Choosing a new orchid

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Roberta

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.

Totally agree about learning from failures!

My approach is to put the orchid in conditions that are roughly/approximately in a suitable range. This is regular type orchids that is ..... not like one that grows on say top of a mountain in Nepal or growing on a glacier in Antarctica (there probably isn't one there hahaha.... but just an example hehe).

And one main lesson I learned - this was from quite a long time ago, and which most of the orchid growers actually know these days - is to avoid drowning roots or portions of roots. And also to have conditions that minimise or even eliminate chances of certain unwanted organisms growing (certain kinds of fungus, bacteria, algae etc).

What I have found to be very true (and is expected) is that - when the orchids really are provided with suitable conditions - the chances of them growing well indefinitely ------ is excellent.

When I lost my four catts .... C. skinneri, L. anceps, Blc. Memoria Crispin Rosales, and C. bowringiana (as they were known back then) ....... that was the end of it. No more orchids lost after that. This was a long time ago. I only say this not for mickey mouse badge awards hahahaha. It's only to let beginner growers know ----- once you have the right conditions ----- the chance of your regular orchids dying is small. Very small.

There-after, I've certainly seen that once a grower is able to keep the growing conditions under control, and the conditions stay within basic ranges, then ------ like most orchid growers will eventually find ----- the orchid will just keep growing very well.

The other things to look into will be how to deal with certain kinds of insects/organisms/animals that can spoil things ..... mites/snails/grass-hoppers/beetles etc. And to have various systematic and non-systematic treatments on hand ------ in case they're needed that is. Better to have something on hand than nothing.

And applications of fertiliser and mag-cal knowledge (as in being careful not to put too much, and knowing about possibilities of salts accumulation), plus water quality (pH, and mineral/element content).

And maybe issues with cooling of roots due to water evaporation, and abrupt temperature changes (regardless of moving a plant from 1 location to another, or whether cold water or warm water is sprayed onto warm or cold leaves).

A little orchid growing manual could very easily be put together ------ with heads-up about these main points. And once a grower knows about the most important points, then they should be in very good shape to grow many main-stream orchids.

I do grow my orchids in the tropics. But if I were to move to a cold climate place, and if I did choose to set-up an environment with the use of technology (environmental control plus backup of vital systems to cut down on system failure where possible) ------ I would aim to set up conditions that are more or less in the suitable range. Cost would be factor of course ----- but if ignoring cost ..... the same aim applies --- provide suitable conditions, and to make sure we know about those few basic things regarding temperature changes, fertiliser salts, root drowning conditions, and insect/animal attacks.

[JScott]

I think we've all done this at some time or another. I myself fell into the same trap as Camille. I love Miltoniopsis and Odontoglossum and especially the hybrids Odontioda. I tried different tricks to keep them cool enough, but after killing a number of plants, I finally realized that it is just not meant to be for me.

However, that being said, I have embarked on a few experiments in which I expected to fail and ended up doing pretty well. Nobile Dendrobiums for example. I saw one in full bloom, and I just had to have it, even though I didn't think I would keep it cool enough in the winter to set buds properly. What I actually learned is that my fall weather is perfect for nobiles that bloom early in the winter on the fresh canes. My fall weather stays cool to cold but above freezing for long enough that those early bloomers set buds before I have to bring them. I learned, however, that nobiles that bloom from year old canes which tend to bloom in the early spring don't work as well for me. It gets too cold and I have to bring them before the buds start to set, and in the warmer conditions inside, I get very few blooms from them.

I also experimented with standard Cymbidiums. What I found out through those experiments is that although my autumn weather is conducive to setting flower spikes, the buds are not developed fully enough by the time freezing weather rolls in and I have to bring them in, and the buds blast once the plants are inside.

So I guess I learned that a little experimenting with plants you are not sure about can sometimes pay off, but if you see something isn't working, stop. Just stop. Don't keep killing plants (or in the case of my Cymbidiums, ending up with a bunch of huge plants with nice foliage but no blooms) and praying that maybe this time you'll get it right. There's that old saying about how the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over and expecting different results (this is sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein, and that is a false attribution. He never said that). That's a dumb aphorism, and that isn't at all what the definition of insanity is, but the sentiment expressed is certainly true.

[SouthPark]

Nice post JS.

And one more thing to just include in the orchid manual is that warning from so many growers ----- a good warning - about ----- don't share water if possible .... as in ---- don't re-use water that has been used on 1 orchid, and then use that same water to water another one. And avoid splashing of water from 1 plant to others.