Molly and Her Orchids ..

Or so it says. If you ask Molly, she would say, "Keep those dang things far away from me!" So let's not ask her. I thought I would include the above picture as the banner to the post, because I am still shaking my head at the disaster I created several months ago. I should be over it and moving on, but somehow I still kick myself for it. I loved having the (what seemed like) endless Orchid flowers month after month.. But that's just a memory now.

It Has Been A Long While ..

Since the last time I had posted anything in the Orchid Lover's Community. I think the community never really caught on due to the fact that is to much of a niche subject, but it's still wonderful for cross-posting if you like Orchids or you post contains photos and a story about Orchids.

So What Happened 6 or so Months Ago .. Well, I decided to change the media in my orchid pots from bark to lava rock. What a big mistake! The lava rock was great for holding moisture.. maybe too great. The over abundance of moisture and humidity lead to root rot. The root rot killed one of our plants and severely hurt all of the others.

Before The Root Rot Issue...

Post Root Rot Issue...

I know .. SAD :(

Since then, I changed back to bark and repotted all of the affected plants. It has been a very long road to recovery. Orchids are not the fastest growers anyhow, so this one really hurt. There is light at the end of the tunnel though. Most of the plants have been showing signs of a comeback. I think it may be another year or so before they decide to bloom again. For now they are putting their energy into rejuvenating eaves and roots.

Some plants look better than others.. Like the one on the right. She looks pretty good. Her leaves look nice and root growth is doing nicely. On the other hand, the one on the left is struggling a bit as far as leaves go, but the roots are growing fine. It just needs a little more time to recoup.

Most of the others look like this one above .. I just clip the leaves off as they yellow and die. The new leaves are pushing up and out as the root systems re-grow and are able to support them. Small root system = small leaves. Makes perfect sense to me. Give it time I tell myself. It's hard to wait for them to bounce back.

This gal needs to be repotted again. It is too high out of the bark and showing signs of stress again. I'll clean it up and place her deeper into the bark.

Now How About Molly???

As she sits guarding her multiple bed living room.. I carefully grab a tiny little baby Orchid that my cousin gifted to me. And yes.. It looks pretty good because I didn't mess with it like I did the others. I want to re-introduce it to Molly. Why do I insist on tormenting this poor dog?!

"What do you think you are doing dad?" Her eyes are not as good as they used to be. She has no idea. She leans in for a quick sniff..

Sniff Sniff Sniff...

And then she bolted to the safety of her blankets. She still does not like Orchids.

That's okay. I'm sorry Molly. I didn't mean to frighten you so badly. lol. She's fine. She would just rather view them from far far away. Unless they become ice cream. Then she will consider eating them. hehehe

The Other Orchids ..

I do have a couple of other Phal Orchids that I inherited from the office. They are also doing fine and one of them is even trying to push out some blooms. We'll see how that goes. The bloom stem as sort of halted any progression. Not sure if it's a temperature thing or what. The house did get a little chilly since it is now winter.

And our Dendrobium Orchid is doing pretty good too. It has not bloomed since the last time it did, over a year ago. It has grown several new shoots though. I am sure it is only a matter of time. Some of the stems are old and starting to turn yellow, so they will need to be removed soon.

We have it up in one of our spare bedrooms. I placed it up there during the Holidays. We had to move it due to the amount of decorations we put out, but she can come back down to her spot on our kitchen island, once I remember to carry her down.

We Can't Wait For Flowers To Come Again ..

Hopefully this healing stage will progress quickly so that we can get back to enjoying those awesome flowers again. Fingers crossed!

“We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

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

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