An Orchid Buyer's Guide for Beginners

[mimigirl]

Leafmite i did go to the local society web page for the names of vendors so i could check their sights. NOW i can go back since you told me what to look for! I love site!!!

[Paul]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Do not automatically assume that the sellers have the orchids you buy growing in the correct potting media.

Sometimes they:

1) Don't know any better.

2) Only flip plants to make a quick profit.

3) Don't have the same kinds of resources, nor the time.

4) Don't have the same growing conditions as you.

Good points all.

#2 and #4 are particularly common with #4 being EXTREMELY important, IMO.

I would hasten to add:

5) Pot them in a media meant to lengthen shelf life.

This is particularly common with BBS and supermarket purchases. Because the vendor cannot count on the store staff having a clue or being willing/able to take the time to water plants properly, vendors will often use media that will hold moisture for some time. That way, the vendor can water the plants, ship them off, and know that the plants will not need watered much if at all for several weeks while sitting on store shelves. Unfortunately, this does not help the person who buys the plant(s) and does not know that the media may need changed out or watering practices may need modified.

Originally Posted by Leafmite

If you know a vendor's specialty or what he/she has grown from seed/divided, those are usually the orchids that are the most worth buying. Because orchids are rather 'expensive' to flask and grow to blooming size, many vendors do order from other vendors. To give their customers a variety, they order plants that are not in their specialty and they have no real interest in growing. Yeah, those aren't going to be your best deals unless you can buy them soon after the vendor has received them.

Few vendors have the time or space to flask and grow to maturity all the various orchids they sell. Just far too time and labor intensive. Many do buy young or blooming sized plants which they then grow long enough to bring into bloom. In this regard, most vendors have a lot of plants offered which are certainly not their “specialty.” That, being said, they may still know how to grow said plants quite well …. under their particular growing conditions.

[vivi]

I have a question I have had my phals for about 5 years doing well, what would be the next best orchid to try? I don't have a green house .

[Tschimm]

Welcome to the forum.
It depends where you live / what your conditions are.

Paphiopedilum hybrids would grow well together with your Phals though .

[papaloapan619]

Orchids 😄

[Nana Trish]

Very interesting post with a lot of valuable information. Thank you all for posting about your experiences!!

[DeLeonopsis]

Originally Posted by lexusnexus

This is a great thread. I needed some information prior to buying another orchid that I want and found this site for some explanations: aboutorchids.com

Thank you for the link!! This is really the kind of information I was looking for in the beginner subforum. I have used google to look up information on multiple different sites, but this is the most concise and specific in terms of orchid care.

No other site I came across mentioned dunking orchids to water them, but it seems to be quite standard. A whole 15 minutes does seem kind of excessive though.

Anyhow, a site like that is really helpful!

[Cutiedeer]

This forum is helpful. I am trying to not kill six phals, and am posting here so I can get enough posts to post a picture.

[fenuz76]

Thank you for sharing this information. The information was very helpful and saved a lot of my time.

[Windhavyn]

May I add my thanks to all the others who posted above me? I used these guidelines yesterday when purchasing a new orchid and was able to avoid two plants whose flowers were stunning, but had a severe fungus infection and several dead/dying roots! So many thanks for putting this up for those of us who are new to the fascinating world of orchids!