Fully Bloomed

Hello my Phal growers! I am thrilled to say that my Phalaenopsis orchid has finished blooming, and it looks quite gorgeous sitting on one of my side tables!

Last week, there were two buds that had not opened. This week they opened and now I can enjoy it's beauty over the next couple of months before the flowers fall again.

                  March 31, 2014                          April 2, 2014

 April 3, 2014

In my first blog post, I stated that a spike emerged somewhere in the last few days of December; therefore, it took a total of 3 months for the last flower to bloom after a spike emerged. 

I'm not sure how much I will update in the future. I think I will update with photos and blurbs as feel; however, once the flowers begin to fall, I will update this blog regularly again.

<3 Dianna

 

Two Buds Left to Bloom

Good morning my Phalaenopsis lovers! Today's post will be shorter than the past few week's have been.

This week, I got two new blooms, so only two bud remain not bloomed. Those buds have become a lot chunkier, and have lightened in color, so I have a feeling they will bloom this week. After that, my Phal will be completely bloomed! Just in time to be put on display for Spring.

 

This picture is from today, March 30, 2014. You can see the two new flowers, as well as the remaining two buds.

 This picture is also from today. I put my plant against my fireplace so you can see the white flowers and green buds better. 

Hopefully next week we will have an entirely bloomed Phalaenopsis!

Until next week!

<3 Dianna

Two New Blooms

Good morning Phal friends! I have exciting news from this past week. Last week we got to see two flowers bloom. Well guess what! Two new flowers bloomed this week, too. 

 I woke up on Monday, March 17, and found that the third bud had opened during the night. When I found it, it was partially opened. When I checked on it later at 1:34 pm, you can see it had opened more. The next morning, it had fully opened.

 On March 21, 2014, I noticed the 4th bud had just a very slight slit. I went back to it a little more than 2 hours later, and it had significantly opened more. I'm happy I caught it during this phase. The last two buds had this phase in the middle of the night.

Later that day at 4:07 pm, the Phal flower looked like a small cup. The next morning, it had opened completely, or at least mostly completely. This flower was in a weird angle against the wall, so yes I did shift the plant. 

 This brings us to today, March 23, 2014. In the photo above, you can see that the remaining 4 buds are maturing, as they are lightening in color. I hope they fatten up a bit. But judging from the 4th bud that bloomed, the last 4 buds may be smaller and give smaller flowers. 

I did the unthinkable, and moved my Phal to an entirely different location. I wanted to show you all what the flowers look like against a dark back drop since the flowers are white. I think they're beautiful. :)

 And of course, the plant in its entirety. :)

I really need to get a dark back drop for these flowers now.

Until next week!

<3 Dianna

 

We Have a Bloom!... and Another Bloom!

Good morning my Phal lovers. It is another Sunday morning (March 16, 2014), which means another update on my pretty Phal. This week has been extremely exciting for me. I noticed one of the buds split open, and within hours, it was blooming. What an incredible event... I thought it would take a day at least to open that much. As if one flower wasn't cool enough, a second bud opened! So I currently have two flowers on my Phal, a bud that looks like it's ready to open any day now, and 5 other buds that will probably bloom in due time. Because so much happened this week, I have more pictures than usual to share. :)

 This was the very first bloom, opening on March 11, 2014. As you can see, the bud began to split in the morning. I left to school, came home, and found the bud had transformed into a somewhat bloomed flower! This is what I mean when I say I thought this would take at least a day. Apparently, when a bud begins to split open, it does not take long for it to fully open.

 The next morning, March 12, 2014, the flower opened even more. Now it looks like a true Phalaenopsis orchid flower!

 When I didn't think much else could happen, the event in the above pictures occurred. On March 13, 2014, I once again got up in the morning to find that the second bud had already opened! I left for school, and when I came home, I found that buds truly do bloom quickly once they split open. 

 This finally brings us to today, March 16, 2014. My Phal blooms are looking healthy, and the other buds are getting big and lightening in color. The buds towards the end of the spike are still pretty immature. I expect them to fatten up over the next couple of weeks. 

There are two things I want to note:

1. I was very excited to see that my white phals have small pinkish centers. :)

2. My first bud/now flower is backwards. I know. In my research, I found that once buds begin to form on a spike, DO NOT MOVE THE PLANT! Moving the plant causes the spike to twist and turn because it searches for optimal lighting. Obviously, I moved my Phal a lot so I could take some nice pictures. I tried my best to put it back in the same position it was in, but... from the looks of it, I didn't do that great of a job. That's okay, though! My first concern was making this plant re-bloom! Now that I know I can make a Phal re-bloom, I won't touch it next year when the new spike forms buds.

