In the midst of unemployment, I've been trying to take the time to do entirely random things that couldn't be done at any other time in my life. In the same vein, there is a very sad orchid plant that hasn't been repotted or cared for very well by my good friend, and we were at a bit of a loss since it's still alive... just never bloomed in the past 5 years. So we went to a "Orchids for Beginners" class in the Boerner Botanical Gardens, half an hour south of the city. Naturally, we were the youngest attendees of this seminar hosted by a member of the Wisconsin Orchid Society. And after an hour and half of realizing how little I knew of gardening, I was handed a "P667 The Mistress 'Candy Shop'" plant and was sent home with it.
This is what it's supposed to look like:
This is what I have now:
Here's what I know so far.
- Don't overwater the plant, give it a quarter cup of water and then wait for it to almost dry out before watering again. If in doubt of how dry the plant is, take a #2 pencil and stick in the soil; if the pencil wood is moist, you can wait a little longer.
- Don't fertilize the plant immediately otherwise the dry roots can get burned by the chemicals... and I still need to do more research on what food to get it.
This is the first time I've cared for a living thing... and I already got laughed at by the Menards lady when I told her I was going to raise an orchid. We'll see though. It's getting a pretty nice view of the Milwaukee skyline at least.
To be continued!
