Brooklyn Orchids

NYBG Orchid Show Ends This Sunday

April 9, 2010 No Comments

If you haven’t yet made a trip to the New York Botanical Garden for this year’s Orchid Show, there are only 3 days left (including today)! The final day for Limp phal leaf is this Sunday, April 11.

The show was so breathtaking that I went not once, but twice. There are more than 5,000 orchids to see — an amazing array of color and variety! The $20 admission fee is well worth it; I highly recommend that you check out the show before it’s too late.

Also, the show curators change out some of the orchids every couple of weeks, so even if you went to the show early on you may still see a whole bunch of different orchids if you return this weekend.

Get your tickets now! I command you. 🙂

My Orchid Garden

More Sad Orchids in Need of Help

March 30, 2010 4 Comments

I have a couple more Phals that are not looking very happy, so in another rescue attempt I repotted them this morning.

But before I tell you about those two orchids, I want to show you a photo of the tiny root nubbin that I discovered on my recovering Phal that I wrote about yesterday. I would have posted the photo yesterday, but to be honest I didn’t want to do an import of just one photo to my computer. Anyway, have a look:

I’m not sure what that brown speckling is on the base of the crown but it’s been there for quite awhile and hasn’t spread, so I’m guessing it’s not a problem. But, let’s forget about that and talk about the more important element. Look at the new root growth! I’m excited because this poor orchid has been looking really sad for some time, probably at least three or four months now.

So. Being that this orchid is finally starting to turn around after I repotted it in spaghnum moss (not packed too tightly), I decided it was time to switch out the potting medium for my other two sad orchids.

My Orchid Garden

Update on Phal Rescue Attempt

March 29, 2010 4 Comments

Remember awhile back when I tried the ‘sphag-n-bag’ method of rescuing a Phalaenopsis orchid, but aborted the effort after a couple of days? After I had removed the orchid from the bag, I potted it in a terracotta pot with sphagnum moss. Based on the advice I got on the Orchid Board, I then decided that the orchid would be better off potted in something that would get better air flow, so I bought a black plastic net pot like this:

The pot only cost me $.80 at a local gardening supply store. Win!

I took the risk of repotting the poor plant yet again (I had been effing with it a lot lately) and placed it into the net pot with moist sphagnum moss. It’s been doing ok like this for the past few weeks – at least, no turn for the worse – and just the other day I inspected it to see if there was any new root growth. Lo and behold, I found a tiny green nubbin at the base of the crown, so it appears that a new root is growing! I may have saved this poor sad plant after all.

I hope I haven’t jinxed the orchid’s health by posting about it just now. More updates to come, whether good or bad.

New York Botanical Garden, Orchid Shows

Orchid Show, Part Deux

March 25, 2010 4 Comments

[BE FOREWARNED: Giant Photo Dump Ahead!]

After my first Orchid Show visit at the New York Botanical Garden this year, I vowed to return on a weekday and take my time exploring. Today, I did just that – and it was 100% worth paying another $20 for a ticket.

The NYBG switches out some of the orchids on display throughout the duration of the show, so I got to see some different orchids this time around. They had removed the Zygopetalums, which disappointed me a bit because I wanted to get more photos of those (they’re one of my faves!). Regardless, it was nice to see new blooms rather than the exact same display.

I did a slightly better job of taking photos of the I.D. signs during my second visit so that I could label my pictures properly. It can be hard to tell which sign relates to which plant, so I labeled the photos as best I could. Hopefully I haven’t made any labeling mistakes, but if I have please feel free to correct me. If I don’t list the name of the orchid in the photo caption, it’s because I couldn’t find it. Again, if you know the name, leave a comment…enlighten me!

How-To, Orchid Beginner Tips

How to Make a Humidity Tray

March 23, 2010 17 Comments

Orchid Humidity Tray — Photo credit: beautifulorchids.com

Updated October 23, 2019

I went out of town for five days this past week to visit my sister and nieces in Austin, so I had to abandon my orchids for the first time in awhile. Because I’ve gotten used to checking on them daily, leaving them made me a little nervous. I wanted to make sure my orchids didn’t dry out too badly; a bunch of them have aerial roots that I mist about once a day. What many orchid growers recommend if your home is on the dry side are humidity trays [paid link]. A humidity tray is a shallow dish lined with stones or pebbles and filled with water almost to the top of the stones; the plant sits ON TOP OF the stones and reaps the benefit of the water as it evaporates. You just have to make sure that the plant is not sitting IN the water – something that can lead to root rot. More details on humidity trays can be found here.

Events, New York Botanical Garden, Orchid Shows

Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower at New York Botanical Garden

March 15, 2010 2 Comments

[WARNING: Photo-heavy post ahead!]

Two weeks after the Orchid Show opened at the New York Botanical Garden, I made my way up to the Bronx to visit with my boyfriend and friend in tow. The weather was truly hideous; we happened to go on a day that had 60 mph winds and about a metric ton of rain. But once we set foot inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory it was like tropical heaven with a beautiful display of orchids around the reflecting pool: