February: A Month of Orchid Love

February 24, 2025

02/24/2025

HOOTIE PIE
Let’s begin with Hootie Pie. Over the past three months, Hootie Pie has continued to improve with thicker, more flexible leaves, and growth from the two new roots she has developed. I started her out with daily four-hour soaks in a rotation of 3 days of Cal-Mag water, 3 days of a concoction that I saw in a video from Emaan’s Garden, and 3 days of SuperThrive water. Of course, nothing changes quickly, but I do think I’m seeing progress. I have moved Hootie Pie to an orchid pot with rocks on the bottom to hold her up, solid wire supports and string to keep her upright. I then place that on a shallow dish with filtered water in the bottom. The idea is that she will sense the nearby water and grow new roots to reach that water. She still had about 6 or 7 of her original roots, and they must be somewhat viable or she would not be improving at all, however, they do not seem capable of branching off into new roots. All-in-all, I’m pleased with the progress she’s making.

ELEANOR
While Eleanor isn’t drastically improving in media, she does have a new leaf coming on! I won’t call that a huge success, but a success none the less.

ALAIS
Alais remains limp and with a little wrinkling on her leaves. The problem? A failing root system. That is the bad news. The good news is that she does have some new roots coming on in addition to a new leaf.

KAT
Kat’s unexpected blooms from her broken spike are lovely. Her root system is growing and her leaves are looking good!

PETRA
Petra’s original roots are doing well in water culture, but there’s always room for more. Her three new roots and a new leaf coming on are certainly a welcome sight.