this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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Nature and Gardening
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That's funny, out of all the plants I have, I've never owned an orchid because (ironically) I've been concerned about their care! I know now they're nothing to be scared of but I had that mindset when I first started collecting and I guess it just stuck lol.
I've understood that orchids thrive on neglect
I think it's really just getting the soil and pot right tbh. I have based mine on the "wiffle ball" technique except instead of buying a wiffle ball I just made a bark clump in the middle and then wrapped the roots and bark with sphagnum moss, and then bark + moss on the top to try to hold some of the moisture in, each in a good orchid pot. That made them pretty happy as before they were just hanging on and were dealing with root rot from the pot they came in. I stick my finger in the bark occasionally and soak them for like 15 minutes when they're dry. I think it's about every week and a half.
Right now I'm trying to keep a little hydrangea alive that we bought our son, I think it had pretty bad transplant shock when I repotted it. It's lost all the flowers and leaves after a month or so but I see new leaf growth so I'm just holding steady trying to make sure it's getting water only when it needs it.