Hi everybody!!(Oberonia basics)

[Bent55]

So, normally I collect Tillandsia but I stumbled across this guy....



an oberonia rosea.... Cool, right? Well, then I dug out the microscope and checked out the flowers..... And did some googling... And became amazed.

and then this guy came along:



Neat, right?
and then a scheonorchis fragrans came along....


and a vanilla... and I think a dendrobium....

And that's when I realized I have a problem.
I can google the vanilla and the dendrobium(they look neat, I wish I could post pics).
But I'm not really sure how to properly care for the others, I'm used to Tillandsia and the bulk of the instruction I have is "don't let it dry out". When I google these guys I get a whole two web pages about Oberonia... and that dyakai thing apears to be the only one in its family. I've been heavy misting twice a day and keeping in moderate shade but when I google orchids in general those instructions seem to run counter to most, am I gonna kill them?

Help??!

(oh, and it may get worse.... for a variety of reasons I may be about to get get 20-30 orchids of assorted types dumped in my lap... Or they go in the garbage)

EDIT: TL;DR How do I care for Orchids that I can't google?

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[tropterrarium]

Hi Bent 55, maybe you can guess what I like from my avatar picture.

Oberona rosea (= O. microphylla). Grows intermediate 1/2 to 3/4 shade, water daily, >60% RH. I assume you got it from aaorchids/Malaysia. That is the main source for this species.
Re information on weird miniatures, check out Parsons & Gerritsen Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species. $140 is a steal for this hefty 2 vol set.

If you are into Oberonia, possibly join Alumni Oberonia Facebook group. I wrote recently an article for AOS Orchids, and Jim Cootes wrote one in the Orchid Digest, so you may want to get a hold of those two articles. If you are looking for the book, give me another decade or so. Oberonia is really messy, but the rewards are wonderful. Currently have two species in spike for the first time :-)

Glad to year you have and use a microscope. LOADS of fun. I do z-stacking on a Zeiss Discovery V20 with motorized focus, and then do scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of Oberonia flowers. Pleurothallids are also great for miniature flowers as are Zygostates, Ornithocephalus, and Notylia/Notyliopsis.

Have fun with your plants. If you ever have excess flowers, particularly of odd Oberonia species, I am always looking for alcohol preserved material for SEM. PM me for details.

---------- Post added at 08:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:56 PM ----------

Re caring for un-googlable orchids: try and watch carefully, be prepared that some will die. I usually get 5 Oberonia plants of each strain (if I can get that many), then try to grow them in likely but slightly different conditions. Also notice particularly with Oberonia, that about 80-90% of the plants are mis-identified in the trade. So even IF you find culture data, they may be the wrong.

You sound like a beginner at orchids. Maybe Oberonia is not the best starting point, unless you have a high tolerance for frustration. There are some cute miniatures that are much easier, e.g. Pleurothallis grobyi, or Dinema polybulbon. Good Luck!

[Optimist]

I know absolutely nothing about these but was thinking that If you knew the greenhouse, you might ask them what culture they were using. Another tactic is to find what country and hopefully what local conditions are like. Also at what latitude they grow, how they are perched on the tree. Another thing, Youtube: I don't know about all you have, but I just looked up the care of the Dyakia and OrchidWeb had a really good video about the care of the Dyakia. It is hit and miss sometimes, but you have to be up on your pleading, begging, and research skills.

[DeaC]

My luck with Oberonia is awful at best. But I can vouch for the books mentionned-got them last yr when Mr. Parsons came to our OS mtg. A bible for mini lovers!

[Bent55]

Troptarrium: your article is one of those two websites I mentioned.... I'll have to PM you my random questions . I look forwards to the book... In ten years.

One of the oddest things about orchids is how dependant it seems on real paper books. Most things with crazy fans seem to have the bulk of the knowledge base in the Internet, not so orchids... There's a point in buying those books.

[MattWoelfsen]

Originally Posted by DeaC

My luck with Oberonia is awful at best. But I can vouch for the books mentionned-got them last yr when Mr. Parsons came to our OS mtg. A bible for mini lovers!

Please explain why your luck growing Oberonia "is awful"? I have six different Oberonia and only now gathering more data and stories about them. I know this is an old thread I hope you can still recall your experience, DeaC!