Orchids Made Easy book -- any good?

[estación seca]

The fastest way to learn is to join an orchid society and spend some time with long-time members. They are happy to have you over and answer questions.

[The Peloric Orchid]

Originally Posted by hvlckvtnr

I'm primarily interested in general care... something a little quicker to answer the typical noob 100 top questions, by conveniently packaging all the answers in a dead-wood format, rather than having to search online each one individually. :-)

Thanks for pointer to abebooks, will check it out.

If you're still looking for a book, I really liked Orchids for Dummies when I was starting out. I never actually bought by own copy and just checked out the library's copy again and again haha.

Originally Posted by estación seca

The fastest way to learn is to join an orchid society and spend some time with long-time members. They are happy to have you over and answer questions.

I think estación seca brings up a good point by joining a orchid society. I thought they were most beneficial to me from a social standpoint, but picking the brains of the local experts goes hand in hand with having a couple reference texts.

[jkofferdahl]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The fastest way to learn is to join an orchid society and spend some time with long-time members. They are happy to have you over and answer questions.

Yes! And if there's a botanical garden where you live there's likely an orchid grower there as well.

And Peloric mentioned a great point - Libraries! I'm a librarian, and while my branch's shelves have but two orchid books, my system has dozens. Visit the library and browse 635.9 in nonfiction (presuming your library uses Dewey) and see what's there. If you don't see anything you like, search the catalog or do something hardly anyone does anymore - ask the librarian!

[estación seca]

Librarians - they're not just for shushing any more!

[katrina]

Orchids for dummies is a good, intro to read.

You can likely find it, or any other orchid book, USED on Amazon and for a lot less. Just be sure to read the condition notes so you know what you're getting.

[Mountaineer370]

Originally Posted by katrina

Orchids for dummies is a good, intro to read.

You can likely find it, or any other orchid book, USED on Amazon and for a lot less. Just be sure to read the condition notes so you know what you're getting.

Amazon is a great place to buy used books. I also want to mention AbeBooks.com. (It was mentioned upthread, but that was several years ago.) I have used them a lot and have rarely been disappointed. It's a great place for the rare, out-of-print, or harder-to-find titles. As katrina mentioned, make sure you read and understand the condition descriptions.

BTW, I still love libraries, the old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar kind, and I love books made of paper and ink. As jkofferdahl mentioned, many libraries nowadays have an inter-library loan system where your home library can borrow titles from another one if it's something they don't have on their own shelves.

[Ray]

One thing that I have learned from the extensive orchid library I owned was that each author describes what was appropriate for them and their growing conditions, but fails to recognize - or at least to acknowledge - that their recommendations may not be appropriate for everyone.

I think that may be the source of some of the frustration that many beginner (and not so beginner) growers experience - "I did everything {so and so} said, and my plants still die."

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by Flowerchildren

I know this book is very expensive in my opinion.

I bought it for less than 6 dollars on Amazon Used. It was like new, and in great shape.

[jkofferdahl]

Originally Posted by Ray

One thing that I have learned from the extensive orchid library I owned was that each author describes what was appropriate for them and their growing conditions, but fails to recognize - or at least to acknowledge - that their recommendations may not be appropriate for everyone.

I think that may be the source of some of the frustration that many beginner (and not so beginner) growers experience - "I did everything {so and so} said, and my plants still die."

Interesting point Ray, and a good one. I think it's a natural slant writers develop - write about what you know! Some books are less slanted than others. A reader, aware of this, should try a number of books to find one that "works" for them. And, of course, enjoy the pretty pictures!

[Pippa]

Originally Posted by Ray

One thing that I have learned from the extensive orchid library I owned was that each author describes what was appropriate for them and their growing conditions, but fails to recognize - or at least to acknowledge - that their recommendations may not be appropriate for everyone.

I think that may be the source of some of the frustration that many beginner (and not so beginner) growers experience - "I did everything {so and so} said, and my plants still die."

I guess that would explain why many writers offer such conflicting advice! E.g. I recently read one phal grower reassuring readers that his orchids were ALWAYS raised in coconut husk...and the next day, I read another grower saying that he could promise his orchids were NEVER let anywhere NEAR coconut husk...which left me trying to work out whether coconut husk is the elixir of life for phals, or the equivalent of spraying them with herbicide