I walked
toward my upstairs windowsill, which has turned into my private jungle; a
profusion of verdant leaves and vivid flowers from my forty-five orchids. I picked each orchid up tenderly to check for
the bright green tip of new roots, the green triangle of a new growth, or the
green node of a new flower. Orchids are
among the most difficult flowers to grow and this hobby, or obsession, stemmed
from my desire to grow something that many could not grow. My perspective,
however, transformed after I killed my first orchid.
Four
years ago, I stumbled into the tropical world of plants with a blindfold
on. My first orchid was a purple phalaenopsis, the common moth orchid,
purchased from my local farmer’s market.
The only advice given to me was to water the plant once a week. As the weeks progressed, the orchid roots
suffered a detrimental symptom called root rot, a result of excess exposure to
water. The once firm and green roots
turned brown and mushy. The leaves
started to dry out, turn yellow, and fall off.
Fear
initially took over my outlook on orchids.
I sucked myself into the mentality that orchids were impossible to
grow. My hands were stained with the
juices of a dead orchid. I feared that
if I tried growing orchids again, I would kill them. Thus, whenever I passed
these beautiful plants, I was consumed by a sad thought that they would never
bring color to my grayscale life.
I wondered
what made these plants difficult to grow. These plants thrive in the steamy jungles of
the Amazon to the redwood forests of California without any human aide. Orchids should be able to flourish with the
care of a human. What had I done wrong?
I did not want to brood and be afraid anymore.
Fear and sulking were tiring activities that thwarted any future
endeavors at risk taking after experiencing failure.
With new
conviction, I set out to find what I had done wrong. As I analyzed my actions during the orchid’s
ordeal, I realized that I still did not gain any insight to the culture of
orchids. I was still as ignorant of orchids as before. I did not know what conditions made orchids
happy from the amount of light to the amount of water. The internet and the library became my best
friends during my journey to orchid enlightenment. After dirtying my fluffy
white tail, I came out of the rabbit hole with a newfound confidence that I
could grow orchids.
I decided to make another attempt at growing
orchids. My attempt was successful and
my orchid bloomed, as did forty-four more orchids thereafter. New leaves, new roots, and flowers are
frequent visitors on my windowsill now.
My passion further materialized when one of my orchids, a dendrobium amethystoglossum, won the
Eric Imperiale Youth Award at the 2013 Pacific Orchid Exposition held in San
Francisco every year. I learned that I
shouldn’t be afraid of what I didn’t understand. Instead, I should be actively trying to
fathom what I do not understand.
Failure of
anything should not inhibit a person from continuing. Instead, failure should motivate a person to
learn from their mistakes and continue until they succeed. If fear creeps in, one should peek over the
wall that fear builds and see the possibilities beyond it. It takes time and
courage for a person to pick themselves up, dust off the dirt, put on a smile,
and move forward. As long as I plant the
seed that I can succeed, all that seed needs is a bit of sunlight,
perseverance, and love to become a reality.
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