Historically, our home has not been a great place for plants. We tried container gardening one spring and summer, and again the following year, but Jane mostly just wanted to play in the pots while they were inside. The past few years have only really involved herbs in our lives, until this year with some pepper plants and tomatoes on the deck as well.
This summer, we gave orchids a try. They were just the normal potted kind from Whole Foods, but I was able to keep a number of them alive and have had some for over six months. If you are not so great with regular maintenance, orchids might be a good plant to try - they take 1/4 cup of water once every week or week and a half, and are absolutely gorgeous when they bloom. People think you know what you're doing! Most recently, two bloomed so full their containers continued to tip over and spill their bark, perhaps with some cat-sistance.
I finally roped Alex into going to the garden center with me. He really ought to go so I don't buy 37 pots of ridiculous scale and colors for our tiny home, but sometimes your wife drags shopping out because of her inability to decide so errands seem more like torture. Also, everything might end up pink and/or neon bright if he doesn't. We chose some gold colored pots for the living room, and were happy to find a metal option that would not break if it were Jane-d off the sill like many a clay pot has...
We learned a bit about orchids from a very helpful man in the greenhouse at Gethsemane Garden Center. These beautiful plants naturally grow on trees in the jungle, with roots extending around the branches to anchor and obtain moisture. Hence, the plants don't need to be planted in dirt to receive nutrients, instead a bit of mossy potting mix is sufficient, and bark can be added. So, basically a great fit for a Jane-home, as she doesn't have much to dig in. To repot the plants, an only slightly larger container is needed, as it just needs to have some breathing room for the roots, and not much water around. The environment should really be mostly dry, which is why special orchid pots have ventilation in their sides. We didn't ultimately choose those, but there is still lots of time left for me to pick up ones I liked at the Home Depot...
When removing the plants from the old container, it is best to wait until the plant is not in a blooming cycle. I totally disregarded this rule, as I had the supplies, the knowledge, and wanted to get something productive done while Alex was away. It is important to maintain as much of the live rooting as possible, but ok to remove parts that are dead. Also, to trim off dead stems. You can test either by snipping off a small part to check for a green center (wick), and sometimes the dead parts will just pop off. It may be easier to cut the previous container if the roots have grown around it, and it's important to untangle roots that are shaped like a sphere or with a hollow in between - this would be formed around a tree branch in nature, but there's no such stabilizing structure in a pot.
The plants were actually repotted into smaller plastic containers that I placed inside the pot on top of a layer of stones for drainage. If we need to repot in the future, we have room for larger ones to fit as well. I also added stones to the bottom of the plastic planter to help with balance - orchids can become quite top-heavy - then the potting mix around the roots and finally some bark on top to break down as needed.
After everything is stable in the base of the container, it's necessary to stake orchids, as their blooms become quite heavy for the slender stems to hold up. I had a few bamboo stakes held over from last summer, and just used those in the pots. They were inexpensive, I think $2-3 each, and I actually scored and snapped long ones in half with a sturdy pair of garden shears to fit some of our pots. Most orchids come with miniature claw clips anchoring them to a slim stick, but the bamboo is sturdier and taller which is probably necessary if the plants are large enough to repot. I've also been short of clips and just tied them up with several loops of thread.
While I had a drop cloth down and dirt on the dining room table, I decided to repot other plants that were around our place. We had a few that were in a larger container that needed more room to continue to grow, and one that had already earned its own pot and needed another upgrade. I ran short on containers, and removed the handle from this basket for a tentative solution - it has a plastic liner, so I could remove it and spray paint if I really can't stand the wood tone any longer.
When removing the plants from the old container, it is best to wait until the plant is not in a blooming cycle. I totally disregarded this rule, as I had the supplies, the knowledge, and wanted to get something productive done while Alex was away. It is important to maintain as much of the live rooting as possible, but ok to remove parts that are dead. Also, to trim off dead stems. You can test either by snipping off a small part to check for a green center (wick), and sometimes the dead parts will just pop off. It may be easier to cut the previous container if the roots have grown around it, and it's important to untangle roots that are shaped like a sphere or with a hollow in between - this would be formed around a tree branch in nature, but there's no such stabilizing structure in a pot.
The plants were actually repotted into smaller plastic containers that I placed inside the pot on top of a layer of stones for drainage. If we need to repot in the future, we have room for larger ones to fit as well. I also added stones to the bottom of the plastic planter to help with balance - orchids can become quite top-heavy - then the potting mix around the roots and finally some bark on top to break down as needed.
After everything is stable in the base of the container, it's necessary to stake orchids, as their blooms become quite heavy for the slender stems to hold up. I had a few bamboo stakes held over from last summer, and just used those in the pots. They were inexpensive, I think $2-3 each, and I actually scored and snapped long ones in half with a sturdy pair of garden shears to fit some of our pots. Most orchids come with miniature claw clips anchoring them to a slim stick, but the bamboo is sturdier and taller which is probably necessary if the plants are large enough to repot. I've also been short of clips and just tied them up with several loops of thread.
While I had a drop cloth down and dirt on the dining room table, I decided to repot other plants that were around our place. We had a few that were in a larger container that needed more room to continue to grow, and one that had already earned its own pot and needed another upgrade. I ran short on containers, and removed the handle from this basket for a tentative solution - it has a plastic liner, so I could remove it and spray paint if I really can't stand the wood tone any longer.
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