Last summer, when I was here at Grandma's Nursery School, my orchids in Dorset went to stay with my dear friend Jenny. She not only kept all three alive and healthy, but during their visit, one actually had a baby! The word in Hawaiian is keiki meaning 'baby' and refers to a 'new' plant growing on the stem of the orchid. Jenny carefully removed and repotted it. It had one flower this summer.
The 'mother' plant developed two more keikis this summer, so I bought a bag of Orchid Potting Mix.
The top picture shows the whole plant, the second you can see the twisting roots of the keiki
I carefully removed the two keikis from the stem, and planted them in smaller pots. I also repotted last year's baby. It is outgrowing its pot, and now I have three little ones...
It has been quite exciting to watch these develop. I have put the new babies in an incubator under plastic bags, which will act as mini propagators.
All this required consultation with Jenny over WhatsApp, and also referring to the helpful book which Liz found for me in a Charity Shop. Thank you to both of them!
I said to Bob that maybe there are not enough windowsills at Cornerstones, could we perhaps build an extension with more windowsills. He said most people would refer to that as 'a greenhouse' [There's no room for that now - the Lathe Palace got there first!] Here is 'mother' with the three littl'uns I'm repurposing containers as plantholders. I love MaMade marmalade tins, so that has got last year's plant. The front one is in a tealight holder [my SIL Marion makes painted glassware, and i'm particularly fond of this piece]
The mug was a 40th birthday gift for Bob, it's design is fading now. It says "Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children"
Surely the lathe palace has windowsills?
ReplyDeleteSadly not! It has just one small window, with opaque glass and security bars.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that the lathe palace not having big windows sills was a missed trick! Bathroom windowsill? I always feel like I don't have enough either. The only rooms with windowsill are the bathrooms and the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteWell done on being a good plant mama- I failed with my orchid!
The bathroom windowsill is for the houseplants which are NOT orchids!
DeleteWow! You really have green thumbs to get orchids to grow and have babies! Orchids tend to wither away and die if I so much as look at them! :D
ReplyDeleteIt's a new skill. I don't know if it will last!
DeleteI have never found little extras on my one orchid. Clever you. I was reading an article about orchids which says that they are best grown in a see through container.
ReplyDeleteCan one of your windows be replaced with a "garden window" (google that!)? For much less cost and effort, ask Bob to extend existing window sills several inches with triangle supports underneath. My aunt had 4 thick glass shelves cut and mounted across a stair landing window for her African violets.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
That's an interesting thought, but I'm not sure it would work in this property. And a stair landing window is definitely out for this bungalow!
DeleteYou have done well with your orchids. I love them but I can't grow one here as the temperature in the house fluctuates too much in winter - too hot and dry when the wood furnace is on and too chilly if we forget to stoke it regularly when it is -20°C. I had much success in our little apartment kitchen window when we lived in Europe, as the temperature was constant and the steam from the kettle did the rest. In the building foyer, the manager made the mistake of putting a couple of orchids not far from an outside door and they died miserably from the draft when it opened!
ReplyDeleteI put a glass shelf halfway up the kitchen window. Maybe something like that would work for you? I have never gotten an orchid to survive in my home. Impressive that yours had babies! Celie
ReplyDelete