Sadistic Relationship with Orchids

[playtime8978]

The only way I have got Phals to survive is to neglect them but not in bark, I cant seem to make phals happy in bark medium so I have moss and have well and truly neglected the little souls they get watered very infrequently and fed once a month or so I think and so far they're doing really well and actually have one in spike now and one i took to my moms that the poor devil doesn't know when to stop flowering, since I moved the one in spike down here to get more light and attention the spike has slowed right down, these seem the only ones I can neglect though others that have been treated this way I am currently trying to make happier as they obviously didnt appreciate some well meaning ( yes and planned) neglect. so I think it depends what your conditions are, what type of orchid and the medium used. I so wouldnt reccomend my way with phals but i was losing phals right left and centre to rot so thought well I will try ignoring them and see if I do any better.

[greenbean]

I love it! Everything from the lady with the sadistic orchid relationship, to threatening them with doggie snack-time, to "priss muffins"!!!

Honestly, I just try to give my orchids what I think they need when I can. If I'm too busy at the moment, they tough it out. I am pampering my new Neofinetia, Masdie, and Miltoniopsis with a humidifier, but that's because the humidity at my college is atrocious (yes, I mean atrocious! ). At home the humidity hardly ever drops below 50% except in winter, and then only in the dining room and kitchen where the woodstove is. Here, I'm lucky to keep it as high as 50%! That and the summer temperatures here are very high and my dorm room doesn't have AC, so my new cool growers are probably lucky to be alive. I shudder to think of winter, when all the moisture outside is frozen and inside it's being dried up by the heating system. I might put them in my little plastic terrarium then!

I know this sounds a little tree-hugger/hippie-dippie, but personally I think that orchid growers and gardeners in general have kind of a sixth sense about their plants. This instinct doesn't work for everyone for every plant, like those of us who can grow Phals but kill Oncidiums or vice versa . For those who want a less loopy explanation, we just have good observation skills and learn how to care for our plants by seeing the small details and signals and learning to properly interpret them. Whether that means ignoring them or pamering them varies, and as a few have already said, nature isn't consistent, so we don't have to be either!