There’s been a massive amount of growth in the orchids since my last post! We came home from holiday to find some major developments both in Sandra and Julie!
In Sandra, which you may remember was the ‘weaker’ of the two orchids, I’d been delighted with the new leaf she had grown, which is doing well. The good news is that there is a second new leaf sprouting from the middle which you can just see in the picture below.
The more dramatic development though is the snake like creature which is emerging!! I had initially thought that this was a flower spike emerging but on closer inspection and some more research I think this is an aerial root.
There seems to be another one coming up from inside the pot so I’ll need to decide whether I need to repot the orchids. Aerial roots, I believe, are often a sign that the pot is too small. I’m not really sure you are meant to do this once the orchid’s growth period has started. I also wonder whether this root activity happened because they may of dried up a bit when we were away.
In Julie, I think we have the same thing happening. What I thought were two flower spikes on either side of the plant may well also be two aerial roots. In the first photo there is also a little ‘nodule’ which you can just see emerging above the bigger root. Its too small at the moment to identify what it is.
The good news is that Julie also has a tiny new leaf emerging so the plant seems to be fairly happy with her environment.
Most of the information I’m getting about orchids is from a great blog called ‘My First Orchid’. If you have an orchid you are caring for I would definitely recommend it as there is loads of information and pictures.
So, fingers crossed we continue to grow and I’ll report next month whether I had to repot the orchids again! I hope not, it was stressful enough the first time!