{"id":5963,"date":"2010-12-17T09:42:05","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T17:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/?p=5963"},"modified":"2011-06-25T07:20:59","modified_gmt":"2011-06-25T15:20:59","slug":"gift-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/17\/gift-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"Gift Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Blooming orchids make wonderful holiday gifts, and smart shoppers start by checking out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/category\/buying-tips\/\">these buying tips<\/a>. Even after you&#8217;ve picked the right orchid, however, you may have a problem. Some people are terrified of orchids. I&#8217;ve seen an orchid gift provoke such fear in a friend&#8217;s eyes that it made me wonder if he would have preferred a poisonous snake instead. I told him to relax; orchids aren&#8217;t so scary. Most orchids sold today are tough, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/07\/buy-a-hybrid-for-valentines-day\/\">modern hybrids<\/a>, and you just need to know a few basics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When you <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/water.html\">water<\/a>, water thoroughly, and then let the water drain completely from the pot. Never allow the pot to sit in water for an extended time, or the roots will rot, and the plant will die.<\/li>\n<li>Always provide <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/humidity.html\">high humidity<\/a> for your orchid.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/light.html\">Light<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/water.html\">watering<\/a> frequency, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/temperature.html\">temperatures<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/fertilizer.html\">fertilizer<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/details\/dormancy.html\">dormancy<\/a> depend on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/index.html\">what kind of orchid it is<\/a>. (Here&#8217;s where your giftee hopes you bought a plant with a name tag, or at least <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/index.html\">know its orchid family<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>After the flowers are gone, if you want to keep the plant and try to make it bloom again, it&#8217;ll need bright light and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/care\/index.html\">good basic care<\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/orchids\/phalaenopsis.html\">Phals<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/orchids\/paphiopedilum.html\">Paphs<\/a> are great for low light conditions common in homes and offices. Other varieties, like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/orchids\/cymbidium.html\">Cymbidiums<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/orchids\/dendrobium.html\">Dendrobiums<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/orchids\/oncidium.html\">Oncidiums<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/identify\/orchids\/vanda.html\">Vandas<\/a>, will need some direct sun to bloom again.<\/li>\n<li>Check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/index.html\">AboutOrchids<\/a> for lots of helpful info, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/faq\/index.html\">FAQ<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/category\/photos\/\">great photos<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_2_640px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-6034\" title=\"Phal close up\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_2_640px-96x128.jpg\" alt=\"Phal close up\" width=\"96\" height=\"128\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_2_640px-96x128.jpg 96w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_2_640px-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_2_640px.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Paphiopedilum_Macabre_800px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-6035\" title=\"Lady Slipper\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Paphiopedilum_Macabre_800px-128x76.jpg\" alt=\"Lady Slipper\" width=\"128\" height=\"76\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Paphiopedilum_Macabre_800px-128x76.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Paphiopedilum_Macabre_800px-300x180.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Paphiopedilum_Macabre_800px.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_1_640px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-6036\" title=\"Phal flower\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_1_640px-128x96.jpg\" alt=\"Phal flower\" width=\"128\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_1_640px-128x96.jpg 128w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_1_640px-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Phalaenopsis_1_640px.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blooming orchids make wonderful holiday gifts, and smart shoppers start by checking out these buying tips. Even after you&#8217;ve picked the right orchid, however, you may have a problem. Some people are terrified of orchids. I&#8217;ve seen an orchid gift provoke such fear in a friend&#8217;s eyes that it made me wonder if he would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buying-tips","category-growing","category-photos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5963"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6057,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5963\/revisions\/6057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}