Braved Re-Potting the Last of Mom's Orchids

To be honest, I haven't found the best way to care for my Mom's orchids. A number have gone to waste. I researched, followed what medium to use, watering, sunlight, pots etc, but nope, none have survived me, huhu.

When we transferred what was left of my Mom's plants, I found one small pot of dendrobiums. A millipede came out of the pot, so I quarantined it first. After that I gave it some rice water every once in awhile.

Eventually, I was surprised to see it grow new leaves. It's been four months and I finally had the courage to re-pot it. Mom used to put charcoal and coco husk in her pots, so I did that with some sphagnum moss. 

I carefully split in two. I read dendrobiums like smaller pots and doesn't like a lot of space. I also read that you should only re-pot it when it's filled up the pot. I tried to replicate the condition it was in so it's not stressed and doesn't die under my care.

It's been a few days and it's so far still standing. I'm debating whether I should remove the white skin. Mom used to have me remove it before. She said it suffocates the orchid. I'll try it next week and remove a bit next week.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Propagating Bougainvillea and Rescuing Plants

I took cuttings of Mom's huge bougainvillea tree. She has various colours which I hope to propagate. I made several pots out of the cuttings. Mom told me before you just need to stick it in soil and it will grow. I hope it will be successful.

We got another set of Mom's plants. The summer heat has been making them crispy and I can't rely on the caretaker to water them properly. I've been learning a lot about plants since I have to research before I re-pot and organize them.

I saw a pot of snow white aglaonema and I was ecstatic. I told Sweetie the other night I didn't have other varieties of aglaonema and wanted the white one. I didn't actually notice that Mom had a white one, so I was really happy when I found one in her collection. It looked so sad though, so I dunked it in water for 30 minutes. It's recovering well now.

Other plants I got: yucca (I think) -

A bromeliad

And orchids -

I'm still working on re-potting them. I hope I'll be able to save them :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Garden Update After Being Away for 3 Weeks

 My boys tried to keep my plants happy while I was in the hospital. They'd go home in the evenings to feed the cats and water the plants. Of course, this meant the usual routine was disrupted. The herbs were normally watered twice a day. I usually used a soil meter in the afternoons to make sure they were not overwatered. 

The orchids had a special watering routine. I'd give them garlic water once a week and spray the roots whenever they were dry. The gumamela plants were watered twice a day. The rest of the plants I'd water in the afternoons. Watering the plants is part of my exercise regime and I started doing part of it again today. I'll probably conk out soon, haha. 

As expected, some plants died while I was away. I haven't seen the herbs yet, but Sweetie said some of them look really sad. Told him not to worry, we can just buy again when we're able to go to Tagaytay. The orchids survived with some leaves wilting. I must have done something right because the buds that started three weeks ago have started to bloom. Yay!

I nicknamed the philodendron, Jack. It grew at least 2 more feet the past few weeks. I added a long bamboo stick to hold it up. I'll trim it once I get better and will start a new pot which I plan to put indoors. The aglaonemas are doing well. I hope to see them produce flowers like what I saw at Mom's house. 

Jack the Philodendron

The cacti and succulents are all doing well. I think they were happy to have dried soil. I think I asked Sweetie to water them once while I was away. Rubber plant soil was super dry, but it likes it that way. I've yet to check my veggies. The mustasa died while I was away, but it was already doing that direction even before my first admission. I'll just plant some again. 

The gumamela plants are fine albeit with some yellow leaves. Sweetie said they produced some flowers while I was in the hospital. I sprayed them with neem oil today and will resume spraying apple cider vinegar maybe tomorrow to keep the mites out. I probably need to prune new leaves also to encourage them to produce flowers again. 

Going to nurse them back to good health.

I hope to get some poinsettia for Christmas. Maybe I'll find some next week if I get my energy back. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Reviving Orchids, Huge Improvement after a Month!

Taking care of orchids wasn't something I wanted to do. Three were passed on to me last May. I honestly had no clue how to care for it. It did not turn out well. All of them almost died, well, one is still in ICU. I just couldn't get the hang of watering it. Mom had a lot of orchids and the only thing she taught me was to use charcoal, water well and remove the white hard skin. 

So I followed her and watered the orchids everyday. It ended in disaster. The roots rotted and I realized unlike Mom, the orchids that were sent to me were cocooned in moss. It kept the roots of the orchids wet. I guess that's how they do it to keep the flowers looking fresh. I didn't know you should immediately remove the moss and re-pot it. 

Yup, it was that bad.

I only found out when Kuya gave me orchids for my birthday. The flowers started immediately! I thought it was just the flowers, but it didn't look well after a month. So one fine October day I got to work. I followed the advise of Happiness Garden. Removed all the orchids from their pots and took out the moss. I removed the roots that rotted and gave them a garlic and ginger bath. Then I re-potted them in a terracotta pot with coco cubes as the main medium. 

After removing the medium.

To ensure I wasn't overwatering I would stick my finger under the roots to check for moisture. I give them a garlic bath once a week and then I just spray them with rain water almost everyday. The leaves now have a nice sheen and the roots have grown. I was really surprised to see the youngest sprout a new stem after just a few weeks. I think it will eventually sprout some flowers. 

Hopefully a flower coming soon!

One month after. Roots are a nice shade of green.

Mom always reassured me I don't have a brown thumb. I just need to work on learning how to care for my plants better. Orchids though to be honest are hard to care for. I need to check Mom's orchids to see how she had been potting them. I know she also attached them to driftwood before. I also need to discover how she had been able to make them produce flowers all year round. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Caring for Orchids?

TBH I haven't the faintest idea about caring for orchids. My Mom lovedd them and she successfully got them to bloom year after year. She tried to get me into it, but I found it too complicated. She'd give me easy to do tasks. The only thing I remember is never to water the flower and leaves, keep them on pots with charcoal or bunot (coco husk). Give them fertilizer every so often and that orchids like egg shells. 

I received three pots of orchids last week. It came in a decorative crate. After a few days the flowers started to wilt and I knew they had to be re-potted and watered. Watched a few videos and did some research. I wasn't sure if it was safe to use coco peat only. The plant started to wilt and I thought it wasn't good for it to stay enclosed in plastic.

Found some unused terracotta pots and transplanted the two orchids. I filled it up with coco peat and they looked okay in it for a few days. I ordered some coco husk in case I needed to re-pot them again. Good thing I did because they didn't look good after awhile. Transferred the three orchids yesterday and hope they get better drainage in their new set-up. 

One thing I'm not sure about how much sunlight they should get. I read they should only get morning sun and should be protected from the afternoon sun. Mom used to place her orchids under a tree or some shade. They got morning sun, but would also get wet if it rained. They survived. Since it's been very hot, I have placed the three pots just outside my craft room. They would get some morning sun and I might put a net on the side to protect them from the afternoon sun. 

Here's hoping they would survive.

#BeKind #StaySafe