Phal. (Lyndon Lyric x tetraspis)

   Another from the 2015 AD haul. This Phal also did nothing for a while, but has made a new leaf, started a new leaf recently, and is making new roots. I did get three blooms out of it a while ago, but the spike has done nothing since then. Flower pics included!

C. (caulescens x pumila)

   Well, this is another that I received in the first batch AD 2015. It was connected in one piece, but it had grown in two separate ways, so I split it when I last repotted it. When I first got it, I had nothing besides sphagnum, so that's what it went into for a while. One of the leads actually had buds, but I wasn't watering it enough and they blasted. Now I have them in a mix of small bark, medium bark, medium charcoal, and sphagnum moss. The naming on this was a bit confusing, because it came as L. (mantiqueirae x pumila v. alba). I looked up the mantiqueirae, and I came up with Soph. mantiqueirae, which didn't match the parent in the images provided by the breeder. So I found out that since both Laelia and Sophronitis have been sunk into Cattleya, L. mantiqueirae became C. caulescens and Soph. mantiqueirae became C. mantiqueirae. Confusing, right?

Phalaenopsis Valentinii

   This is one from the first set of orchids, AD 2015. It arrived in bud, and it was a nice cherry red, but of course it had to drop. I've had it for a year, and while it's grown a new leaf, started a second, and is sending out multiple new roots, the spike has done squat. It hasn't even started a new spike, which I find quite offensive all in all. It even has a branch on it's one node that's done absolutely nothing, so this one has me glaring at it quite often. I don't know if it thinks it's spring now since I've moved it into my closet, but hopefully that brings with it new growth in the flower department.

Chapter Four: Depression and the Light

   Well, it's certainly been a long time since you've all had an update, and wow, it's almost been three years. A lot has gone on since then, like, a LOT. Shortly after my last post from January 2014, I moved out of my parents' place to live with my older brother. Then in the summer that same year, I moved in with my first ex. By the end of 2014, that relationship fell apart, and left me feeling really low. I moved into where I am now right afterwards, and just didn't have the energy to set up my stand and care for my plants. So, as one would assume, everything besides my one flask slowly withered away in the boxes I used to move them. Through 2015, I went along a personal journey to improve my mental health, and things have improved drastically since then. Then fall of 2015 rolled around, and I organised to have a friend in Montréal send me some plants from the local orchid show, I set them up in a fish tank in front of a south window in my room. And history flows from there. I'll have those pictures and the story leading up to where I am after the break.

The Start of Plant Stand III

   So over the past few nights I've spent some time thinking about the designs for a new stand, one that can stand alone, outside of any closet, and one that is much more efficient than Stand II (which held my Cattleyas and Bulbophyllums at my last house). There are a lot of hypotheses that I will need to prove that will strongly dictate the design of the stand. I'll explain my ideas after the break, plus I also found a new spike! (I should clarify that when I speak of a new spike for something so new and small, I am always taking into consideration that it may be a kieki instead of a spike, I'm just hoping for the best).

New Year's Eve Update!

   Ugh, I should rename this blog "Update Every Once in a Blue Moon". Once again, here I am, apologising to any human who may still be checking my blog every once in a while for an update. If you are one of those resilient few, today is your lucky day! So yes, I know I haven't updated since August, but, like, whatever, I am back once again, after a teary-eyed reunion with my moving day posts. In usual fashion, the exciting pictures after the break!

More Orchids!

   WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! My closet is finally starting to fill up again! Yesterday (technically Wednesday, I started writing this on Thursday, it's Saturday now) would have been a terrible day had it not started with being woken up by my dad dropping a giant box onto my bed as I was sleeping. Thankfully this was around the time that I usually get up anyways, but I had somehow unbelievably forgot about the fact that the plants I had ordered from Kingfisher Orchids were due to arrive. Usually, however, every time I have orchids on the way, they tend to wait until the last minute or while I'm not home to show up. Needless to say I was soon fully awake and unpacking the wonderful haul. Pictures and the rest of the story after the break!