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10 Ways to Kill An Orchid Trivia Quiz

Your mother-in-law just gave you a lovely orchid. You've often told her you have a gangrene thumb, but she's sure that with THIS plant, "you'll do just super, dear!" You have decided that THE ORCHID MUST DIE. Let's proceed!

A multiple-choice quiz by whoman. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
whoman

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
354,331

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
451

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Glancing at the tag, you see you orchid is a 'phalaenopsis' orchid. This one has four firm fleshy green leaves and a single spike supporting eight pristine white blossoms and two buds.

It looks very healthy, but you'll soon fix that. You put it in the worst possible place: Hint

on the windowsill in direct sunlight

on the windowsill in indirect light

under a tree in warm weather

in your orchid greenhouse

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Now, let's go ahead and re-pot it into something completely unsuitable. What might that be? Hint

mount it on a piece of cork

a plastic pot

an orchid pot with breathing holes

a pot with no drainage

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Now you've put your orchid in a very unhealthy pot, which makes you smile.

Nevertheless you really want to do this wrong, so you're going to place your orchid in the following medium: Hint

sphagnum moss

potting soil

bark chips

lava rock

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Placing your orchid in the wrong medium has marked it for a slow death, but you're not the patient sort. You decide to give it an extra push towards the grave by making sure that the medium is always: Hint

slightly moist

soaking wet

slightly dry

free of mould

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. Disappointingly, nothing has fallen off your orchid yet. You'd really like to see a leaf or two go rotten and drop off, so to help this process along you make sure that there is always water sitting where? Hint

in the crown

on the leaf tips

on the flowers

in a pebble tray under the orchid

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Despite the scorching, drowning and rotting, you feel that a certain something is lacking.

You decide to put the orchid in close quarters with a houseplant infested with the following orchid parasites: Hint

spiders and ticks

spider mites and mealybugs

blackflies and earthworms

potato beetles and ladybugs

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Looks like your destructive efforts are being rewarded! You notice that instead of opening normally, the unopened buds on your orchid are doing what? Hint

blooming inside-out

becoming blue

shriveling and falling off

turning into seed pods

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. This could be victory! All the flowers have fallen off, and there's just a big naked spike sticking out of the leaves. Is it possible that it's finally dead? (Please, let it be dead....) Hint

maybe; if the flowers all died the same day

no, but it's most likely to die soon

maybe; you can't tell from the flowers

yes, its energy is gone and it will die

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Casting your eyes upward, you beg for a sign that will tell you your orchid is unquestionably on its way to the big hanging basket in the sky. With tender cruelty you remove it from its pot and examine it. What do you discover that confirms beyond doubt that your orchid is in a critical condition? Hint

the roots are all rotted

the flower spike is brown

the orchid smells bad

all the bugs have died

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. It's been over a month. You're glad you can't feel plants' pain because this orchid is clearly hurting. The leaves are thin and droopy, and the newest leaf in the crown has turned black. On the backs of the leaves there are patches of white fluff and webbing from mealybugs and mites, and the hollow black stumps of rotted roots come apart at your touch.

Made cautious by your previous disappointments, you hold a dark suspicion that it is not yet dead. How will you know when it's really all over? Hint

all the leaves turn maroon

the mealybugs give you a thumbs up

only two leaves left and mostly bad roots

not a single leaf has a healthy root

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Glancing at the tag, you see you orchid is a 'phalaenopsis' orchid. This one has four firm fleshy green leaves and a single spike supporting eight pristine white blossoms and two buds. It looks very healthy, but you'll soon fix that. You put it in the worst possible place:

Answer: on the windowsill in direct sunlight

Many orchids, including the commonly sold phalaenopsis orchids, need bright but indirect light. If you put them right in the sun, their flowers will drop and their leaves will get too hot, and burn.

2. Now, let's go ahead and re-pot it into something completely unsuitable. What might that be?

Answer: a pot with no drainage

Drainage should be a top consideration when choosing an orchid pot: it needs to drain easily. A regular plastic pot with holes on the bottom could well be good enough, but you can also use a fancy orchid pot or even mount your orchid on a piece of wood. The type of pot or mount you choose will depend on your resources and growing conditions.

3. Now you've put your orchid in a very unhealthy pot, which makes you smile. Nevertheless you really want to do this wrong, so you're going to place your orchid in the following medium:

Answer: potting soil

The phalaenopsis orchid is an epiphyte, which means that it naturally grows on trees or other surfaces with its roots exposed to the air. It needs to be either mounted on something, or planted in an extremely open well-draining mix. Bark chips are a great choice, and long-fiber sphagnum moss, lava rock, charcoal, perlite, and coir can also be used in orchid potting mixes.

Ordinary potting soil will suffocate and kill the roots.

Answer: soaking wet

Over-watering is probably the most common way beginners kill their orchids. In a phalaenopsis, the medium should be allowed to become almost dry before watering again.

Answer: in the crown

The crown is where the leaves join in the center. In nature, the crown points down and water can't collect there; however, in commercially sold phalaenopsis the crown is pointed straight up.

If you leave water sitting in the crown, you create a lakeside resort for bacteria and fungus. These can cause rot which will quickly kill a plant if left unchecked.

6. Despite the scorching, drowning and rotting, you feel that a certain something is lacking. You decide to put the orchid in close quarters with a houseplant infested with the following orchid parasites:

Answer: spider mites and mealybugs

Two of the most pernicious indoor orchid pests are spider mites and mealybugs, which sap the plant's energy and open the tissue to potential infection.

These pests spread quickly, and if you have an infested plant and a clean one on the same windowsill, chances are good that you'll soon have two infested plants.

7. Looks like your destructive efforts are being rewarded! You notice that instead of opening normally, the unopened buds on your orchid are doing what?

Answer: shriveling and falling off

When buds drop off before opening, it's called 'bud blast'. Don't get too excited, though: bud blast doesn't necessarily indicate that there's anything wrong with the plant. It can be caused by something as simple as moving it to another room, or exposing it to a slightly different temperature or watering routine.

8. This could be victory! All the flowers have fallen off, and there's just a big naked spike sticking out of the leaves. Is it possible that it's finally dead? (Please, let it be dead....)

Answer: maybe; you can't tell from the flowers

Even in the healthiest of orchids the flowers will eventually drop. A better indication of the general health of the plant is the health of its leaves, and the best indication is... coming up next!

Answer: the roots are all rotted

A healthy phalaenopsis orchid has lots of thick greenish(if exposed to sun) or white roots. If only a few roots are rotten, you can simply trim them off; but if all of the roots are rotten, the plant is probably beyond recovery even if the leaves still look alive.

10. It's been over a month. You're glad you can't feel plants' pain because this orchid is clearly hurting. The leaves are thin and droopy, and the newest leaf in the crown has turned black. On the backs of the leaves there are patches of white fluff and webbing from mealybugs and mites, and the hollow black stumps of rotted roots come apart at your touch. Made cautious by your previous disappointments, you hold a dark suspicion that it is not yet dead. How will you know when it's really all over?

Answer: not a single leaf has a healthy root

An orchid can bounce back from the maws of death; all it needs is one good leaf (it can still photosynthesize) with one good root (it can still take in nutrients and water). It may take a few years to recover completely, and bloom again.

Source: Author whoman

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
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