Albert Rowe, Bert Rowe, Lofty's homepage, Orchids in all their glory, along with a few tips to ensure their long life.

Updated 4th April 2011

How many of you like me have been put off buying Orchids at the Garden Centres because of the cost and the worry of the plant dying almost as soon as you get home?

Well we took the ball by the horns when our favourite store named by 'Which' as retailer of the year 2008 'Lidle' they had orchids for sale on what are termed 'specials day' where they sell every conceivable things from screw drivers to computers, not all on the same day of course but when advertised in the brochure or on their web page the previous week.
If you use the link above you will see what I mean.

Now you ask how does this store feature on this site? Well, because as Orchids and other plants they also sell German made tools,

all again on the specials day and they are a good quality just like the orchids and they are generally inexpensive, a complete set of 'Torx' drive bits for instance in a plastic box for about £4.00, and the Orchids? Well less than a 1/4 of the price of Garden Centre prices at £4.99 July 07. The plant above isn't just beautiful, it also unusual for an orchid in that it has a very nice smell which is quite strong in the evenings.

One of things I love about the Orchids is the variation in the flowers every plant is in some way different.

How many of you for instance can boast of such a beautiful plant in your bathroom, the last place you would expect to find the plant, and yet this plant has been in bloom for months and I'm not exaggerating, and now that this set of ten blooms is just going past their best another spike stands in the back ground waiting to take over.

Although I love the white orchids the pinks of various shades are just as beautiful and the details in each flower is magnificent. In the case of this bloom it is true to the size of the actual blooms

This is the plant responsible for such beautiful blooms when this was taken on the 10/08/07 there were (21) twenty one such blooms, the spike of flowers is so heavy that when on display on the north facing window-sill, they have to be supported by another plant which at this time has no blooms. This plant was given to us two years six months ago and has bloomed almost continuously since that time. I am not going to claim that I myself look after the plants, I leave the watering and liquid feeding to my wife, as an ex fireman I tend to be a bit heavy with the watering something orchids will tell you they don't like by promptly dropping all the flowers and buds then dying, SO OVER WATERING IS A MUST NOT.

As I have mention liquid feed, we use the type shown, BUT do follow the instructions or you will not get the results you want; over feed and you will damage the plant so take care. Also when buying ,there are feeds for growth and feed for flowering, so make sure you purchase the one you intended buying.

Actual size.

Are you Hooked?

Then how are you going to best select an orchid? Well don't go for the plant with the most flowers. Choose a plant that has spikes of flower buds which in turn will acclimatise to your residence before coming into bloom.

However look at the buds. If they are yellow as in 1 they will probably drop before you even get the plant home if not soon afterwards, check they are as in 2 healthy and alive.

Make sure you can distinguish the difference between orchid roots R and flower spikes S This plant has masses of roots not just in the pot, but also aerial roots they twist and bend searching for some damp mossy crevice to lock onto, as they would in their native environment. it has not been re-potted and is as purchased some 12 months ago, most of the orchids we have purchased have been in these clear translucent pots which is useful, as you can keep an on the root system. So if your not sure which is which ask to see the person in charge of the orchid section, and seek their advise. Having made and got your purchase home, hopefully safe and sound?
Look to see how moist the planting medium is before even considering watering your plant, it goes with out saying that a plant with flowers requires more water than one without , but as my grandson Louie would say "water it, don't drown it" if you have it in a decorative plant holder then check the following day after watering that the plant is not standing in water, tip any surplus away.
Feed from the top avoid direct contact with the roots, use tap water at normal temperature. small amounts of water are better than one large one. Water more in the summer than in the winter but if you have central heating keep an eye on the planting medium and water as required.

Potting /re-potting

Generally speaking you will not need to touch your Orchid and although the roots may appear to be cramped in the pot DO NOT RE-POT, if you really must! then purchase a good Orchid potting medium, you may find this to be a much finer composition that the medium that your orchid was in when purchased, we have been unable to locate the coarser potting medium. but those that have been re-potted in the product shown have continued to do well. which specially prepared for your orchid. Read the instructions on the product before potting.

