I would consider myself to be a diligent caretaker – I appreciate giving love & attention to things & watching them grow & thrive – but, I would not consider myself to be a natural botanist.
As much as I love to care for plants & critters of all shapes & sizes, the critters seem to fare better than plants do in my care. It breaks my heart that I am missing the purple thumb gene. That’s why I was so determined to keep the orchids alive that were left behind by my Grandmother. After hearing about their need for unique air quality I knew they were going to be difficult, although I decided I was willing to go to any length, even overhauling my home’s Heating & A/C system in order to care for them. I set up a special room just for this purpose, & consulted with my local heating & cooling company to make the environment perfect for my current plants. My friend and I installed a separate temperature control system, including tons of temperature monitoring devices just to cater to the plants. The room was outfitted with a brand current a/c plus a humidifier & dehumidifier, allowing me to strike the perfect balance of humidity & temperature for the finicky plants. I’ve been carefully monitoring the air quality stats for weeks now, making sure that there are no deviations from the set temperature & moisture levels, & caring for the plants like children. So far everything is still alive, & I’m only a few thousand dollars in the hole!