If I've learned anything, it's that as low maintenance as they may be, plants require a whole lot of research. You can leave succulents and cacti in a sunny spot for weeks, completely forgotten, only to return and see that not only are they alive, but they've grown! But leave your beloved Hypoestes phyllostachya there and it's a different story, that guy will be crispy as all get out. Not all techniques apply to every plant, and you need to know exactly what you're getting into before you purchase a plant. Or don't, go crazy, be reckless and impulse buy that cute little Cyclamen -- but you better hope you've got a bright and sunny window sill for it.
But surface level research isn't the only thing I'm talking about. Sure, that's all incredibly helpful to maintaining a plant, but knowing exactly where your plants come from could be the difference between a living plant, and a thriving plant.
Let me explain, starting with a beautiful kind of plant called an Orchid.
I'm sure everyone in this universe has heard of Orchids. If you haven't, google it, they're kind of famous. Maybe even infamous, as the plant that everyone is gifted and nobody can keep alive. But if you can keep those suckers alive, boy oh boy are they beautiful.
I've never owned an orchid, for obvious reasons. The first reason probably being that I'm 20 years old and nobody gifts teenagers plants. And I've never bought one for myself because... why spend money on something that I would ultimately kill? It's just the way it goes. And even if I didn't completely kill it, when all the flowers died there's no telling if they'd ever grow back. I'd just have this big ole stick of a plant. With a few leaves, maybe. I'm still pretty new at this whole thing, so I'm not really feeling such an immediate failure. Let me get a little more experience under my belt before I go and hurt my own ego.
So, sometime in the past (I don't know if it was last year or last month, if we're being honest) my roommate's boyfriend gifted her an orchid. She was pretty nervous about it since, as I said, orchids are a tough audience. She didn't want to kill the pretty thing her boyfriend got her -- naturally, I wouldn't either. She used the ice cube trick, moved it out of direct sunlight when the flowers began to fall and the leaves started turning yellow.. you know, the full nine yards! But, still, the poor orchid wilted and eventually died, and my roommate ended up having to toss the dead, crispy remains and place its pot up on our shelf, empty and sad.
Lucky me, only a few weeks after the orchid wilted, we covered them in my Horticulture class. Phenomenal timing, in that I couldn't even try to help my roommate save the plant, but maybe the next time her boyfriend buys her an orchid, I could help out...
The first thing I learned what that almost 2/3's of all species of Orchids are something called an Epiphyte. Don't know what that means? Don't worry, I didn't either. It's pretty simple, though. An Epiphyte is a plant that grows on other plants and not in, like, soil. Those goofy looking air plants are another example, just for reference. These Orchid's roots are (surprise) epiphytic, meaning, again, they grow on other plants. They're thick, looking more like little stems than roots, but they serve all the same functions as your normal, underground root. So, if you were to see an Orchid in it's natural habitat, you wouldn't see it on the ground, you'd see it up high, with these thick vine looking structures growing in every which way around it. Let's break that down.
You buy an Orchid from Harris Teeter -- or Home Depot, I don't know, somewhere -- and you notice a few things right off the bat. The flowers, for one, the leaves, probably, and... look a little closer, do you see those roots? If you do, that Orchid is probably an Epiphyte! Now, the important bit of information. In the wild, these babies don't grow in the ground, they grow on the bark of other trees. So, would you plant them in soil? No! At least, I hope not! Orchids should be potted in loose bark or lava rock or... marbles. Something where its epiphytic roots can breathe.
My roommate's Orchid was totally an Epiphyte, and totally planted in soil. I'd venture to say it was doomed from the start. I don't know how reputable every grocery store or hardware store is on how they pot their Orchids, honestly. Since I've learned this about Orchids, every time I see one I go and check out how they've been potted. 9 times out of 10, they've been potted correctly. The Harris Teeter I always buy groceries from has always potted them right... at least, just going off of this information. And if you don't know if the Orchid is an Epiphyte or not, just look up its name! The scientific or common name will probably be stuck somewhere on the pot or little plant tag, and you can get so much information from just googling what kind of Orchid it is... and that goes for any plant.
If it's potted wrong, don't buy it!! Or, if you do buy it, make sure you repot it correctly! In something breathable like bark or lava rock. There are probably thousands of resources online on how to properly pot/repot an orchid.
Another thing I learned is about watering orchids... in that, you shouldn't water it with an ice cube. Now, I don't know who invented that trick or why so many people think it works, but it apparently doesn't! Here's why:
Orchids are native to... where? Tropical Forests -- you know, somewhere where ice cubes don't regularly water plants. Take some inspiration from that, if you're worried about watering your Orchid incorrectly. Look at how they get water in their natural habitat. They get a lot of water all at once. So when you water your orchids, make sure you water them thoroughly, and then make sure that -- since a plant sitting on a tree wouldn't be soaking in water -- you completely drain their pot.
This kind of logic should apply to all plants. Don't water your cacti ever day because they're native to the desert, and they don't usually get good water. Too much water and the darn things will die. Knowing where your plants come from and how they lived in their natural habitats will help you to keep yours alive and thriving, which will make you a better gardener. Think about it.
Comments