For a sma;ll collection (20-30 pcs.) the most popular varieties to collect??

[charlesf6]

A good choice of Orchids to build a small collection around?? thoughts?

[estación seca]

You will always want most that which you don't have.

Get a smattering of all different kinds of plants you like, and whose requirements you think you can fulfil. See what does well for you over the next year. Get more of the ones that do well for you.

So far I do really well with Vanda seedlings. But many other people don't have success with them, perhaps due to too cool growing conditions. People in the Pacific Northwest and New England can grow all these tiny cloud forest delights, but I can't. There are so many different orchids readily available that nobody could make a list of 30 that would do well for everybody.

[Leafmite]

What do you want in orchids? That will determine what you eventually collect (and save you quite a bit of money and time). I find I prefer fragrant orchids that are not too large (I can fit more smaller orchids into the allotted space) and bloom more than once a year. I do have some that are larger, some that bloom once a year and some that are not fragrant but the majority of new orchids must fit the allotted categories.

The fragrant collection:

1) Pot. Hawaiian Prominence `America' AM/AOS' It is smaller, fragrant and blooms as every new growth matures.
2) A fragrant Brassavola nodosa (not all of them are fragrant due to the breeding for other qualities)
3) A Vanda falcata (which you have)
4) Dendrobium auriculatum I like this because it is almost always in bloom and rather pretty when it is not.
5) Burr. Nelly Isler 'Swiss Beauty' Fragrant, bright red flowers, blooms on every growth as it matures (often three or four times a year)
6) Encyclia garciana Another fragrant, frequent bloomer
7) Angraecum distichum Fragrant, can bloom off and on throughout the year
8) Angraecum sesquipedale It is the Darwin orchid. Blooms just once a year, gets large... :|

[rbarata]

My answer to this is:

See what kind of environments you have available and then pick up one plant of each of the most common generas.

For ex, I have a large south window that allows me to have temps always above 60 F (16 ºC) and a lot of light. In winter, some places in that room take full sun while others don't. So, allows me to grow warm growers that have intermediate to high light requirements such as catts.
In the back of the room, although there's a lot of light, there are some spots with lower light intensity where I grow phals.

I also have two north windows, balconys faced north, south and west with different conditions. As I told you, inside the same room there's different conditions, depending on the room architecture.

I just need to find those that match what I have. Now I have catts, phals, onc, den, cymbs, stans, xylobium, cambria and phaps, most of them one of each genera, except for phals, cymbs which I have a few.

For ex, I'd love to grow Masdies and Draculas but my current conditions in summer are too hot and dry. So, for now I don't even think about them.

[PaphMadMan]

Assuming typical indoor windowsill growing conditions with some bright light, supplemental light and humidifier possible, space not extremely limited. A comprehensive small collection of popular non-specialist orchids might include (mostly hybrids), in no particular order:

3 Cattleya alliance - 1 full size floofy or bifoliate type, 1 mid-size Brassavola hybrid (like Maikai), and 1 colorful compact/mini.

3 Oncidium alliance - 1 big bold type like Brassidium (yellow/brown spiders) or Oncidiopsis or Aliceara (full colorful flowers), 1 fragrant type like Sharry Baby, and 1 small Twinkle type or Tolumnia/Rodrumnia hybrid.

3 Phalaenopsis - 1 full sized and 1 mini standard Phals, and one fragrant hybrid from species like amboinensis, violacea and venosa.

2 Paphiopedilum - 1 Maudiae type hybrid and 1 sequential flowering type like Pinocchio.

1 jewel orchid - Ludisia or Ludisia hybrid.

1 Zygopetalum hybrid, possibly a Zygotoria or Zygonisia.

2 Vanda alliance - 1 Ascocenda type and 1 Neostylis or similar hybrid.

1 Catasetum hybrid - probably a Fredclarkeara.

1 Cymbidium hybrid - a compact fragrant warmth tolerant Cym. ensifolium hybrid like Golden Elf.

2 Dendrobium - 1 Den. Phal type and 1 Den. kingianum hybrid.

1 Angraeum alliance - A mid-sized hybrid from Angcm. magdalenae and/or leonis, like Lemforde White Beauty or White Lioness.

Some easy true minis. Bulbophyllum pardolatum and Masdevallia erinacea are good choices, and bring in a couple other major groups.

And finally, Vanilla planifolia.

Most of that list might be found from non-specialist mass market sources. Nothing too expensive or hard to grow.

[stonedragonfarms]

As everyone has said, what conditions do you have for growing? Also, do you want something always in bloom, lots of fragrant plants, multiple bloomers, etc? I'm a big proponent of specialized collections; nail the culture for one thing, say Dendrobium moniliforme, Sophronitis coccinea or Phalaenopsis tetrapsis, then collect/cultivate its varieties, of which there are many.


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[Orchid Whisperer]

Rbarata, I agree.

If you are starting out, try one each of a wide variety of plants. Stick with plants whose growing conditions you can meet already, or that you are willing to meet with some technological enhancements. You are somewhere in New York, so plants that require strong sun year-round may not be a good choice (avoid terete-leaved "Vandas" (genus Papilionanthe)). As a beginner, avoid highly difficult plants until you have become highly skilled (I've been growing orchids 30+ years but I avoid Dendrophylax lindenii because I can't meet its conditions, I would kill it).

There are many plants in the genera Phalaenopsis, Cattleya, Paphiopedilum, Dendrobium, Oncidium, and related intergeneric that are good choices. Beyond that, it is personal preference, what I like you may hate and what you hate I may like. Lots of folks love Oncidium 'Twinkle' and Oncidium 'Sharry Baby' and they are fine, but I would likely not own either one, not because they are bad plants (they are not), they just don't interest me.

One thing to avoid; don't get 25 plants all at once that you don't know howcto care for. Start with 5 or less, learn their requirements before you buy.

[charlesf6]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

The fragrant collection:

1) Pot. Hawaiian Prominence `America' AM/AOS' It is smaller, fragrant and blooms as every new growth matures.
2) A fragrant Brassavola nodosa (not all of them are fragrant due to the breeding for other qualities)
3) A Vanda falcata (which you have)
4) Dendrobium auriculatum I like this because it is almost always in bloom and rather pretty when it is not.
5) Burr. Nelly Isler 'Swiss Beauty' Fragrant, bright red flowers, blooms on every growth as it matures (often three or four times a year)
6) Encyclia garciana Another fragrant, frequent bloomer
7) Angraecum distichum Fragrant, can bloom off and on throughout the year
8) Angraecum sesquipedale It is the Darwin orchid. Blooms just once a year, gets large... :|

Took a look at each of these except the Vanda of course, it's quite a collection but $ costly $.

[rbarata]

One of the good things genera classification has for us growers is that, apart some exceptions, allow us to classify them by their environmental requirements.
So, I think that's what everyone does, even if unconsciously, when thinking about buying orchids.

[Optimist]

I agree with estacion seca. The reason is that a small collection would mean you do not really plan on getting any specialized equipment and so you need orchids that do well in your environment.

---------- Post added at 11:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------

I do not buy again if the plant (despite my care) dies. I've tried masdevalias (they all die) but if I lived in San Franciso, they would be my top pick. I am in the desert, so the cattleya family works the best for me. So the first thing before getting any orchids (if you take it seriously) is to find what kind of care you can give them. Light, water, temprature, air flow, humidity. Then match your conditions to the orchid.