I hope this blog was as exciting for you as it was for me to make it. Looking back at this week's pictures was fun. As always, I am still excited for the upcoming weeks, and of course, to have a spray of Phal flowers to enjoy. 

Until next week!

<3 Dianna

Blooms very soon!

Welcome back my Phalaenopsis care givers! I hope your Phals have been as happy as mine. I have to say, this week has been pretty warm and dry. It is currently Sunday, March 9, 2014; 10:17 am and 75 degrees. It feels warmer than that, and it shouldn't be this warm in "winter." However, Southern California has literally had the warmest and driest winter to date. It's actually pretty unfortunate. In any case, I read online that once buds have formed on a Phal that warmer temperatures help it grow faster. So there's a plus! 

And this week I (again) have noticed a lot of progress. Those little tiny buds are not so super tiny anymore. The biggest buds are even bigger now and are lightening in color! I'm thinking this means they're becoming close to blooming white? We will see. This blog is suppose to measure an approximate length of time from first spike to first bloom!

Enough of my chattering! Let's check out these photos, which were all take this morning, March 9, 2014.

This week, I'll start with the overview picture and zoom in. As you can see, all the buds have continued to grow. One thing that I noticed different this morning is the very first bud--it's shifted towards the wall. I wonder if this means it will bloom soon.

This is the very first bud. I had to turn the plant around to get a better picture of it. Do you see how it's a much lighter green that the newer buds?

Here is the tip of the spike. Compared to last week, those tiny buds have not only grown in size, but have become more distinct in shape and have sprouted further away from the spike. I wonder if the tip of the spike will give me two more buds, none at all, or more than 2.

 The top picture is a normal view and the bottom picture is the view from underneath. You can see how that first bud has shifted towards the wall. 

I should note that in my research, I learned at this stage of the plant's growth, I shouldn't shift the plant at all.

OK, I admit, I've shifted it a lot to get these pictures, but I do try to put it back in the same spot it was in before :D

You can also see from these pictures that the more mature buds are quite lighter than the newer, smaller ones. 

I can only imagine what next week will bring. I always think that that the current week's photos cannot get more interesting, but they always prove to do so. Let's hope we seem blooms very soon in the upcoming weeks!

Until next Sunday :)

<3 Dianna

 

Bigger Buds and More Buds!

Welcome back my Phal lovers! It is a new week; thus, I have new photos to display the incredible growth of my Phalaenopsis. This week, I watered my Phal without food. We also had less sun. The latter half of the week, including today, has been very rainy. Despite less sunny conditions, I still see incredible results. 

March 2, 2014. 

In this photo, you can see that the buds have become bigger.

This up-close shot of the end of the spike shows that the baby-baby buds from last week have grown and separated more from the tip.

 I took this photo from underneath the spike. I'm happy to see the buds becoming bigger and separating themselves more from the spike. 

 Finally, the whole plant! This is so exciting for me. 

Until next week my Phal lovers!

<3 Dianna

 

More Growth, but No Blooms Yet

Hello Phal growers! It is a week later, February 23, 2014, from my first post, and do I have some good news to share. This week, my Phal spike grew longer, the buds have become a little bigger, and more buds are beginning to show up. I am hoping that there will be blooms at the end of March, but we shall see! I should note that another point of me starting this blog is to see how long it takes for a Phalaenopsis orchid to bloom from the moment it spikes. :) Enough of me! Here are some pictures!

February 23, 2014

The Phal continues to grow in an arching fashion

 I can't wait to see the baby buds at the end of the spike come out more!

I can't wait for these buds to bloom!!

And... it has surpassed the length of the stick!

I hope you all enjoyed reading this post. I can't wait to see the progress it makes in these next 7 days!
Until next week!

<3 Dianna 

 

Beginning to Now

Hello all! My name is Dianna, and I'm starting this blog to show everyone how easy it is to regrow a Phalaenopsis orchid, otherwise known as the moth orchid. My boyfriend gifted me the orchid below for my birthday (05/27), and I simply fell in love. It was around September that the flowers began to fall off, and very quickly after, the stems turned yellowish brown. :( 

I wish I started this blog sooner so I could give exact dates when everything started to happen, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead.

