Which houseplant would you suggest?

dawnsong

consumermonkey - what's your secret with moth orchids? - bought one last year and now have but a single, albeit healthy leaf! - will it regenerate from that or am I stuck having a leaf. do you pot yours in compost, mine is still in the wee pot of bark chips it came in....I've got quite a few thriving houseplants but seem to have the lethal touch with geraniums(one of my favourites) and now possibly moth orchids

jjjme - despite having several money plants, my finances haven't increased either .. more's the pity...

asbokid - your signature made me laugh

janine22

I'd definately say moneyplant too, I have two of them on a windowsill which are ignored most of the time but still going strong.

If you have space in your bathroom I'd also recommend putting a peace lily in there. We've had one on the bathroom windowsill for years which is hardly ever watered (the steam from showers etc. seems to keep it moist) it doesn't flower but is otherwise healthy.

consumermonkey

dawnsong wrote: »

consumermonkey - what's your secret with moth orchids? - bought one last year and now have but a single, albeit healthy leaf! - will it regenerate from that or am I stuck having a leaf. do you pot yours in compost, mine is still in the wee pot of bark chips it came in....I've got quite a few thriving houseplants but seem to have the lethal touch with geraniums(one of my favourites) and now possibly moth orchids

jjjme - despite having several money plants, my finances haven't increased either .. more's the pity...

asbokid - your signature made me laugh

Hiya, All I really do is water them no more than once a week and usually once a fortnight. I fill up the sink and leave the pot in there for 5-10 mins, then drain. Have only ever re-potted in orchid compost, which is bark chips and can be bought in garden centres for less than £5.00, not a huge bag, but you don't need much. Only ever planted on those I've had a few years.

Make sure the pot you plant onto is clear, the roots need light and air as much if not more than water. Don't put into direct sun. mine are on north facing window.

I have started to use orchid feed in the water (Baby Bio Orchid from Tesco, Asda etc) and although have been getting better results, all of them flowered for me anyway beforehand.

To sum up, water infrequently, not in a sunny place and no need to pot on for a few years. Just have a little patience. Most of the orchid's I've adopted have been the ones on death row in Tesco, Asda, Homebase etc. and have been "nursed" back to life with a little water and a little time.

Oh, also the flower stem, along its length it has a few "nodules" or bumps. Once all the flowers have died away, cut the stem to just above the top bump and often a new flower stem will grow from it. If you have cut it right back to the base of the plant, don't worry, a new stem will grow in time.

dawnsong

consumermonkey
Thank you - appreciate the advice - you've given me hope!:D

olly300

janine22 wrote: »

If you have space in your bathroom I'd also recommend putting a peace lily in there. We've had one on the bathroom windowsill for years which is hardly ever watered (the steam from showers etc. seems to keep it moist) it doesn't flower but is otherwise healthy.

Depends on the amount of light.

I put my 2 peace lilies in my bathroom when I first moved to my flat and they disliked it even though at another 2 places I lived in one of them lived happily in the bathroom. Their leaves just went really light and funny as the bathroom gets a lot of direct sunlight from about 11am.

So I replaced them with 2 spider plants and they are now massive and the stems with the babies/flowers on have taken over the window. In fact I got to the point where I was chucking the babies because I was so fed up of them. I have now found people to dump them on plus freecycle.