A little maintenance was in order ..

For Pepper's Sympathy Orchid. As many of you know already, his orchid recently began to push out a new bloom spike. The spike has been growing for the past few weeks and is now almost 4 to 5 inches tall. I first noticed this spike emerging approximately 30 days ago. Ever since that time it has been on the move and growing rapidly.

Below - Photo from 30 days ago

This morning, while enjoying coffee with my mom .. I observed it curving towards the sun as they naturally do. I knew it was time two insert a stake and possibly clip the bloom stem in place. By clipping The spikes to a rod, or wooden dowel in this case, you can train the bloom spikes to follow the rod. One may want to do this in order to give the spike some support and direction. I’m sure you can just naturally leave it to grow in whatever direction it wants to, but Phalaenopsis blooms can become quite heavy and may even snap the stem if left unsupported.

I do what any good orchid parent would do .. I go for my stash of stakes and clips, and get to work. I cleaned and sanitized these brown wooden stakes when I remove them from other pots. I did the same with the clips. I find it a good practice to keep a bottle of premixed sanitation solution available in handy. All you have to do is spray these items with the spray and wait for them to dry. This is a good step to perform, as well as sanitizing anything you use to cut or trim the plants. By doing so you will prevent transferring any sort of diseases or viruses from plant to plant.

Here I have my stakes and my clips laid out and drying after sanitation was completed.

Next step is I find a decent spot to insert my stake.. In this case I chose the edge of the pot between two leaves. The spot is close by mistake that is already being used to support the stem that is currently blooming. Sometimes it is hard to find a spot close bye, without puncturing the plant. In that case I tend to put the stake further away and slowly guide the stem to the stake, then attach at a later point in time. I don’t want to force the flowers spike and break it. They are very fragile and break easily if you force them in any One Direction. I would avoid that at all costs.

Next I took a clip and secured the flower spike to the wood. You’ll see (above) that I chose a spot just below the second node. I don’t want to put it any higher so as not to interfere with the growing terminal end of the spike. These clips are pretty loose so I don’t think you’ll have a serious issue if you clip the spike to the wood dowel incorrectly.

There we go, she is all staked up, clipped, and now we wait. What are we waiting for? We are waiting for the bloom spike to grow further and as it does I will continue to add additional clips and adjust clips that I have already used. I’ll probably end up adding two or three additional clips before the spike takes a turn towards the sun and the flower blooms start forming. At that point I just let them do as they will or as they may or as they want to do. LOL

Here’s a photo (above) with my hand, to give you a sense of size and scale. As you can see it’s a good 4 to 5 inches tall and still growing. The very first bottom section near the first node is already beginning to turn a dark shade of green. This area is quite strengthened and will most likely not grow anymore. Well, at least in length, however it may grow in girth. The terminal end, the lighter end of the blooms bike will continue to grow higher and higher.

I finished clipping the blooms spike, and finished my conversation with my mother, over more coffee. My parents came in for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary, so it was nice to catch up with them and chitchat for a while. We were both wondering if the spike will bloom while the other spike retains its blooms. That is yet to be decided. It’ll be interesting to see and awesome if it does happen. I haven’t had a Phalaenopsis yet with two bloom spikes blooming at the same time. The last time a bloom spike emerged while another one was in full bloom, the flowers began to wilt and fall off just before the newer ones opened.

Random Molly Photo - Can't leave her out!

As always, I will keep you posted and Orchid Updated.

hehehe.

I look forward to the next time I can do just that. See you all again soon!

“Forgive me for interrupting your task," Devon said to Helen after they were introduced.
A hesitant smile emerged. "Not at all, my lord. I'm merely observing the orchids to make certain there is nothing they lack."
"How can you tell what they lack?" Devon asked.
"I see the color of their leaves, or the condition of the petals. I look for signs of aphids or Thrips, and I try to remember which varieties prefer moist soil and which ones like to be drier."
"Will you show them to me?" Devon asked.
Helen nodded and led him along the rows, pointing out particular specimens. "This was all my mother's collection. One of her favorites was Peristeria elata." She showed him a plant with marble-white blossom. "The central part of the flower resembles a tiny dove, you see? And this one is Dendrobium aemulum. It's called a feather orchid because of the petals." With a flash of shy mischief, Helen glanced back at Kathleen and remarked, "My sister-in-law isn't fond of orchids."
"I despise them," Kathleen said, wrinkling her nose. "Stingy, demanding flowers that take forever to bloom. And some of them smell like old boots or rancid meat."
"Those aren't my favorite," Helen admitted. "But I hope to love them someday. Sometimes one must love something before it becomes lovable.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Cold-Hearted Rake

Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!

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