Getting organised as a beginner

[Liodoro]

Ha,ha!!! (I've lost my emoticons on the right!)

[estación seca]

If you left- or short-click on a member's username you will get a popup menu. You can click on Send a private message....

Coelogynes are mostly quite large plants.

[Diane56Victor]

I use an Excel spreadsheet. I have seperate sheet tabs for each genera.
Basic headers are the same throughout (with scolldown feature added to keep headers in view) with specific titles for the columns e.g date of purchased, who from and price are noted in one cell, name and number allocated in another etc.
For more specific notes such as dates for growths, spikes and length of blooming I use the add a comment feature (this leaves a little red triangle in the corner of the cell so you can see which plants do not have that information recorded yet. The scope is endless as to what you want record.
Ive managed to get all the info I want set up in a way that it all appears in the screen...no scrolling side to side
When working with my plants I use my phone to voice record any info I want on the spreadsheet using reference such as 24 Den or 78 Oncid as name for the voice recording then update the spreadsheet later.
Once the info is recorded on the spreadsheet I make sure to copy and update the working spreadsheet to an external drive just in case of a computer problem.

Edited to add.....
Ive tried for quite some time to find a good app for Android no luck so far.
With Apple there is an app created by an orchid grower who posts on YouTube. The channel is called Bumblebee's Orchids, cant remember what the price is though.

[rbarata]

I use a word sheet just to keep track of the watering schedule. All the rest is registered with photos organized by genre and date.
What you are asking only makes sense (to me) in case of a large collection.

[Diane56Victor]

Originally Posted by rbarata

I use a word sheet just to keep track of the watering schedule. All the rest is registered with photos organized by genre and date.
What you are asking only makes sense (to me) in case of a large collection.

Or if you are into ordered details...lol
My system feeds my sense of order and also allows me to work on my collection when not actually being outside with the plants.
Better than watching tv these days thats for sure!

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by SADE2020

Hahahahah you are describing a lot of us. : slightly addictive personality

Slightly?

-Keith

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 PM ----------

Originally Posted by SADE2020

I'll be glad to send you by private message a spreadsheet example

I was going to say, that would be easy to do in a spreadsheet. I'm contemplating writing one, but if you've already written one...

---------- Post added at 10:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Diane56Victor

The [spreadsheet] scope is endless as to what you want record.

I currently record everything in a Word document. As I've been read this thread I've been contemplating making it an Excel project (I use it in my day job). My biggest worry is that it could easily become an almost endless project.

-Keith

[Roberta]

The early stages of an orchid collection (relatively few plants) give an opportunity to add another bit of information - Assign each plant a unique number that you write on the tag along with the name, and put that number in your spreadsheet/database/document. As your collection grows, you may and up with more than one individual of a species or hybrid... with the unique number, you can keep track of information about each one. And you can add that number onto the photo ID, making it easy to keep track of which picture goes with with plant (without having to type a lengthy file name)

Going back and doing this to a big collection is painful, but if you start out with the system, putting a number on each plant as you acquire it, it's quick and easy - and very useful down the road to maintain the organized system. If you track the plants by number, it's also easy to jump back to the record. (Alphabetizing seems attractive until you hit the various things that can be in a name or happen to it later... genus may - and will- change, an unnamed cross has two names, it may get a registered name later, etc... numbers don't change and keeping them in order is very easy)

[camille1585]

The problem with assigning each plant a number, is that you then have very clear and definite proof of how many orchids you've purchased over the years, and even worse, how many you've killed when you have gaps in your numbering!

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by Diane56Victor

.
Ive tried for quite some time to find a good app for Android no luck so far.
With Apple there is an app created by an orchid grower who posts on YouTube. The channel is called Bumblebee's Orchids, cant remember what the price is though.

The YouTube can be found here:

[Liodoro]

Thank you! That's great. I'll take a look.