My poinsettia plant had finally lost most of its red leaves, so I was ready to repot it. Alejandro and I drove to the nearest Home Depot and bought a bag of potting soil that contains time-released fertilizer. However, they did not have a good selection of pots, and I wanted another traditional Mexican ceramic pot to go with the others I have in the living room. So we drove to the plant market in the district of Coyoacán. Many of the stalls in the market sell pots, and a number of them sell the distinctive Talavera ware which is typical of Mexico.
In addition to finding a slightly larger pot for my poinsettia, I wanted to ask someone knowledgeable if I should repot the orchid which I have had for over a year. I talked with a gentleman at a stall selling orchids and discussed the fact that my orchid has not rebloomed. I said that the plant seemed happy since it has sent out air roots and sprouted new leaves. He said the fact that it is shooting air roots means that it is NOT happy, and that the lower roots are probably rotting. He said that if we come back with the orchid, that he would repot it. So, we bought a couple of Talavera pots... one for the poinsettia and a smaller one for the orchid. I asked Alejandro if he would mind driving back to the apartment and then back to the market. He agreed in spite of the fact that it meant battling Mexico City traffic.
We drove back to the apartment, picked up the orchid, and then went back to the plant market. The fellow we met earlier repotted the plant in the new pot. He threw out the bark in which I had planted it, sprayed the roots with an insecticide, and planted it in a special soil with a time-released fertilizer. The air roots were tucked down into the soil. He said to water the plant with just 250 milliliters (1 cup) of water once a week. We will see if the orchid will now rebloom for me.
Bananas! Yup, either cut up a bit of the skin of the banana and put in the soil of the orchid plant or what I do, is put the banana peels in water for several day for the water to get stronger and then pour it
ReplyDeleteon the orchids or anything else I want to have bloom. You will be
amazed. You could use the banana water on your poinsettia as well.
Buen suerte. I have been doing this for several years after an orchid grower told me the secret of the masses of blooming orchids in her gardens here in SMA!
I have read that about bananas. The only thing is, since the soil in which he repotted the orchid has time-released fertilizer, I don't want to over fertilize it. I will wait and see what happens, and if I still don't get any blooms I will keep your recommendation in mind. Gracias, Barbara.
Delete