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Dear Money Plant,
Look. I know you've had it pretty good since I moved into my parents' house. I've been watering you regularly (which Dad didn't bother to do and Mom wasn't interested in doing; course, I only remember 'cuz of ReminderFox), I eventually moved you out of the main basement area and into my room (since my room is actually consistently heated and your current place actually gives you access to sunlight), and I've even been giving you food of a sort about once a month. But we've really got to talk about the new growth.
It was bad enough that you put out three new shoots practically the day I started watering you regularly, never mind that we were heading into autumn. But now that you've finally grown those to their capacity (as near as I can tell) and stabilized them, you decided to put out another one?
Honey, it's the middle of frikkin' January on the northern hemisphere. I know it's been warmer this winter than it usually is in Iowa, but come on! If this is how you're growing in the dead of winter, what the hell are you going to be like when spring sets in?
Please, please consider saving some of that growth for a more traditional growing time. Say, March?
Sincerely,
The Management
There's also a Phalaenopsis upstairs that Dad regrettably replanted in a pot that's much too large for it before I even knew he was thinking about it, also heading into fall. It's... struggling along. I know my boss at the flower shop jokingly swears that near cruelty can get amazing results out of orchids, and that that's the only reason those two that had lost their blooms ever put out new stems, but this is kind-of ridiculous.
Most of its roots have dried and shriveled up like worms in the midsummer sun, but it's still plugging along. Hell, even as one of its older leaves turned yellow and died, it put out two new ones, and it looks like it's working on a new root to boot. Meanwhile, what's left of its roots are curled around what mast it managed to cling to after the transplant, and the plant itself is literally balanced on the edge of its new pot. I honestly don't know how it keeps going. Maybe if I get some potting soil, or some rocks, put those at the bottom of the too-big pot and piled the mast on top of it, that could help it out. Meanwhile, I want to wince just looking at it. That poor plant. (There's also an aloe in the upstairs bathroom that's living in a pot that would be so much better for the orchid, I can't even. It's tiny! It's got holes in the side! WHY IS THERE AN ALOE GROWING IN IT WHEN THERE COULD BE AN ORCHID, I ASK YOU. Maybe the fact that it's unglazed clay has something to do with it...)
In any case, we've still got a good amount of winter left to go. Should I risk re-planting it now, or hold my breath and wait until sometime more spring-y? Anyone one have any experience with this sort of thing?
Look. I know you've had it pretty good since I moved into my parents' house. I've been watering you regularly (which Dad didn't bother to do and Mom wasn't interested in doing; course, I only remember 'cuz of ReminderFox), I eventually moved you out of the main basement area and into my room (since my room is actually consistently heated and your current place actually gives you access to sunlight), and I've even been giving you food of a sort about once a month. But we've really got to talk about the new growth.
It was bad enough that you put out three new shoots practically the day I started watering you regularly, never mind that we were heading into autumn. But now that you've finally grown those to their capacity (as near as I can tell) and stabilized them, you decided to put out another one?
Honey, it's the middle of frikkin' January on the northern hemisphere. I know it's been warmer this winter than it usually is in Iowa, but come on! If this is how you're growing in the dead of winter, what the hell are you going to be like when spring sets in?
Please, please consider saving some of that growth for a more traditional growing time. Say, March?
Sincerely,
The Management
There's also a Phalaenopsis upstairs that Dad regrettably replanted in a pot that's much too large for it before I even knew he was thinking about it, also heading into fall. It's... struggling along. I know my boss at the flower shop jokingly swears that near cruelty can get amazing results out of orchids, and that that's the only reason those two that had lost their blooms ever put out new stems, but this is kind-of ridiculous.
Most of its roots have dried and shriveled up like worms in the midsummer sun, but it's still plugging along. Hell, even as one of its older leaves turned yellow and died, it put out two new ones, and it looks like it's working on a new root to boot. Meanwhile, what's left of its roots are curled around what mast it managed to cling to after the transplant, and the plant itself is literally balanced on the edge of its new pot. I honestly don't know how it keeps going. Maybe if I get some potting soil, or some rocks, put those at the bottom of the too-big pot and piled the mast on top of it, that could help it out. Meanwhile, I want to wince just looking at it. That poor plant. (There's also an aloe in the upstairs bathroom that's living in a pot that would be so much better for the orchid, I can't even. It's tiny! It's got holes in the side! WHY IS THERE AN ALOE GROWING IN IT WHEN THERE COULD BE AN ORCHID, I ASK YOU. Maybe the fact that it's unglazed clay has something to do with it...)
In any case, we've still got a good amount of winter left to go. Should I risk re-planting it now, or hold my breath and wait until sometime more spring-y? Anyone one have any experience with this sort of thing?
