Great Value professional strength plastic wrap has changed...what now?
arkansas girl
3 years ago
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terezosa / terriks
3 years agomaire_cate
3 years agoRelated Discussions
No flowers, now what?
Comments (48)Hi Alice, Hope you're still checking in here. As I said, a couple of my friends have had just one orchid - a Phal they wanted to rebloom, and asked me how. Also, my 15-year old niece is getting into orchids, and we've had some great emails over what why how when. Most of the items on the following list need to be addressed only once, like what kind of pot is your orchid in right now. After a few weeks, many new orchid people find the orchid care routine is⦠routine. If your husband would like to email me with questions & comments, Iâd love to hear from him. At the top of my message here, click on the link for âMy Page.â When you get to Whitecat8âs Member Page, click on âSend me an emailâ over to the right. I can send these directions as an attachment, too. Caveat: My Phal hybrids (like you've got) grow with the culture routine below. Others have somewhat different practices. This isn't cast in stone but will give you a good start. Whitecat8 Care for your Phalaenopsis Orchid Phalaenopsis (fail uh noppâ sis) Orchid, or âPhalâ (fail) Note: This list is long. Much of it needs to be addressed only once. A. Initial information 1. Whatâs your Phal in now? - Does the pot have paper around it? If so, take it off. - Does the pot have any holes in the bottom? If so, how many and about how large are they? If there arenât any holes, weâll talk about a different pot. - Whatâs the pot made of? Plastic is fine. Unglazed clay with more than one drainage hole in the bottom or slit in the side is fine. 2. Whatâs your Phal planted in? - Some sort of bark mixture? - Some sort of moss? If itâs moss, it may be green on top. Thatâs fine. - Plain dirt? - Something else? If your husband reads through this and wants to give it a go, we can talk briefly about repotting. Reason: Orchids that are mass-produced have been raised as economically as possible, rather than for a good, long life. Also, orchids need smaller pots than many houseplants, relative to size, plus extra holes for drainage, and we can run over that info quickly. B. Light So, about your Eastern windows⦠Ideally, your Phal will get full, direct Eastern sunlight falling on its leaves for several hours each day. Your Southern windows may work, but often, that light is too strong for Phals. - Do you have an overhang over the E. windows that interferes with full, direct light for several hours each day? - Do trees cut the light? - Another house? - Anything else cut the light from full strength? - Can you get your Phal right up next to the glass without the leaves touching the glass? If the E. light is less than full, we may be talking a plant light, unless your Southern light is cut by trees, etc. Note: If youâre thinking about putting the plant outside, check w/ this Forum 1st. Orchids have to be acclimated to outside light carefully and slowly. C. Temperatures Phal hybrids like yours thrive in usual household temps. Let us know if your temps are different. That 20-degree drop comment. To initiate spikes, many orchids need a drop in temps. Iâve always heard it was 10 degrees for Phals, not 20, but Phals do well in a range of conditions. Regardless, all my Phal hybrids initiate spikes in the house, even if theyâre not up next to the windows. D. Humidity Experienced folks have different opinions. All winter, my Phal hybrids have an RH (Relative Humidity) between the teens to the low 30% range, and they bloom each year. Summer RHs are higher. In the literature, usually recommendations are a minimum of 50%. Some people use humidifiers during the winter. E. Air movement Unless your orchidâs in an isolated spot, it may get enough air movement from the kids running around, adults walking by, doors opening and shutting, etc. If thereâs little air movement, a small fan will take care of it. F. What you need 1. un-softened water. If your water is softened, youâll need to find another source of water. The chemicals in softened water kill orchids. Two options are reverse osmosis water or distilled water that are sold here in grocery stores, Whole Foods, and co-ops. 2. wooden BBQ skewer or sharpened wooden pencil 3. a plastic pot