When will they flower?

My orchids occasionally flower, but they haven’t for ages. The new one I bought still has flowers on it, but the buds soon fell off. I’m trying to feed them but I think I need to get bigger pots for them and new orchid compost/ fibre. I probably don’t water them enough and I don’t spray mist them. But I have had them for years. They have lots of ariel roots, there leaves are mostly green. So I will try and pamper them more.

Side window

On a cold sunny morning I like looking through the side windows of the house. This one is surrounded by orchids. Three plants live there, all different sizes. One recently stopped flowering after sending out a second flower spike. One keeps growing but hasn’t flowered again and the last was one we got in the summer and the flowers on it are fading. I think they all need repotting. They sit in clear pots as the roots like to get light to them, I have some orchid medium but last time I potted them on I think I used too much of it and crammed the roots of one of them in too tightly….

Theres a glass frog and another glass piece hanging from the curtain rail. Then the window glass is dusty and covered in cobwebs outside. It’s hard to clean as there is a large shrub in the way outside. Also there is a nesting box which families of Blue Tits use over the spring and summer. So it gets left, and the dappled light from the trees outside give it an atmospheric, olde worlde look. Which is why I like to take photos of it.

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Orchids

This is a duplicated photo of the orchids in my window. I thought they were hard to grow, but they seem to thrive on the neglect they get from me. I generally just give them a bit of water once a week. I think you are supposed to mist them with water and give them orchid food but that doesn’t happen. I did try repotting them but I killed one because I didn’t know they like clear pots so the roots get light. Some of the roots are ariel ones that need to be allowed freedom from the pot. One of my plants has sent out two flower spikes since I got it. I’m hoping it will do it again.

Abstract pots

Turn a photo into an abstract by mirroring it in the Layout app run through Instagram and Facebook. If you take a photo that is a bit lopsided then when you multiply the image you get interesting patterns. You can rotate the pictures so you can get a variety of different patterns.

Experiment and see what suits you. If you see odd patterns that can be interesting. Branches enclosing a flower. In this case mirrored handles on the pot makes for an unusual ceramic object when all it is, is a jug. Ariel roots and leaves from my orchid plants frame the resulting pattern.

Orchids or Triffids?

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My biggest orchid is getting a bit rampant, it’s ariel roots are slowly growing across the cupboard. The smallest one is gradually dying. I think I need to give its roots a bit more air and fresh orchid medium. The middle one seems OK although it’s flowers only lasted a couple of weeks. The house isn’t very warm (usually between 18 and 20°C, sometimes as low as 16°C) but I’ve made sure they are not in a draft. I found out they like to grow in clear plastic pots, they like the light getting to them. I’m planning to repot after the flowers die off… Any advice about ariel roots. Can I cut them back…. I don’t want to damage the plant.