The Orchid, beautiful and easy to care for inside your house.

The tradition of giving flowers to friends, family and relatives is a strange thing in my opinion, yes they are very beautiful but in a way the seller cuts the flower, group them together to make a pretty bouquet and sells them, the customer buys the bouquet to mostly give them away as a present, and while beautiful at first, you're slowly watching how the flowers starts to wither and eventually die, maybe this is a cynical approach to this tradition but I'm not wrong, right!? 😉

Therefore, I like it better to get a plant of flower with it's roots intact so you can enjoy it a lot longer, and sometimes you get surprised by the presents you get from the people close to you.

It was the same with this Orchid, I never had an orchid before, my mother always told be they were hard to keep alive so, while beautiful - I never bothered to try it for myself but when it was a gift, I had no choice other than to just read a little about how to best care for it and give it a try!

So, over three years ago now, my wife got this Orchid from her friend - my wife doesn't like plants and flowers because she just forgets to water them so they're pretty much dead already when she has to care for them... 😅

Most plants inside our houses don't die because of the lack of water, but rather they get too much of it so the roots starts to decay and the plant will die, and that's what I like about the Orchid so much because while plants obviously can't talk when they require water, you can just SEE it by looking at the color of their roots, it's that easy! And it's why - in my country at least - Orchids are sold in transparent pots, obvious when you know about this fact but like with everything, it's easy when you know.

This is how my Orchid roots looked this morning, I waited until it needed water again to make this post 🙂
They key to a healthy Orchid is lovely neglect, it doesn't require much, don't give it water until the roots turn grey, which is about every two to four weeks depending on the season and the outside temperature. It's staying close to our front door without direct sunlight and in the winter this area doesn't get heated.

Once the roots turn grey, I fill the outer pot with tap water and put the transparent inner pot in to the water for about 30 minutes so the roots and soil can hydrate, every now and then I add some fertilizer in to the water.

Oh, and as a disclaimer - I'm no botanist by any means, this is just how I do this and it seems to work, because this is the third time it's blooming already, and unlike flowers you get as a present, these are here to stay for about three months before they're bloomed out.

After 30 minutes I throw away the water in the outside pot (or water other plants with it) and let the inner pot leak out most of the water in the sink for a minute, and that's all it takes really, you can now see the roots have turned from grey in to green again in such a short time.

When it stops blooming, don't throw it away!

When the Orchid stop blooming and the flowers start to wither, put it in a cool place and cut the stem above the second 'eye'. The eye's are the ring like connections on the stems, like displayed in this picture.

With some care, but not too much (remember the loving neglect 😅) and patience, new flowers will start to grow next year again 😍

Some history to close this post with...

The orchid flower has a long history, dating back thousands of years, and its journey to Europe is a story of exploration and discovery. Here's an overview of its history:

Early History of Orchids
Origins in Asia and the Tropics: Orchids likely first grew in warm tropical areas, especially in Asia. In ancient China and Japan, they were valued for their beauty and seen as symbols of purity. Confucius even wrote about orchids, connecting them to good character and nobility.

Medicinal Uses: Orchids were also used as medicine. In ancient Greece, people believed orchids could improve love and fertility. Funny Fact: The word "orchid" comes from the Greek word "orchis," which means testicle, due to the shape of the plant’s roots.

Arrival in Europe
Orchids first came to Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries when explorers and traders began traveling to new lands. They brought back many exotic plants, including orchids, from places like Asia and the Americas.

Europeans were fascinated by orchids, but they struggled to grow them because the plants needed specific warm and humid conditions. Many early attempts to cultivate orchids failed because it was hard to mimic the tropical environments in Europe.

By the 18th century, European interest in orchids grew even more as new species were discovered. Glasshouses (an early form of greenhouses) helped create better environments for growing orchids.

Orchid Mania in the 19th Century
In the 19th century, a craze for orchids spread through Europe, especially in Britain. Wealthy people collected rare orchids, and "orchid hunters" were sent to faraway tropical regions to find and bring back new types. Orchids became a symbol of wealth and status.

By the mid-19th century, botanists started to understand how to grow orchids better. New tools like the Wardian case (a sealed glass container) made it easier to transport orchids from tropical places to Europe. As a result, more orchids were imported, and the orchid craze exploded.

At the end of the 19th century, people began experimenting with creating new varieties of orchids by crossing different species, which made orchids even more popular.

Modern Times
Easy to Grow: Today, thanks to advances in science and horticulture, orchids are easier to grow than ever before. They are now one of the most popular houseplants worldwide.

Orchids are still seen as symbols of beauty, love, and luxury in many cultures.

In short, orchids traveled from tropical regions to Europe because of explorers and scientists. Although they were difficult to grow at first, breakthroughs in cultivation and transportation made orchids highly sought after, especially by the wealthy.

Today, they are admired worldwide for their beauty and elegance.

Thanks for reading, as a Splinterlands player, making splinterlands ONLY content on Hive, I'm trying to better this in diversifying my posts with my other interests.
If you have tips or critiques, please let me know!
I'm still finding my way in to the Hive Communities and I wasn't able find a specific community for this post.

I wish a great day to everyone!