Some good tips from a fellow orchid grower
- buy them from sungei tengah
- never overwater; in our weather, maybe once in 2 days
- always fertilize: go for Graviolta

Of the three I have accomplised the first and the last. The second is an enormous challenge to my family. The first oncidium has died from overwatering.

I report with satisfaction I caught all but one of little buggers and promptly murdered them with a lot of soap. The adult weevil that made a hole at the edge of the leaves was doused with floor detergent for being such an enormous pest. I'm sure there are eggs in there. Dr Utai seemed to house a great number of weevils and some millipedes. I doused the potting mix liberally with insecticide and then sprayed water to dilute it. I hope that will keep the weevils ill and frightened until next week.

When I saw four more leaves falling off on the baby oncidium cane I couldn't figure out why until tonight I saw the culprit - my pater - misting the leaves. He had redeemed himself yesterday by making a table to house my plants in the balcony but all at once he used up these brownie points. I, very crossly, told him the potential evils of misting the leaves: crown rot. And I suspect the reason for one of the soggy leaves on the phals is his doing. Now that the plants are in the house, my over-enthusiastic father has gone off his head. He leaves the window wide open and then accuses the painters of poisoning one of the dens with turpentine when he saw sunburn marks on the leaves. (The balcony, while gets all the morning light, becomes too hot in at noon time. )

Yesterday, soaking the plants in the tub, I noticed brown crawlies floating on the water. I flipped Taylors and Orthos but discovered no bug description. They look like rice weevils and seem to afflict the dens most. I'm terrified. I've got a gigantic den that hasn't been soaked. A check on google confirmed my suspicions: I saw chewed leaves on one of the dens. Grrr. It's WAR.

Note to self: The green orchid with the sun burn has fragrance. So does the unifoliate catt.

For one of the Dens that hasn't been growing well, I pulled it out of the pot and discovered a bunch of dead mess. I chopped up the roots, hoping to find something I can save it was too dead. I cut up two canes and buried it in wet moss. I am hoping it would sprout keikis.

Good friday: I went rack shopping and brought back two Cattlyas. A hairy yellow phah was for sale but was easily resisted: it wasn't very pretty. I had gone with my aunt. She wanted to buy more orchids. She picked up a few mini-dens, a mini oncidium, a red mokara and a golden shower. I rearranged the way I placed the plants. Pictures soon.

Oh! I found the names of my orchids! One's called Dr Utai.The other is Longlen

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After a horrendous day at work, I returned home to find my Brassia blooming. A gorgeous sight! (Ji Mei, while usually have more variety of plants for sale, they are horrendous at labelling. For a long time I thought the Brassia was a Oncidium.)

This morning I popped by my aunt's place to look at her orchids. She had told me over the phone her mokara and the den was blooming. My father was there and he whinged about the older dens not flowering, blaming my lack of experience indirectly. I am already cross with my father for over-watering the phals. I shot back at him, calling attention to the fact that it was he who made the phals sit in a soaking moss, and enquired if he had ever grown orchids, and if he did, surely he knew that orchids, if you are lucky, bloomed thrice a year, and some others bloomed once in three years. In the car later, I thought about putting a flourescent lamp to give them some light. I had toyed with the idea of raising them higher but the road construction made everything dusty and putting the plants higher might get them even dirtier. But where am I to get power for the light?
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One of shoots was of me checking on the plants. This was easy. While the stranger is a curiosity, I find my plants more arresting. I pinched off the dead buds on the dens. I shook the older oncidium to check if it is firmly planted - it had been dropping leaves. Moving on to the mini cym, I saw new growth, which pleased me enormously.

I am home early enough to potter around the orchids. The road construction outside is making the plants excessively dusty. (Why on earth is the LTA reconstructing a perfectly good road? Is the Singapore economy in such a bad shape that we must create jobs by digging up just anything?) Cleaning the plants and checking them for bugs, I noticed excessive wetness when I press the phal's potting mixture. I suspect my father, whose mantra is that plants must be watered daily, is killing my plants. My father is a good person and all, but, well, I may have to kill him if he persists.
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While waiting at the bank counter, I noticed a good-looking phal at the side. It has small white flowers with brightly stained yellow lips. I've always thought the bank buys these plants. Now I realise I've never seen flowerless phals nor have I seen phals in in any other colour than white or purple on bank counters.