DIY Archives - Linda Nelson

AMERICA RECYCLES DAY NOVEMBER 15, 2015: RE-THINK THIS

November 1, 2015

I usually don’t acknowledge national anything……… day, week or month; it’s just not my style. Perhaps that’s because I feel it’s gotten out of hand. Gee, why not create “National Breadcrumb Day”, “National Toilet Paper Day”, or “National Dustpan Day”. Get my drift?

Anyway, November 15, 2015, is supposedly America Recycles Day, and my learning of this prompted me to dig up a post from the past. Go ahead, give it a looksie.

©Linda Nelson 2015

I bring my recyclables to a local facility on a regular basis, tote my own grocery bags to the supermarket, and try to make use of and repurpose whatever I can. There’s even a scrap metal facility in my area that I can take advantage of. However, I am still baffled with the general DIY and crafty folk’s continued focus with reusing and repurposing things that can easily be recycled at a designated facility anyway. If properly disposed of, they shouldn’t end up in a landfill. What I seldom observe, nor practice enough of myself, is reusing and repurposing things that can’t be recycled in any way, especially bulk items. Those are what we should be concerned about even more so, and be going to great lengths to magically transforming their trashiness into “treasuredness”.

I’d love for you to share the recycling thoughts in your head!

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PHALAENOPSIS ORCHID REBLOOM

Have you ever purchased a phalaenopsis orchid or received one as a gift, but have never gotten it to rebloom? The one shown will be in its glory for the third consecutive year this April. Here are my tips for reblooming success –

When your phalaenopsis orchid drops its last bloom snip the entire stem off at its base from where the shoot first emerged.

Continue with your watering schedule, but incorporate a liquid fertilizer application about once a month. There are orchid specific fertilizers out there, but I have success with good old-fashioned Miracle Gro. Your orchid should send out a flowering shoot in about one year.

Hate to wait that long? Stagger your orchid purchases to one every three months until you have a total of four plants. Place the blooming one out for display while tending to the others in “waiting”.

Repot about every two or three years. I use a mix of sphagnum moss and orchid bark.

These particular orchids like bright light, though not direct sunlight, nor do they like soggy roots. With the right amount of light the leaves should be a light to medium shade of green. Dark green leaves indicate not enough light; very light green leaves with red undertones indicate light that is too strong.