Do not stand your orchid in direct sunlight, we keep our on a north facing widow sill which is well lit during daylight hours and only get a very small amount of sun in the early mornings, as you can see they are all doing well.

Encouraging further flowering

When your spike of flowers has finished flowering cut the main stem back to three breaks

1 from the bottom, this will encourage further growth on the main stem which will in time develop buds and flower.(Figure 1 shows one break.)
In all cases where the orchid has stems, keep these well supported using thin canes or dowel rod and the special clips 2 that you will receive with you flowering orchid.

When the whole stem dies back cut off with sharp scissors, avoid watering direct onto the plant growth as this will encourage disease.
In the case of the white orchid it has ten flowers , and another main spike on which there are a further 10 healthy buds.

Flowers of the future.

And this beautiful dark pink (Below) is my latest purchase and at £4.99 what a bargain, loads of buds twin spike and in good sound condition,
One of the benefits to purchasing a plant in bud is that the plant gets a chance to acclimatise to it's new home before bursting into full flower.

Then there's the plant of great expectations, which we bought in flower, the shoot marked has grown entirely over the last month and the roots look really healthy; all we are waiting for now is the spike of flowers to appear but being a 'Dendrobium' I'm not sure what to expect except that the flower from previous evidence is mauve deep

Oh dear readers how remiss of me, the orchid in question did bloom had 5 flowers on a single stem , I have just remembered to photograph it while the last of the blooms is still present.

5/6/08 Hopefully I'll remember this time as the plant has just started sending up another large shoot. 'Watch this space!

This plant has doubled in size over the last 3 months and promises another show of flowers a bit later in the year.

So how is the orchid doing 25/07/09 still going strong and has produced a further two bulb lets at the base promising more flowers for the future

Then there was this little plant which I purchased 3 years ago, and although it was in bloom when I purchased it with masses of flowers when they died it never bloomed again. Very disappointed at this because it marked very special time in my life, I contacted the garden centre where it was purchased, they had very little knowledge of the plant I was talking about even though I had it with me. No help there.
I later visited a garden Centre on the A24 Worthing-Horsham Road West Sussex Old Barn Nurseries and they came up trumps with all the information on this plant .
It needed to be outside certainly for the summer months and will with stand cold weather, almost 10 months outside, not neglected but certainly not pampered, and it survived, albeit was standing on a gravel bed so that it did not become water logged.
In January 2008 at the promise of a really cold spell I brought it indoors, and placed in one of our cooler rooms, to my utter surprise and joy it suddenly, within days started to sending up flower shoots,

the blooms form 5 or more on a fine stem and are only 25mm wide, but its delicate and and I was pleased to see it bloom again.

Mind you one tip if you are taking photographs of you flowers try and take them using natural light, this photograph taken with a flash displays a totally different colour for the same flower and would mislead you if you were looking for the same plant, the dark flower on the left is the one taken with the flash.!

I'm also pleased to say that the Dendrobium Infundibulum is also in bloom with four beautiful flowers on a single stem, this plant is also keep in the coolest of our rooms .

Yes it's still going strong in July 2009 and because I have given it support the spike of flowers have found a home laying upon the foliage of the plant, although not my favourite its still a beautiful plant in its own right.

And if by chance you are into 'crafting' take photographs of you orchid blooms for (Greetings card making etc)use them to make up beautiful cards, this one in 'decoupage', what more pleasure could you want from a living plant.

Happy Hunting and select the right plant, start with the varieties shown on this page which are the easier ones to deal with and grow then go on to the more difficult varieties if you really want a challenge.

I now it's only the 11th of February 2008 but in our bungalow it really is spring. and the sun shining through the flowers of the yellow orchid shows great promise for the year ahead.
and the north facing window is a real picture with masses of blooms from the various plants intermingling with one another .

What I really like about the orchids is the variation in colour and size, here are just two such examples.