I, however, decided that I didn't want to throw away this orchid like so many people do after the flowers have fallen. For one, my gorgeous boyfriend gave this to me, and two, the leaves were still so alive. There may have not been flowers, but this plant was nowhere near death. I simply could not let myself throw away this plant. Instead, I started researching Phalaenopsis orchids relentlessly, and found that I first needed to cut off the stems. I did this by sterilizing a pair of scissors by putting a flame to the edges, let it cool, and then snipped as close to the base as I could. Right after, I put a cinnamon paste to the gash because cinnamon is an anti-bacterial, and I did not want my plant to become infected with something gross. After I snipped and added my cinnamon, I placed my potted leaves on the mantle above my fireplace and waited... and waited... and waited...

October 2013, a new leaf has emerged!! I should mention that from my research I learned cutting the stems off allows the plant to put its energy into producing a new leaf. A new leaf must emerge before a new spike can come through.

Up until this point, I felt like I was watering a plant to simply sustain leaves. I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I wasn't sure if anything was going to happen at all! I am by no means a green thumb. Sure, I've helped my mom around the garden, and wouldn't say I'm the type that kills any plant I touch, but let's be real: this was my first time attempting to regrow an orchid--something I had no experience in. Well the point of my explanation is to show how easy regrowing a Phal is, because even for me, a new leaf was born!

As I mentioned before, I wish I had the idea of starting this blog sooner. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the leaf coming in as a baby and ultimately maturing into a beautiful big leaf. I do, however, have pictures of when the spike emerged!

I noticed signs of a new spike in December, and soon after, I began documenting. The picture below was taken January 3, 2014.

At this point, I was excited and thrilled, and most of all, I felt like I did something right! From my research, I learned that when I new spike emerges, the plant needs to be fed more often: every week instead of once of month. I am not going to lie, though--there were times when I forgot to feed every 7 days. And sometimes I didn't feed each time I watered. This only proves how strong and easy Phals are. And in all honestly, Phals seem to do quite well with less tampering. 

I did try my best to keep up with it--feeding, watering, making sure it was always getting bright, indirect sunlight. And so far, so good!

This is the fertilizer I use to feed my Phal, btw. 

 I've read multiple sources that say to use a 20-20-20, or a 10-10-10, or any combo of those numbers! Well I'm using the urea free 20-10-20, the container says good for Phals, and I say GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME! And from the looks of it, my Phal has done quite well from this food. 

This next picture was taken January 11, 2014. 

 I was SURPRISED, to say the least. When I took this picture a week later and compared it to the previous, I could not believe how much it had grown in only 1 week! At this point, I was super excited! And becoming more anxious for the upcoming weeks to see its progression!

The next picture is only two days later. You can see how fast this plant grows in just days. I took this picture because I added the stake back in because I wanted to start making tick marks on the stake each week to see how much it grows in one week. I believe I put the tick mark the day before. Obviously, the spike is just over the mark. This picture was taken on January 13, 2014.

 I put the small hair clip on the spike because it was beginning to grow horizontally, and I lost my cute original clips. :(

During this week I went a little photo crazy... I wanted to show my best friend how much my Phal was growing day by day... and now I get to show you!

 January 14, 2014

 January 16, 2014

And now I go back to the week-by-week trend; however, this next picture is 10 days later. I switched out the hair clip for twist ties. I noticed the hair clip put a little gash in my spike :(. Luckily, nothing happened to my spike :D .

 January 26, 2014

I must have ticked it a few days after January 16, 2014, but I have no photos to show for that. Instead, you can see my original tick mark, a second probably around the 20th, and my third tick mark on January 26. 

The next photo is on January 27, 2014, showing the whole plant. My spike got so long so quickly!

 Here is where things get exciting...

 

The two photos above were taken on February 3, 2014. Not only is this Phal continuously growing like a weed, the tip is beginning to branch off! Oh my goodness... This day I was even more ecstatic, and even more anxious for the upcoming weeks. 

I should also note that at this point of its growth, I have been feeding about every 10 days. 

This only becomes more impressive...

The three pictures above were taken on February 9, 2014. The tip is becoming more differentiated and buds are beginning to form. And... it continuously gets longer! Yay! I see blooms in the future.

 This finally brings us to the date of this post, February 16, 2014. The above 4 pictures were taken today (Feb 16), and oh my goodness! I look at my Phal every single day, and every day I am thoroughly impressed with the progress it's made. This morning, after I took these pictures, I looked at last week's and couldn't believe how much it differentiated since then! The buds are much more formed. The top is getting longer, forming new baby buds! I just can't wait for it to bloom. 

Until next week my Phal lovers! 

<3 Dianna