Interesting Things That Motivate me to Grow Orchids. Will I Motivate You to Grow Wild Orchids, Young Orchids or Orchids in General?
I've written an article about reasons to grow or not grow Orchids here on the Orchid Care Tips Blog that may interest you as well. Orchids are beautiful, classy and a good investment in my opinion. They come from interesting places. Here are interesting things that motivate me to grow Orchids. Hopefully I motivate and inspire you here.
- Orchids can be easy or may not be easy to care for. Some Orchids are more forgiving while Others are not. If I wanted an easy plant to grow, I could just buy a common houseplant. But since I know Orchids come from unique places all over the world, there are specific care conditions to match the original home of the Orchid. If the original species Orchid found in nature has been cross bred (hybridized) with other Orchids and is now a hybrid, the care conditions may be more forgiving as a combination of care conditions that can work. Figuring out the care conditions for a given Orchid is interesting. Even more interesting is figuring out other Orchids from various original locations that you can grow in similar ways.
- There is more variety when you select beteen Orchids than any other plant I've known. You can be ready to buy one Phalaeniopsis and sitting next to it is a sister plant from the same original seed pod with a few more spots on the flower. The next one over may be a similar flower but the plant is more vigorous. The next one over may be more or less prolific in blooming. To me, finding that perfect Orchid is so interesting.
- Some Orchids are perfect pot plants for the home grower. Other Orchids are not easy or convenient to grow. A perfect pot plant is in a 4 - 8" pot, the leaves are compact and the plant blooms well. This kind or Orchid plays well with others, fitting easily on the same shelf. It is hardy and tough. Orchids that are not in this category have very specific care conditions that are hard to meet, few or too many blooms, long or short sprays of flowers, etc. My personal choice is always the perfect pot plant as finding this is not easy.
- Fragrance is fun to find in Orchids. While many Cattleyas are fragrant, their flowers only bloom for a couple weeks on average. To find a fragrant Oncidium or other Orchid, that blooms for months, can be done but is a challenge. Oncidium Sharry Baby, for example, is a great pot plant, smells like chocolate, and is easy to grow.
- Orchids are generally slow to grow. This means if you make a mistake in your care conditions you may not know for days or weeks as the plant reacts. But, because they are sometimes also slow to react, it does make things interesting. You really need to get to know your Orchids. While they take longer to grow and react on average, they also bloom longer than other plants on average.
- Wild Orchids can be so interesting to care for. I would not recommend going thrashing through the rainforest to find them. But I would recommend seeking out growers carrying wild species Orchids. You will find many wild Orchids easy and difficult Orchids to care for, but understanding is the key. Instead of making the Orchid get used to your conditions, you need to select where to grow the Orchid and put it in the right conditions.
- Young Orchids can be fun to grow. You can buy a flask with Orchid seedlings or meristem Orchids. If they are already one or two years old, they are now a few years from blooming. You will need to go through some transplanting, but seeing what you get when they finally bloom is a blast.
I hope you enjoyed this insight into some interesting things about selecting, buying and growing / caring for Orchids. If you liked this article, please let other people know about it.
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