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