for the Phal, or an unglazed clay pot with extra holes. Glazed or metal pots donât breathe and cause root rot. 4. container for water with fertilizer mixed in - a smallish watering can, jar, etc. You can mix up enough for several waterings. You may not be fertilizing often, so a half-gallon container or a bit smaller is fine. 5. orchid fertilizer, small amount, from Home Depot, etc., but Target here doesnât carry it. It will be diluted in water, so the smallest amount sold will be fine. Mix fertilizer w/ water, going by the directions. Put it in the watering can and put plastic wrap or something over the opening in the top so it wonât evaporate. You wonât be using it often - maybe not even once a month. 6. Any houseplant fertilizer will do if you donât find orchid fertilizer easily - Miracle Grow, etc. Just cut the fertilizer to 1/4 the recommended amount. 7. A saucer, a decorative tray, etc. - something to put the orchid pot in when itâs sitting in the window. This will catch any extra water and protect the windowsill or whatever the pot sits on. 8. Optional - put small stones, marbles, or something similar in the saucer to catch any drips left from watering. G. Watering Put the wooden BBQ skewer or sharpened pencil all the way down in the potting medium, close to the "stem" of the Phal, and leave it there. Only an inch or so of either needs to stick out from the top of the potting medium, so you can cut off the rest, if you donât like the look of the entire thing. After a couple of days, pull out the whatever, being careful of splinters on the skewer. If the bottom inch of so of the skewerâs wet or damp, put it back and donât water or fertilize or flush - wherever you are in the watering cycle. (See below.) Re-check in two days. If the skewer is coolish or dry, itâs time to water. If itâs dry, check a couple of days sooner next time. 1. First watering - water with un-softened tap water or reverse osmosis or distilled water when the medium is almost dry (determine by feeling the skewer). This means take the orchid to the kitchen sink, warm the water till itâs tepid, and run tepid water over the surface of the medium until water flows freely from the holes in the bottom of the pot for a few seconds. If you have a sprayer at the sink, you can use that instead of the faucet. If using reverse osmosis or distilled water, going to the sinkâs also handy. SOAK UP any water that collects in the âVâ of all leaves where they come out of the stem. This will prevent crown rot, which often is fatal. The corner of a paper towel or Kleenex is perfect. Let the pot drain before taking it back to the window. DO NOT let the bottom of the pot stand in water. The plant could die from rotted roots. In the wild, Phals grow in trees, often parallel to the trunk, so their bare roots get dew and rainwater, plus breezes. 2. Second watering - fertilizing. Back to the sink. First, run some tepid water through the potting medium. Then stir the fertilizer water in the watering can or whatever and pour through the medium, the same as you did in step one. Then soak up any water in the âVâ of the leaves. By using plain water before the fertilizer water, youâll minimize the chances of salts in the fertilizer burning the roots. If your Phalâs in bark, repeat step 1 here, then go to step 3 for the next watering. Watering for bark has 4 steps. If itâs in moss, go to step 3. 3. Third watering - flushing. Flush pot with tepid, un-softened water & rub the leaves, top and bottom surfaces, between your fingers. Flushing (also called leaching) means running a lot of tepid water through the pot. The ideal is to run 4 times the usual amount of water when youâre flushing. The purpose is to flush out the fertilizer salts that collect in the potting medium and can burn the roots. Rubbing the leaves while running them under water gets off the dust, which decreases the orchidâs ability to absorb light. If there are any bugs that you canât see, itâll rinse them off, too. Except for the extra amount of water, take the same steps you did for regular water, including soaking up any water in the âVâ of the leaves. Next watering, start over with Step 1. When you return the pot to its spot, make sure any extra water that drains into the saucer doesn't touch the bottom of the pot, or the roots can rot. HAVE FUN!...See MoreHow has Composting changed your life?
