tip 2: drop a pinch of water soluble fertilizer into the water before immersion; and you can fertilize by spraying the leaves once a month. Orchids will start to bud during the cold season. I read that it is best to stop fertilizing during the late fall to encourage orchids to bud. Make sure not to spray the flowers once they bloom.
Tip 3: Though not from the best authority or scientific research, other than my own imagination, orchids love classical music - Chopin's piano and some light soprano arias from popular operas, for example. And Massenet's "Meditation" from Thais (late evening or early morning). All are searchable in YouTube.
I must not ignore the other plants. If word gets to them that I did a special on orchids and not even mention them, I risk the consequences. Although they had their share of woodworking projects, they know that the orchid tree is a massive structure relative to where they sit, specially for those who used to be up there on the "tree".
Most of them are in non-draining containers; one even in an old coffee pot.
Did you know that only five per cent of plant growth comes from the soil? Or, so I read. And you've seen vegetables and strawberry hydroponically grown. Water lilies do very well in nothing but water. Much of the plant comes from the water and the air (carbon from CO2, hydrogen and oxygen from the water and minerals from the soil). It expels the oxygen and keeps the carbon which combines with hydrogen to become compound molecules, as in carbohydrates. That is, of course, how we get carbohydrates when we consume vegetables, fruits and potatoes and rice, etc. and the vitamins come from the minerals in the soil.
Plants, therefore, are our best air cleaners in the house. We breathe out carbon dioxide which the plants take. They "breathe out" oxygen which we then breathe in. A fair exchange for those who spend most times indoor in enclosed air-conditioned homes.
The next three photos below are growing in non-draining planters (flower vases and the coffee pots) and very little soil needed. They've had their share of woodworking projects for their pedestals. Non-draining planters require very little watering at a time and spill over are avoided for the most part.
Two of these plants below grow on the tiniest real estate available
Discarded cooking glass pots are the two largest non-draining planters/
House indoor plants are not just for decoration. They do serve a healthful purpose. I read somewhere that they are indeed effective air purifiers. Supposedly, they remove air pollutants as well. NASA has a plant program to be part of long space voyages in the future - a sort of oxygen-carbon-oxygen recycling process between humans and plants in enclosed spaces.
