This is my trustworthy Oncidium. Love the intensive color, and it always remind me of those fancy yellow dresses on a dancing floor. I thought I lost it this summer. The old bulbs were shrinking, and I detected rotting smell from its pot. So, I repotted it and found almost all the roots for the old bulbs were rotted. Only healthy roots are the ones on the new bulb. Now look at it! You cannot really see the bulbs in these pictures, but they are all very 'fat'.
And here is a pic of my Hawaii orchid, Blc. Mem. Bernice Foster. It had 3 spikes in summer, but only one flower opened. All the rest were chewed off by the ants lived in the pot. I flushed it and got rid of the ants. And now it is rewarding me with 4 gorgeous flowers. Two are totally opened, one is half opened, and the last one just started opening this morning. I think they are very elegant.
Oh, here are the before (summer) and after (now) pictures of my cyclamen. Remember I told you that it bloomed for me non-stop for almost two years, and then finally went dormant. I knew cyclamens do this, so didn't throw it away. It looked so dead, like a rock, for almost 8 months. But look at it now! And I just saw some tiny flower buds this morning. It will put up quite a show later.
And this is the only 'before' picture I can find, during its 'rock' stage. I cut it out from a corner of a big picture, that's why it's out of focus. But you can still see why I called it a 'rock'.
2 comments:
Hi there (Sorry couldnt find ur name:(),
I came to ur blog from HAO and was reading through - first of have a safe pregnancy - i have a cyclamen too .. got it from walmart with 3 pretty flowers and didnt know much abt cyclamens then. after readign abt it online i realized they are considered difficult palnts - is that true? makes me all the more want to make it live healthly :) .. so back to my plant: flowers died .. it became stingy but then the weather cooled i think and i watered it less and the leaves became more abundant and i have one flower too now, i do see a few buds but theya re not growign qiuckly .. can u share with me ur experiences on it and tips ? btw i love ur orchid stoo and woudl love to grow them too
thanks
Radiya
Hi, Radiya,
Thanks.
About cyclamen, they are not that hard actually. Just remember don't burry the whole bulb under soil, the top and crown of it has to be above soil level. Then when you water, try not get water inside the crown area, just add water to the side. And you will know when it need more water, when the leaves look softer/wilting. The other thing is it loves sunshine. Put it on the sunniest window sill you have, and will keep the plant's shape. The leaves only get stringy/leggy when they don't get enough sunshine. Cyclamen grow better in cooler room, loves winter, and probably goes dormant durning hottest summer days. Don't worry about it much, it will come back. There are tons of information about how to keep cyclamen alive in summer online. I basically didn't do anything, let it stay in its pot, left it on the sunny deck, but shielded by other plants, water it a little bit when watering others. Like I said in my blog, it looked like a rock for months. It will come back when weather cools down. One trick to make plants stronger, leaves greener, flowers bigger and more, is to add some epsom salt to your water. Or, if you are lazy like me, just sprinkle a tiny pinch of epsom salt on the soil surface. You can get epson salt in CVS kind of store, people use it for bath, or soaking their tired feet. Very cheap at drug store, quite expensive at garden centers.
Believe or not, orchids are actually not that hard. I am not saying every type is easy, but there are lots of beginner type ones. The ones I think are easy are Oncidium, Dendrobium, Phal. Cymbidium, and Cat. There are more than 11 orchids bloomed or blooming, or ready to bloom in my house this winter, and I am not an expert, only started growing them 3 years ago. So, don't be afraid. There are helps online, just do more research, and give your plants enough love and attention, they will reward you.
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