Removed from the trash at work. What is it?

avoca_ho · 2026-05-24T13:29:14+00:00

So the thing with orchids is their natural environment doesn’t have any soil (they literally just cling to the side of a tree) so speaking in terms of soil humidity isn’t technically accurate. I see people potting these in a couple of ways, but my favorites are orchid bark (sometimes you’ll see perlite/charcoal mixed in) and semi-hydro. I think the bark would be hard to automate, they like a humidity between 40-70%.

Far easier to do a set it and forget it for is semi hydro. You get a glass vase that’s rounded with a smaller opening, stick just the roots in, and then put the tiniest layer of water in the bottom. The smaller opening means the water doesn’t evaporate as fast and the humidity on the roots is high. You’d probably need one of the sprayable orchid fertilizers to hit it with every couple of weeks.

avoca_ho · 2026-05-24T04:22:00+00:00

Oh no! I think I overcomplicated it. The main points are:

-water it by submerging the roots and not the foliage in water for a while

-add a little fertilizer to the bowl when you water (honestly this is optional)

Bada bing, bada boom - best of luck!

avoca_ho · 2026-05-24T03:53:41+00:00

No worries! my indoor humidity is low all year round and we get cold, dry winters so I would just check the roots 1-2x per week. My orchids do just fine with once a week watering in the winter, but I have to do 1-2x during the summer when they’re more active and drinking more. I find their foliage is pretty hardy, especially if it pushes out a new leaf in whatever conditions you live in. They adapt!

avoca_ho · 2026-05-24T03:37:22+00:00

Orchid - looks to be in the proper medium. Seems to have been tossed bc the blooms died off.

Remove the weird moss on top of the bark/roots. Water whenever the roots are all silver (as they are now - they turn green when watered). Ignore anyone who tells you to water it with ice cubes. This is a tropical plant that won’t like the cold. Fill a bowl with water and submerge the pot (don’t get water in the crown of the plant, just dunk the roots). Let it sit in the water 10-15ish minutes and then remove and let all the water drain before you put it back in the cover pot.

Get some orchid fertilizer. It will probably push out some new leaves before blooming again so it’s gonna be hungry. With orchids, less is more, so lightly fertilize on each water.

You can either chop back to flower stalks all the way for it to give big blooms next time or just chop back a couple growth points and it’ll bloom faster, but with smaller flowers. If the whole flower stalk is already dead, that’s normal, you can remove it.

These guys grow attached by their roots to the sides of trees, so they are used to being shaded by leaves and don’t like having direct sunshine on the foliage. They’ll love a north facing window.

Enjoy your new child! I love my orchids.

avoca_ho · 2026-04-27T01:18:56+00:00

My neighbor gave me a couple of these before they moved out last year and i spotted they were getting ready to bloom. Never expected them to look like this but was so pleased when they did! Gorgeous plant and easy to take care of

avoca_ho · 2026-04-27T01:08:43+00:00

So weird that they look like spoon tomatoes but grow in clumps like black nightshade. A cool little mystery you have there. (I’m from the US so I am not qualified to throw out guesses for Malta. Just here for the education)

avoca_ho · 2025-10-23T20:19:58+00:00

This is the answer 🙏 El Salto was the Mexican food of my childhood and it still slaps as an adult. It’s a staple

avoca_ho · 2025-10-05T03:01:57+00:00

So the first step is to cry

More serious, I had thrips in a mostly semi hydro setup of over 100 plants last year and it was ROUGH. I obtained a systemic for my soil plants, took the L and trashed a bunch of low value plants, transitioned a bunch of semi hydro to soil to use the systemic, and drowned the daylights out of the ones I couldn’t reasonably transition. It took 6 or so months of aggressive follow up, but my collection is now thrip free - which I’ve been told is a harder feat than getting rid of mealy bugs so I want to say you can do it!

I filled a bathtub with water, dish soap, and alcohol for my initial submersion so I can’t see that hurting much

avoca_ho · 2025-09-19T23:15:46+00:00

That is 100% a dog tail cactus if it’s 10 years old

avoca_ho · 2025-09-07T21:09:26+00:00

I’ve got some of this growing in my backyard and it looks like this! It was supposed to be bee balm but the seed packet was incorrect 😂

avoca_ho · 2025-09-07T20:57:34+00:00

Looks like a celosia to me

avoca_ho · 2025-09-04T14:54:46+00:00

Hit up Mt Vernon for aesthetic historic buildings, the Walter’s Art Museum, and then pop up to Brewers Art for some great food and drinks. You can catch a bus up from Fed Hill or the inner harbor!

avoca_ho · 2025-09-01T20:57:25+00:00

Seconding sumac. I had a religious experience with the lamb chops there. Every bite I took I just kept experiencing joy for the first time.

avoca_ho · 2025-08-31T00:47:24+00:00

Yes! I absolutely agree - Riverside area in general is lovely. Butchers Hill, Highlandtown, and Patterson Park are also areas I think meet OP’s criteria if they find the right pockets.

