How do you keep track/label your orchids?

[phearamedusa]

Originally Posted by BobInBonita

My biggest problem is finding a balance between having the data I want, and having something simple enough to use consistently.

This is a major problem for me. I tried the note book method gave up after losing several books and all the info I had noted.
I now take a picture as soon as I get home, of the flowering plant, then one of the flower, close up with the name tag in the photo also. I add the plant to Cattleya-Log program. Under details are things like Identifier, name, cost of plant, plant size, if its blooming, fragrant, light and water requirements, rest period, whether its a species, hybrid, etc. I can also add info under other tabs for potting, journalling, blooms, pods, medical, photos, culture and awards. I can add plants to the wishlist, and print them out when I go to orchid shows/shopping. I tend to use the details, photos and bloom tabs.
The home page options include plants, reports, lookup, meetings and events, the about tab shows it cost 49.95usd to register, trial version was limited number of plants, but fully functionally copy, if I remember correctly.

[BobInBonita]

Originally Posted by phearamedusa

I add the plant to Cattleya-Log program. Under details are things like Identifier, name, cost of plant, plant size, if its blooming, fragrant, light and water requirements, rest period, whether its a species, hybrid, etc. I can also add info under other tabs for potting, journalling, blooms, pods, medical, photos, culture and awards. I can add plants to the wishlist, and print them out when I go to orchid shows/shopping. I tend to use the details, photos and bloom tabs.
The home page options include plants, reports, lookup, meetings and events, the about tab shows it cost 49.95usd to register, trial version was limited number of plants, but fully functionally copy, if I remember correctly.

Thanks - I've downloaded the trial, and have been playing with it for a day. At first it was very cumbersome, but now is getting a little more intuitive. The table relationships are definitely better than what I had in my home made dB, but it may be more complex than I need. I may try deleting some fields (and modifying reports etc) in Access before I spring for the full version. You were right - the trial version is limited to ten orchids, and it comes "pre-populated" with five or so.

[bullsie]

BobInBonita I love the washer ID you use! I am going to use that come spring when I do my repotting. My collection has gotten too big for me to remember plants and while I try to see that everyone has two tags, well, tags are tags. So a numbered washer burried in the potting mix is perfect. No matter what happens, the ID will stay with the plant.

[Granny]

I made my d-base program in Access. It has a menu, records of the orchids, reports...

[Bud]

My tag has only a number on it...I have all the numbers correspond to my orchid on the excel files...each orchid file will have infos on when I first had it in my posession: who I got it from...its parents(not necessarily) when I last repotted it(and how big a pot), what current method of culture, water regimen, media mix and when it last bloomed and when the next bloom is expected...what bugs infested it and what worked on eradicating it...and the exact position it is staying on my windowsill.
(I have only a few orchids; so I know them by name and their corresponding numbers)

[seabead22]

I have a spreadsheet that I keep in google docs so I have access to it whenever I need it. The columns are as follows:

Orchid Name
Flower description
Date Purchased
Where Purchased
Cost?
Last Flowering
Repotted
Notes
Image (I host them on Facebook and then just add a tiny url in the spreadsheet).