This orchid joins the rest on my wife's birthday in July one spike of flowers , a very attractive plant the label says Dendrobium Oneidium, Cambria Zygopetalum Cattley, doesn't mean much to me, the point is a lovely orchid unusual colour and

Now March 2008 it's back in full bloom with twice as many flowers heads as before.

No matter what your believe the maker of this beautiful flower was a craftsman.

Now May 2008 and this orchid plant is showing real promise with a total of 13 flower buds on two spikes. the flower in the left is an an earlier bloom to show the size of the flowers on this plant.

Did the buds Open? 22May and looking as beautiful as ever, with more buds still to open.

Yes the buds opened but I lost one spike of flowers because I failed to notice that the stem of one spike was being bent while growing with the result that the weight of flowers damaged the stem to the degree that the flowers couldn't survive, Where you have orchids of this type ensure the spikes are well supported with a cane or dowel rid or like me you will loose the beauty of the flowers. June 8th 2008

Mean while the other plants display their full beauty.

08/07/08. We have just returned from to weeks holiday to be greeted by this amazing display of blooms 13 identical flowers and 1 bud, what a greeting! Would make a beautiful ready made bouquet, although the wedding might have to be at the plants discretion!

July 2008 This orchids has 24 flowers and buds on three spikes , what a beauty and it's in the bathroom where it appears to love the cool temperature and damp conditions created by the bath.

December 2008 5 months later and this plant is still in bloom, I know of know other plant species that will give such pleasure and value for money.

April 2009 and still the plant blooms, the flowers just last & last

Because of the damp cool temperatures of the bathroom some of the older flowers have developed spots, most plants would just drop the flower not the Orchid it has simply continued to bloom and the flowers are still in away beautiful.

Your right, it's not an orchid!

It's the plant known as "Mother in laws tongue" (Sansevieria trifasciata laurentii) so why is it here ? Well we have never seen this plant in bloom before and suddenly after three years it's decided to bloom. Pretty in it's own way, with delicate almost translucent flowers, long stamen and masses of nectar droplets.
I suspect that in it's natural habitat it would attract the moths, because it has a very nice smell in the evenings

25 blooms and two buds what a string of flowers
I posted this photo in July 08 and believe me this plant is still in bloom, a number of the flowers do have green spots on them caused by the over damp conditions along with the cooler temperatures but still they bloom.

And in July 2009 its still producing I think even larger blooms and is magnificent.

The Orchids never fail to amaze me at their shear beauty four flowers again on this plant, with three buds yet to break and they are if they have been cloned. Nature can do what man takes years replicate, although of course I accept that man is responsible for so many orchids being available in recent years.

One could be forgive for believing that these 2 photographs were simply flipped on the pc. But no they are four different blooms, study them closely and you will see the difference!

Just as I predicted this plant is going to have a real show of flowers having four spikes of flowers buds forming on three of the large stems, this is not my favourite plant but it's going to have a show of flowers that I estimate will be just about Christmas time 2008 I will post another photograph when it's in bloom.

What is interesting , we didn't know if or how a stem re-flowered or if each stem only bloomed once well I can confirm that one of the stems has thrown a flower spike from between the upper leaves on the stem that has previously bloomed. So now we know they old stems of the plant do bloom again.

What more could you want than a beautiful orchid displaying it's flowers in the shape of a Christmas tree December 22nd 2008.

'Merry Christmas everybody.

24/12/08 'Just made it for Christmas' with loads more buds to open in the coming weeks and into 2009 Happy New year

Well where has 2009 gone? Here we are November the 4th nearly having reached another Christmas and not a single addition to the page. However we have not been without blooms on at least 3 of the orchids plants at any one time throughout the year
However this year this orchid has decided to bloom a little earlier

And not to be outdone this Dendrobium, more like a leek plant than an orchid when not in bloom has produced the most interesting root growth as well as sent up another shoot and is now about to bloom on 3 of the spikes.

one of which already has 9 buds. no real success with this plant. I suspect it knows it's not my favourite!

