Orchid 911

Last night I attended a CitySearch event called Eat. Drink. Learn., and that's what I did. We ate at the cozy new Food Court LA (mac n cheese with bacon and sun dried tomatoes and carrot cake for dessert), drank white wine sangria with pear, mandarin and citron vodka and fresh blueberries and learned about how to properly care for orchids.

A presentation by David, The Orchid Wrangler, who has a store that sells orchids and even has a DVD out about it, provided tips for owning a thriving orchid plant. After attending the pretty orchid show in New York awhile back, I was too intimidated to buy orchids that weren't cut and used for flowers, but now I'm tempted to at least try. Here are some things I learned:

  • Apparently the Orchid industry is a $9 billion dollar a year business, just $2 billion shy of matching the porn industry.
  • No direct sunlight, that is its enemy, but they still require a lot of indirect sunlight (sky lights, lamps, bright rooms); keep 2ft away from direct light/window.
  • Do not over water, tablespoon water into the soil and wait until it dries before adding more water. Likes moisture, but do not drown it.
  • Remove the decorative mulch put on the top of most plants for decoration.
  • Anything that's brown, cut it off.
  • Vanilla beans come from an orchid vine.
  • Orchids do not require much food.
  • Leaves should be bright green and not dark green or have a red tint--that's bad.
  • Orchids can still grow and be alive even though they don't bloom, if this is the case move to a brighter area.
  • Keep roots exposed.
  • Orchids lead in the most common flowers seen in bridal bouquets (I'm going with tulips or gerbera).
  • In the wild, orchids do not live in the ground, but up in the trees!

Digression: I see that in my notes I circled the word lanai. David had used the term when suggesting where to keep your orchids, which prompted me to start thinking of Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls, who also uses the term "lanai" to refer to their porch. I wish I had a lanai. That's all.

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3 comments

  1. Oh man that mac and cheese sounds amazing. I may have to check that place out.

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  2. Masterful stroke, mixing porn and orchids for commercial-comparative purposes. That's what keeps me coming back here! ;)

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  3. After reading this article is makes me want to start collecting/growing orchids. Good job!

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