Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Janni (pronounced "Yannee" - and is also an anagram of "ninja" :P), and I'm 27 years old. I live in Denmark, in a small town about an hour and a half south of Copenhagen, in an assisted living facility that also doubles as an organic farm, which produces vegetables and keeps Angus cattle, sheep, horses and chicken. The residents and employees work on the farm as much as they can during the day, and it's a wonderful place for both humans and animals!
Anyway, I recently stepped into the wonderful world of Orchids - I've wanted one since I was a child as I've always found them beautify and have been fascinated by them, but my mother kept telling me that they were too hard to take care of and would lose their blooms the second you brought them home - and when they lose their blooms, they're dead, she thought. So I never dared getting one, in fear of killing it.
But about two months ago, I saw some Phalaenopsis hybrids in the local supermarket - usually, that's a place that you would avoid buying orchids from, but I didn't know better, and the orchids I saw were in really bad shape, and I thought to myself that since they were going to die anyway, maybe I should have a go at saving them - I might be able to do a better job at taking care of them than the supermarket did. And if I killed them... well, at least I tried.
So I brought two of them home - the label said Phal Hybrid (although it didn't specify the parents), so I went ahead and researched Phal care on the internet. And I was positively surprised - they didn't seem all that hard to care for at all compared to other plants! Of course, it turned out that I needed a few things to do it right (fertilizer and a potting mix made for orchids, as the ones I rescued were planted in regular houseplant soil). Before I managed to get a hold of these things, one of the Phals lost most of its blooms though - but I wasn't discouraged. I knew that if I did it right, it would bloom again at some point. Once I got the fertilizer, the second orchid had lost a couple of blooms as well, but the second I fed them, I almost saw improvements right away! The remaining blooms stayed on the stem, the plants perked up and their roots (of which there were only few live ones when I got it) grew and became green or silvery. They looked SO much better! And today, they're still in bloom and doing great!
A few days later, I visited another grocery store, and it turned out that they too had orchids for sale - also Phals/Phal hybrids (some would classify them as Doritaenopsis though, even though they are really referred to as Phals today). They looked marginally better than the first two I bought, and since I had now been bitten by the orchid bug, I decided to get two of them. They also perked up and this time, no blooms were dropped! :) They too are doing well today, and are still blooming (and there are buds everywhere!).
But I couldn't stop there! I like my Phals/Dtps's, but I decided to look into other kinds if Orchids and build a collection. I researched and researched and researched, and picked out some species and colors I would like. And then, I bought them along with the equipment I'd need (from an online store called OrkideImperiet ("The Orchid Empire"). It didn't take long for me to collect several orchids, and today, only a couple of months later, I have over 20 orchids. This is my list:
Calanthe Triplicata x Masuca hybrid
Laelia Purpurata (Brassolaelia Morning Glory)
Brassolaeliocattleya King of Taiwan "Da Shin"
Laeliocattleya Cariad's Mini Quinnee "Angel Kiss"
Odontoglossum Trilobum x Odontocidium Tiger Glow
Miltonia
Acacalis Cyanea x Zygopetalum Helen Ku
Otonsia/Zygopetalum Rhein Blue Baby
6 Phalaenopsis/Doritaenopsis hybrids which are bought from supermarkets and/or have been splitted or given to me as gifts
Doritaenopsis Anna Larati Soekardi
Doritaenopsis Tzu Chang Sapphire
Dendrobium Cretaceum x Anosmum
Dendrobium Glomeratum/Sulawesiense
Burrageara Nelly Isler
And I'm waiting for the following to be delivered:
Cattleya Maxima
Laelia Purpurata
Cattleya Pittiae var. striata
Laelia Dayana var. coerulea
Phalaenopsis Bellina
Phalaenopsis Gigantea x Bellina
So far so good. :) I'm sure more will be joining the collection as time passes, although I live in a single room apartment, so there isn't all that much space, haha. But I'm sure I'll be able to fit more in. :P
That was a bit about me and how I entered the wonderful world of Orchids - I've already learned a lot about these amazing plants, and I love learning more every day. I also enjoy taking care of them and making them "comfortable". It's such a great hobby and I'm so glad I found it!
As for the diary, there was a lovely surprise waiting for me one evening - my Bl. Morning Glory had bloomed! There were two buds, and it only took a couple of days for the second one to follow, so it's in full bloom now - I'll post a few photos later. Also, I found not one, but TWO baby pseudobulbs on my Blc. King of Taiwan two days ago. What a lovely surprise! Can't wait to see them grow! As for two of the grocery store Phals, one of them has started creating a Keiki (Hawaiian for "baby") - I can't cut it off and plant it though, like you can with some Keikis - this is a basal keiki (growing on the base of the plant, in between the leaves), and removing it would likely kill the mother plant. You should only remove a keiki if it's growing on one of the flower stems. Then, there is the one that turned out to be TWO plants! I split them, and now I have two pink Phals instead of one. Awesomesauce!
Another thing to report would also be the fact that I'm changing fertilizer - I've been using an NPK orchid fertilizer from the grocery store where I bought the first two Phals, and it has done its job, but now, I'm switching to something called Orchid Focus, which was recommended to me by several growers and hobbyists. I've bought a pack of three different kinds - one for blooming plants, one for growing plants, and a third one called "ultra", which is something you give the plants along with either the one for growing plants or the one for blooming plants. I hope the chids like it. :)
Also, I think I'll be repotting some of the orchids that were planted in moss and a moss/bark mix when I got them - I'm afraid I'll overwater, as these mediums retain more moisture than bark does, so I really want to repot them into bark (which I'm using for all of the other orchids). Although I might make a moss-bark mix for the plants that like to stay moist at all times. I need to read up on it and then, we'll see.
Anyway, I suppose that's it for now. :) I'll make sure to report whenever I can!
Have an awesome day!
-Janni
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