Comments (32)This sounds crazy, but I think composting taught me about the difference between our built environment and the natural environment, and it also made me realize how plastic infests so much of our society. I feel like everything should be biodegradable, in one time span or another, and when stuff persists I now think twice about why that is, for better or worse. What is quality, what is trash? If something is going to exist for a long, long time, it better be something worthwhile. And then there's just the plastic/styrofoam grossness. I think my first lesson with this was from shredding paper and composting it and having hundreds of little pieces of plastic envelope windows remain in what is otherwise gorgeous black soil. It just really made me realize what biodegradable means, and why plastic can be such an environmental pest. Long story short, because of composting, I am a great deal more conscious about our household waste stream--recycling is second-most-fun after composting--and I have made a concerted effort to change my purchasing habits. I'd rather spend a lot of money once and purchase a high quality, long-lasting, sustainably produced whatever than to continue buying easily breakable disposable junk and eventually replacing it with more of the same. ("buy cheap, buy twice") Thank you compost!...See MoreFiberglas Pots VS the Plastic-Foam
Comments (16)I've always liked the foam pots for their insulating value, they do deteriorate however from UV exposure and banging about. That said I have some that have lasted many years. I was all up on the durability and lightness of fiberglass but now I'm thinking they are just OK. I do think they tranfer the heat to the roots, even the double walled ones. I have three huge fiberglass pots that used to harbor Marie Pavie, Marie Daly and SDLM. All three are now in the ground and doing much better. The only rose left in one of those pots is Clotilde Soupert and I guess I didn't transplant her because I'm not sure I like her all that much. Maybe I'm hoping she'll perish. Three years is the max on keeping roses in pots in my experience. Two is better. For my part, I've exiled all my potted roses, maybe a dozen or more, from the deck to the driveway for evaluation. They all got hit with rose slugs this spring and are just coming back. Most of them were first year experiments, teas mostly, that I was trying to grow on and evaluate for their first summer and winter. Instead of sending them to the pot ghetto I decided to dress them up in pretty pots and let them live on the deck. I used clay, fiberglass, plastic and foam. I think I like clay the best, but it is heavy and you have to protect it from freezes. I don't think I'll garden with roses in pots anymore, I've given most of the pots over to other plants like veggies, herbs and annuals. I have one hydrangea and one Japanese maple in pots but they are sort of like my bonsai experiments....See MoreWrapping My Mind Around Prices...Yikes!
Comments (24)leahcate, I am posting to encourage you to try to buy local rather than order online. I am about to start construction in my condo to renovate (completely gut) my kitchen, master bath and a guest bath. As with past projects, when I started the planning process, I made a conscious decision to support local businesses and not buy over the Internet. I have always found that I have been able to buy almost everything locally at prices that are usually the same and often less, than I would pay online. Thus far, with this project, the only exception being towel bars. The local supplier's best pricing is still about ten percent higher than what I can find online, but I paid the additional small cost. I told the supplier that I wanted to support him rather than someone who lived far away. He REALLY appreciated it and I think that prices for other products I am buying from his plumbing supply store are lower as a result. I suggest you ask your plumber to see what pricing he can get for you. Tell your plumber the "look" you are trying to achieve and see what he suggests. Plumbers often have more knowledge that you would think about fixture options because they install so much stuff over the years. Or just call the plumber and give the plumber the manufacturers\model numbers of the pieces you are trying to order and tell him that you would like to give him the business. If not your plumber, go to a plumbing supply store. If you have found pricing online, bring prints of the web pages with you. Show them the prices. But also remember that there is great value to be able to talk with and get advice from a person face-to-face. Unless you are an expert in plumbing fixtures, your plumber or the plumbing supply store is going to be able to provide valuable help. I in no way intend to criticize anyone for buying online. But, for me, ordering through local stores\professionals is important. I have a number of friends who have had their businesses severely impacted or close because people make ordering decisions based on seeing a price online without giving a local supplier the opportunity to match it and without considering the customer service and expertise that a local supplier can provide. People that work at local suppliers pay mortgages in your city, shop at all those stores you pass on your way home and are a part of the fabric of your daily life. Please think about that before you enter your credit card number and send money to some distance business to save a few dollars. At a minimum, give local businesses a chance. Local experience and expertise might save you a lot of money. When construction starts, I will be posting a sign in my condo that reads, "Materials for this project have been purchased locally from the following vendors:" Then I will list the vendors. I have done this when I did work in the past. You would be AMAZED how much the Trades appreciate your buying local. And if there is a problem with one of the fixtures, chances are the plumber will know someone at the plumbing supply store where you (or he) purchased the fixture and, using that relationship, the "fix" will happen much faster that you having to call an 800 number in another far away place. Thanks for listening. As you can tell, I feel very strongly about ordering locally. :) Respectfully, Rob...See MoreJasdip
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