Orchid-land!

By now, you know that I like orchids.  So this is exceptionally cool to me.  I have brought up in the past how my cousins' cousin Walter has an orchid greenhouse.  Well, the first day we arrived in Holland, Evan and I went to visit it again where we got another tour of the place.

The essence of what Walter does there is grow orchids for the flower.  This is in contrast to the vast majority of orchid growers who grow orchids to sell the plant.  The result is that they pay special attention to the quality of the flower when breeding (many of them were the size of grapefruits). 

One cutting from a orchid they like can produce up to 100 or so plants which start as little orchid babies and grow slowly until 3 years later it is full sized and ready to produce wholesale quality flowers.

In the greenhouse (which maintains a warm, humid environment for optimal orchid growth), they have an area for all these orchid baby plants which rotate on a schedule while they grow.  I neglected to take any pictures of these baby plants because I was too obsessed with all the flowers.

Me, obsessed with the flowers

Anyway, once the flowers are ready and they have a buyer, they cut them and put them a plastic water-filled tube at the end of the stem, box them, and put them in a cooler.  They go in cooled trucks all over the world (many of them to the US!).  This is a stressful stage for the flower, as certain things like contact with fruit, especially pears and apples, can kill them (for the scientifically minded, the fruit emits ethylene which is no good for flowers -- I grew up hearing this about roses too).  As for who buys the flowers, there's lots of buyers.  Recently, Dior put on a show with themed color rooms walled with flowers.  Walter's company supplied the orchids for the "white room."  (This picture was taken from his company facebook page).

Pretty awesome!  Anyway, my family lives in the part of Holland covered with greenhouses, all growing profuse amounts of flowers and food.  I have always loved all of the greenhouses, but this visit, I also was struck by how many orchids you see everywhere -- it seems like every Dutch person has at least one orchid plant in their house.  My grandma has a tiny 2 inch pot with a very healthy-looking orchid in it on her dining table.  So effortless!  I love it!  And it made me feel like maybe my love of orchids is also a little bit Dutch.

For those interested, here is a link to Walter's company and a few more photos for the orchid lovers.  Enjoy!

Oh my orchids!

Let's talk about how much I love orchids:  I love them lots.  

Right now, I have two.  Here they are in instagram'd glory:

My double orchid in vintage-y toolbox planter

My kitchen sill orchid with pink and white flowers

Wanting them to live forever and ever because I love them so much, I will be taking very good care of them.  "How do you do that?" you ask.  WELL, let me tell you...  (The following information was gleaned primarily from here and here).

Water:  

-Once heavily per 5-12 days and never on the leaves.  

-More in summer if super dry, less in winter.  Spritzing your plant once in the morning during summer months is okay too.

-Note that different orchids prefer different moisture levels, but the Phalaenopsis genus, which is what I have, are on the drier end of the spectrum.

Fertilizer:  Once every 2-4wks, and use special orchid food

Blooming:  

-Once the flowers have pooped out... 

^if the leaves look healthy, cut one node below where the flowers are, and hopefully they'll bloom again soon

^if not, cut at the bottom of the stem so you can nurse your plant back to life.  

Light:

-A common reason for not getting enough blooms is that the plants are not getting enough light.

-Bright indirect light is best.

Repotting:  

-Use special orchid mix, not soil.

-Orchids need repotting every 6 months to 2 years.

-This is better to do when your orchids are no longer blooming, so more on this later...

For all you LA folk, I bought my orchids wholesale from Lee's Orchids in the flower district downtown.  The flowers are cheap and healthy, they sell pots, and for $10 they'll even pot them for you with moss and pebbles.

For those of you not in LA, here's another gratuitous photo of my extended family's greenhouses, this time... Orchids!