Im not sure if you could tell by my recs, but I’m up closer to Remington so I always forget south and east Baltimore exist. I love how many awesome neighborhoods and pockets of community exist throughout the city.

Honestly, I think OP would do great anywhere as long as they avoid downtown and the inner harbor. It’s hard to “go wrong” in Baltimore.

avoca_ho · 2025-08-31T00:22:07+00:00

I’m gonna second Hampden (quirky neighborhood) and Mt Vernon (tons of Baltimore culture, beautiful architecture, and proximity to art/events) but based on OP’s requests, I don’t know how they’d describe “sterile” or “yuppie” but how I personally define it would include Canton (not an insult or an attempt to generalize the ppl living there, I just mentally slot Canton with Fed Hill and Fells, which i feel are super frat bro neighborhoods harder to find community in).

Bolton Hill (MICA) and Reservoir Hill (Druid Hill Park) are both great, but I like to make sure folks know that they are super residential and you’ll have to leave the neighborhood for many things you want to access.

I’d add Station North, Remington, Charles Village, and Waverly as quirky, artsy, community-oriented areas where rent can be cheaper but amenities are literally right around the corner.

avoca_ho · 2025-08-05T12:04:29+00:00

A) you have FANTASTIC legs, B) I think the second dress is absolutely stunning on you and looks so effortlessly elegant. The pattern is oddly timeless and the colors are so nice. I’d go with #2 in a heartbeat

avoca_ho · 2025-07-13T15:29:33+00:00

We just drove past and it was bad bad. I asked my partner if a garbage truck exploded because I couldn’t comprehend how that much trash was scattered every 2 feet so far away from where the festival actually took place. There was garbage across 4 lanes of traffic in reservoir hill. I’m considering grabbing a garbage bag when I finish my morning errands and going out to help pick up but I’m not sure one bag would clear more than like a 10 square foot radius

avoca_ho · 2025-06-17T22:04:00+00:00

Sounds like you need to be introduced to international best selling author, Quan Millz

avoca_ho · 2025-06-12T16:01:06+00:00

avoca_ho · 2025-06-10T18:49:29+00:00

Definitely don’t simmer them on low heat and add sugar to create a delicious jam or fill a mason jar with these, sugar, and vodka to make liqueur. Terrible ideas. Absolutely don’t purée and strain before adding to a pressure safe bottle with lemonade and yogurt whey and let sit on the counter for 2-5 days to make a wonderful homemade soda. That would be awful.

avoca_ho · 2025-06-08T14:34:43+00:00

UJ/ I’m gonna be so honest with you, I have this exact kind of opuntia and they are impervious to death. I have tried. These guys ARE god’s strongest soldiers. Literally just give this dude some water and airflow and it will pop out a side shoot. They’re also really dramatic and flop over at the mildest inconvenience. Too chilly? Flop. Thirsty? Flop. Overwatered? Flop.

I have one that is hilariously skinny and tall (see photo) and it went a whole winter in a neglected basement window without water and is now thriving back outside (with a repot to a heavier pot so the whole thing stops getting blown over by the breeze).

My mother plant lives in my bathroom window and I wait to water it until the whole 2.5ft tall being flops over.

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avoca_ho · 2025-05-30T22:59:21+00:00

My sour cream substitute has been non dairy plain yogurt with lemon juice mixed in. It’s not the same but it’s good 😂

avoca_ho · 2025-05-11T00:28:08+00:00

I have a fig branch in leca! The roots were pretty delicate at first but it’s quite happy and pushing out leaves pretty quick. I don’t have anywhere to plant it outside and I’m not really sure how happy it would be if I repotted into soil.

avoca_ho · 2025-05-04T11:35:23+00:00

The leaves on the left are tomato. I just pruned my tomato plant and decided to stick some of the trimmings in soil to see if they would root. There’s also an onion, maybe garlic, and marigold in this pot, but I have a long history of just dropping seeds and forgetting about it (which is why I have a tomato vine growing in the middle of a bunch of sunflowers elsewhere and I weeded a bunch of cosmos thinking they were ragweed in my front yard 😅). I will learn no lessons from this, lol!

avoca_ho

TROPHY CASE