Choosing a new orchid

[Roberta]

While shows are now just a memory and a hope, a suggestion... Bookmark IOSPE for species and BlueNanta for hybrids on your phone so that at shows, you can do a quick lookup. As a "species nut" I particularly love IOSPE, because I can learn about the habitat of a species (to decide if I can grow it) on the fly. That being said, I have certainly acquired(and in many cases killed) orchids that I really didn't have the conditions for. Or had to go to a lot more more work than I anticipated to keep them alive. All part of the learning process... As growing space gets crowded, one does get a bit pickier... (My growing spaces require a contortionist to navigate...... That ship has sailed...)

[Keysguy]

Originally Posted by Rhonda Svoboda

I've been growing orchids for a few years. I started growing them exclusively for a year.

So, you've learned what I consider the #1 lesson of orchid growing and done so in a relatively short time.
That lesson is that selecting plants solely for the "oooh and ahhhh" factor will more often than not only lead to disappointment. Before you try to grow anything, you really need to understand the minutiae of exactly what the environment is that you can provide to the plant. I'm talking year round day/night temps, light strength and duration by season, air flow, humidity, water quality and frequency, nutrition, disease and pest prevention and control........ you now understand all this.
Once you have all that reasonably figured out, then you should research what families of plants will thrive in those conditions and start with those.
Once you get comfortable, then you can really have fun "tinkering" with your environment to see if you can work in those other "oooh and ahhhhh" plants that you think you can't live without.
But in the end, you MUST understand what every plant wants from you before you take it home. If you do all that, your success rate will really jump but do NOT take that to mean no more die. Cause they will, even under your most attentive care. That's just the way it works.
Happy growing!

[Rhonda Svoboda]

Words of wisdom!!

[DirtyCoconuts]

yes, 100%...but, i will temper it with one thing, take some risks as well...1) these plants will amaze you with what they will tolerate and 2) i now grow orchids in my bathroom....and a terrarium....and a lath house....and a patio....and so you can sometimes find ways to make new conditions.



hes still right, 100%

[Rhonda Svoboda]

Hi DirtyCoconuts:
I completely agree- For example, I bring my high light orchids to my mom's house in summer because she gets plenty of sun in her yard. Then I overwinter them with grow lights.
This is the first year I did this so I am hoping for buds from my catt's and other high light orchids. I also purchased an EnFun 2000w Led Grow Light. I am going to put it in the basement and grow my hi light orchids down there. I have plenty of southern windows but the trees block the sun so no direct sun.
I am really excited that these changes will give me the results I am hoping for. Blooms!!!!

[Keysguy]

I never said not to take risks. It's about understanding and appreciating the plants expectations from you.
Somewhere in these forums I told a story about a grower in NH who grew fabulous vandas in her kitchen closet! I was just always amazed her house never burned down.

[Rhonda Svoboda]

Haha!! LOL..Kesguy.

[My Green Pets]

As a new grower you get bombarded with all this information so it's hard to know what the most important things are. Knowing your conditions has to be up there in the top 3 at least!

[SouthPark]

As we know - there are often various ways of getting something done - like grow a particular orchid, or grow particular orchids. One way is the way of not knowing what conditions the plant or orchid needs ----- the trial and error approach. Sometimes works ----- but maybe a lot of times, won't work (ending in you know what ..... tears that is).

The other way is to read up or gather a lot of information about the orchid that is going to be grown ----- main thing will be just temperature range, lighting levels, duration of lighting levels, humidity, air-movement.

The other thing ----- any special conditions needed for producing say flower spikes (which I won't be focusing on, as I learned my lesson from temperature Cymbidiums hahaha).

But yeah (yes) ...... definitely .... the aim should be to find out in advance - as much as possible - the main requirements for very long term orchid health.

On the other hand ----- with the trial and error approach, especially for orchids that somebody really and seriously wants to keep around indefinitely ------ 1 or 2 failures will often be enough (in terms of consequences) to consider gathering more growing information, so that maybe the next attempt will be great ..... or at least better than before.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

On the other hand ----- with the trial and error approach, especially for orchids that somebody really and seriously wants to keep around indefinitely ------ 1 or 2 failures will often be enough (in terms of consequences) to consider gathering more growing information, so that maybe the next attempt will be great ..... or at least better than before.

Only one or two? That ship sailed a looooong time ago. It's important to learn from the fatalities but you can't learn much without pushing the envelope a bit... eventually your success rate improves, but then you just start pushing it a bit more and still lose some. And even if everything is perfect, doo-doo occurs.