Long term care of your Orchids

As some of you who have visited this page before will be aware a large number of our orchids shown on this page are now several years old, in some case 5-6 years old.
They have continued to broom and grow with little attention apart from feeding and watering, however most of them have now reached a stage where they have become untidy with surface roots growing in every direction
In there wild state this of course would be no problem but in the house they need attention if they are going to remain presentable.
I've not read anywhere how this problem can be overcome and so realising that we would either have to dispose of the plants or take drastic action to tidy them up I decided to re-pot one as an experiment and see how the plant would react.

I took the oldest of the plants and removed it from the pot shook the roots clean of the compost and it's true to say that the clump of roots was as large as the remaining plant
I then sorted out the roots and cut off the majority leaving just the healthy ones growing nearest to the leaves, this then allowed me to replace and lower it back into the original pot which of course I cleaned first.
The compost which was made up of all of the original compost plus some new to make up the amount required, having ensured the compost was in contact with all the roots with no spaces in the pot I then submerged the pot in water ensuring the compost was not floated out of the pot and became soaked which only took a few minutes, I then removed the pot from the water and allowed it to fully drain.

Quite expecting to plant to die I placed it back with the others and monitored it over the next few weeks.
To my surprise I didn't die or indeed show any signs of stress and an even bigger surprise when it started sending up new leaf and after only a few more weeks a flower spike.
It was also clear through the clear flower pot that new roots were also forming those that developed near the surface of the growing media we encouraged to go down into the compost. I did this using bronze wire which can be purchased for training Bonsai trees i simply made up staples and gently keyed the growing root to the surface of the growing media rather than letting the plant form aerial roots.

This plant is now as if a new plant, it's just had a further two lovely spikes of flowers which has encouraged me to take the same action with a number of the other plants we have, all now being some years old.

To me it seems a drastic action and I really didn't expect the plants to survive but to date we have not lost one plant to the compost heap.
The plant below is an example of what the plants look like before the re-potting the other two are plants which have been re-potted and as you can see after only about a month six weeks have grown new leaves and both are sending up vigorous flower spikes .

These three photos show the stages of re-potting,
If possible water the plant two to three days before undertaking the re-potting.

First removed the plant carefully from its pot
Then all the roots which will be found cramped into the pot are teased out with the broken and weak being snipped off with scissors, approx one 1/4 to 1/3 of the roots are retained, in this case four of the lower leaves were also removed by carefully easing them away from the plant stem.
The best roots are preserved and the plant placed back into same pot which can be washed or replaced at this point. (do not increase the pot size)
Re-pot the plant ensuring the remaining roots are carefully placed so as not to break them.
The compost removed along with new orchid compost is then placed into the pot onto of the roots and the pot tapped on the working surface to ensure the compost filters through and surrounds the roots.

All the plants treated in this way are doing well, so all will treated in this was as they stop flowering.
However if you follow this practise I would suggest you stagger the process or you will be without blooms on all your Orchid plants at the same time.

In the case of this plant is was repotted approx 6 weeks ago and as can be seen is already sending up a spike.

You should not attempt to undertake this drastic procedure to plants on which flowering spikes are still present, this would place far too much stress on the plant and it may well die.

Certainly it has extended the life of our plants which will enable us to enjoy their beauty for years to come.
Or if like us you have accumulated a large number then the revitalised plants are now tidy enough and nice enough to give away to your friends as presents.

This plant is typical of the way all the plants have responded with vigorous root growth and strong spikes of flowers.

This is our latest acquisition, a 'Zygopetalum' But do not be fooled into thinking it is hardy, I photographed it with other shrubs and plants into garden to display it's true beauty. Hopefully it will be easier to maintain than the Dendrobium which sent up spikes of flowers but only ever produced a couple of blooms the rest of the buds dropping off.

Those of you who have visited this page before will be aware that I have re-potted all of them over the last fourteen months, did it do any harm, no they are now much tidier some of the plants being 5 years plus old and as you can see from this display they are all back in bloom and going strong
'Blooming Beautiful'

Lofty

Return to index