I just realized I said "orchard" instead of "orchid" and I can't change the post title, sorry friends!
My papa got this orchid from a friend of his a few years ago as a gift. He LOVES plants and did such an amazing job caring for all of them. Unfortunately, his health has been declining and he no longer has the ability to care for his beloved houseplants anymore.
After he moved into a care facility he gave me his orchid and told me "I loved this very much but it looks like my love isn't enough. Why don't you try giving it some love?" And that's exactly what I did. I researched for days on how to properly care for an orchid and after many painstaking months of wondering if I killed it... It bloomed. And then another bloomed, and another... And now it's thriving.
I showed him a picture of the orchid and he about teared up just looking at it. It was a great bonding experience for the both of us. I'm so glad it lived!
EDIT: My Papa is my Grandfather, not my Father! Sorry for the confusion!
Edit EDIT: For those asking how I brought my orchid back/how to pot your own!:
When I got the poor guy it had a bunch of rotten roots. (They are rotten if they are brown and yucky looking) you want to have deep green or pale green roots. So, I trimmed off the bad ones and then I began setting up my terrarium for it! Apparently orchids need light to hit their roots in order to stay healthy. (I had no idea about this before i started researching!)
What I did for the terrarium is I got this glass vase dome thingy (kinda looks like a dessert vase for a trifle or something) but any glass vase will do as long as it's wide enough (you want one that's deep and wide).
You can also get orchid pots, which have holes all over the sides to allow the roots to wrap themselves on the pot and to get light that way. I've tried them and for some reason I've never had success so I prefer the terrarium dome method.
Oh! And make sure the vase/glass container is thin enough that light can penetrate it. If you get one that's too thick light won't reach the roots all that well.
What I used to "plant" the orchid was:
•Get some small, mixed rocks to rest at the bottom of the glass whatever you have
•Next, add a small layer of coconut fiber and/or woodchips
•And on top add a generous amount of peat moss.
You'll want to make sure to take the orchid and carefully wrap the roots around the moss. You want to be sure the roots are all exposed to light. You may need to get a stick thingy to hold it in place but if there are enough roots you should be able to just wrap it around like an octopus holding onto something
Placement of the flower is important. Be sure that it gets some sun, but, mostly shade. If they are in the sun all the time it gets much too dry and the leaves start to die and the roots shrivel.
Also KEEP THAT BAD BOY MOIST!! If the moss is too dry (stick your finger in there to check) then mist it with water. You don't want to ever dump water in there!! Get yourself a spray bottle or mister and make sure the moss gets evenly moist.
.... And that's it, I think. That's all I've been doing and it works great!!
Orchids are such dramatic assholes. * gives a bit too much water once * “Whelp, that’s it for me! I’m fucking off to orchid heaven and you can suffer while watching my corpse collapse over the next two weeks!”
![image showing After My Papa Couldn't Care For It Anymore, I Brought His Dying 8 Year Old Orchard Back To Life [OC]](89ed525a-e8f8-5b34-a99d-2e0f498fdc04.jpg)
KohanaCat on July 20th, 2022 at 23:50 UTC »
I just realized I said "orchard" instead of "orchid" and I can't change the post title, sorry friends!
My papa got this orchid from a friend of his a few years ago as a gift. He LOVES plants and did such an amazing job caring for all of them. Unfortunately, his health has been declining and he no longer has the ability to care for his beloved houseplants anymore.
After he moved into a care facility he gave me his orchid and told me "I loved this very much but it looks like my love isn't enough. Why don't you try giving it some love?" And that's exactly what I did. I researched for days on how to properly care for an orchid and after many painstaking months of wondering if I killed it... It bloomed. And then another bloomed, and another... And now it's thriving.
I showed him a picture of the orchid and he about teared up just looking at it. It was a great bonding experience for the both of us. I'm so glad it lived!
EDIT: My Papa is my Grandfather, not my Father! Sorry for the confusion!
Edit EDIT: For those asking how I brought my orchid back/how to pot your own!:
When I got the poor guy it had a bunch of rotten roots. (They are rotten if they are brown and yucky looking) you want to have deep green or pale green roots. So, I trimmed off the bad ones and then I began setting up my terrarium for it! Apparently orchids need light to hit their roots in order to stay healthy. (I had no idea about this before i started researching!)
What I did for the terrarium is I got this glass vase dome thingy (kinda looks like a dessert vase for a trifle or something) but any glass vase will do as long as it's wide enough (you want one that's deep and wide).
You can also get orchid pots, which have holes all over the sides to allow the roots to wrap themselves on the pot and to get light that way. I've tried them and for some reason I've never had success so I prefer the terrarium dome method.
Oh! And make sure the vase/glass container is thin enough that light can penetrate it. If you get one that's too thick light won't reach the roots all that well.
What I used to "plant" the orchid was:
•Get some small, mixed rocks to rest at the bottom of the glass whatever you have
•Next, add a small layer of coconut fiber and/or woodchips
•And on top add a generous amount of peat moss.
You'll want to make sure to take the orchid and carefully wrap the roots around the moss. You want to be sure the roots are all exposed to light. You may need to get a stick thingy to hold it in place but if there are enough roots you should be able to just wrap it around like an octopus holding onto something
Placement of the flower is important. Be sure that it gets some sun, but, mostly shade. If they are in the sun all the time it gets much too dry and the leaves start to die and the roots shrivel.
Also KEEP THAT BAD BOY MOIST!! If the moss is too dry (stick your finger in there to check) then mist it with water. You don't want to ever dump water in there!! Get yourself a spray bottle or mister and make sure the moss gets evenly moist.
.... And that's it, I think. That's all I've been doing and it works great!!
bertieqwerty on July 21st, 2022 at 00:14 UTC »
I was momentarily very worried for your dad's 8 year old.
Patriot9800 on July 21st, 2022 at 00:15 UTC »
Orchids are such dramatic assholes. * gives a bit too much water once * “Whelp, that’s it for me! I’m fucking off to orchid heaven and you can suffer while watching my corpse collapse over the next two weeks!”