MY FIRST ORCHID

You certainly did do well Sheila, I have had no luck with nearly dead orchids at all. It looks lovely now.

Well done you.....a lesser woman (meaning me) would have promptly gone to the bin with it. Big pat on the back Sheila :)

Wonderful,Sheilar..it must be very grateful to you :o)
I hope Tetrach sees this,as she is toying with the idea of getting one..really easy to care for,aren;t they? lovely two tone colour too..

Oh Sheila its beautiful....Has your colleague seen it?...:>)

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm really chuffed with it. Motinot - I took a photo on my phone to show my colleague and actually offered him it back, but he declined (said he'll just get another from Ikea, already in flower!!) but he was really impressed how I'd brought it back from the dead. He didn't know where he'd gone wrong (he said) as he'd placed it in full sun and filled the pot to the brim with water!!! (two big no nos with orchids)

Oh No! a sure fire way to kill it off..I bet you could almost hear it sigh in relief when you adopted it :o)

Yes you did very well indeed ! ... and I'm glad you rescued the orchid. It's beautiful :o)

stunning plants arent they, so perfect they dont look real sheila, well done :o))

lovely work there Sheila - like the colouring and veins in the leaves

You did do well with it and what a pretty one it is. I am trying hard to keep 2 alive at the moment after months of beautiful flowers.

Thanks all - I'll have to seek advice on what to do after the flowers have faded - any advice anyone??

Brownie points there! I love 'rescue' stories of plants!

I do too, its a beauty and so satisfying to save it from drowning......one word of warning though I think they are addictive.... :0)))

a friends had stopped flowering an I took it rather than her binning it....well I,ve now got six, all on repeat flowering and I love them....the miniature ones are lovely too and reflower well

i cannot believe i read this sheilar ,my mrs has brought 1 home from an elderly lady who was throwing it in the bin ,i think its the same type as yours , its looking heatlhy now but theres no flowers on the stem ,,do i cut the stem off or leave it to get the flowers to return ? cheers pete

Its lovely Sheila, I `m afraid I cannot grow them here either,I`ve tried and follow all instructions religiously to the letter but still lose them, which is a shame as I do like them....

The flowers will drop off,Sheilar..and although many cut the stem down to a lower node,I have never been successful in having another stem grow from that point..I then wait till it goes brown,and cut it off at the bottom..
You should then see new leaves growing after a while, a slow process,so don't worry..and eventually,a new stem should appear...mine only starts up again about the same time each year..around late May/early June..so not in flower all the year..but some seem to be able to have repeat flowering on theirs..I also spray the leaves with a fine mist,when I water it ..hope this helps..take a look at a blog and pics from Spritzhenry,a while ago now, titled' Awkward Orchids'..very imformative..:o)

I agree Spritz advice is what got mine going again. One of mine has a flower bud appearing at the end of the old stem, it didn't go brown so I left it alone, allthe others have gone brown and been cut off.....

Great job Sheila!

Thanks everyone (again) for your comments and compliments. Pete, I dunno what you do after the flowers have gone - looks like you just leave 'em alone and they sort themselves out. I'll have a word with my next door neighbour, see what she does with hers after flowering as she always seems to have them in flower. I've just noticed today on mine, there's another stem out of the side of the main stem, with what looks like two flowers buds forming!!??

Gosh it is doing well, have you fed it at all?

No Pam. Just tap water!! I do intend getting some orchid 'food' for it though.

Good idea,Sheilar,it will love you for it..I only use tap water too..but not stone cold..room temperature is better..but between you and me:o) ..I sometimes take the chill off in the Microwave for quickness ! Lol...a quick 10/20 seconds does just fine ....

Great Sheilar its beautiful.
You are a big softy Bloomer, Lol.

Does anyond know or should I ask Spritz, my cousins orchid lost the flowers and as the stem hasn't died left it, she showed it to me today and what looked like a new bud forming at the end of the flower stem is two tiny new leaves......do we leave it and see
or chop them off?..any ideas please?

Only when it comes to plants,Willinilli ! oh,and our grandson :o))

I can't help you Pam,sorry..It's never happened to mine..all my new leaves come from the centre of the other leaves..Might be a good idea to ask Spritz..or someone else might see this who can help..It would be interesting to know..

Orchids do their own thing with regard to what carries the next blooms. It can be a new shoot, generally from a a leaf axil that slowly grows over a period of about 3/12. Sometimes an old flower shoot goes a reddish colour even before the last flower is dried off and fallen. These are going to die, so cut off low down. A flowering shoot may give signals that it is going to carry on the good work by making buds or new shoots anywhere along the stem. If it stays green but is 'resting', shorten to about 3 leaf notches in the stem and wait to see what the plant decides. Maybe a repot with fresh orchid compost might be in order if nothing stirs and the pot is full of root. I have a real veteran with lots of aerial roots with 11 old dry stems. Not a pretty sight but it blooms well.

Interesting information there Dorjac!

Hi Sheila .. well done .. brilliant :o)

Hello Sheila,

How's your orchid doing?

It's now finished flowering Tommy and when the flowering stem bit went totally brown, I cut it off!! It's doing OK since the chop!

Really pleased you managed to get your orchid into flower again Sheilar. I have 7 old stagers with 4 in bud, one about to bloom. Three of them are on strike or just making a fresh leaf. Bit of orchid feed might spur them on. I'm afraid I'm very lackadaisical about how I treat them, but they don't seem to mind. I know their habits and they thrive on the kitchen window ledge