Reading advice.

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by bil

This is slightly difficult to answer. The joke is that it is impossible to ask a question without knowing the answer. Sounds silly, but if you dive into it you realise what is meant.

I am in a position where I have to work WITH what I have. It's hot, it's bright, and while I can create a couple of shade levels, it would be prohibitively expensive to fight the conditions. I do mist when it gets to 40C, and I heat the greenhouse in the winter, but beyond that it isn't terribly practical.

Catts and denphals love the hot side of the greenhouse all year round. so the cooler side houses the den nobiles and acts as winter storage for the Miltonias, Cambrias and odontoglussum I experimented with last year. So far they have done well, and some of the milts even bloomed this autumn.
So, as is my way I am experimenting with a couple of paphs and a Stanhopea. If I can pull it off between greenhouse and garden, it would be rather nice, but I can't afford to specialise in anything that doesn't like it here and do well without major alterations.

If you're looking for culture information, it's best to find books written by someone in your area. For instance, here in Florida, lots of growers use a book called "Florida Orchid Growing" by Martin Motes, because the culture section is specific to our conditions.

For Cattleyas, I really like "Classic Cattleyas" by Arthur Chadwick. It only covers the large blooming cattleya species (less than 20 species) but it has some wonderful stories about the discovery of each species and the early hybridizing attempts. It has a little information about hybrids but not a lot. I also like "American Cattleyas" by Courtney Hackney. It covers the history of hybridizing in the US and gives a lot of information about how breeders try to get specific traits. I thought it was a very interesting book if you want to know about hybridizing. "American Cattleyas" is out of print but you can find used editions on Amazon.com.

I don't grow dendrobiums so I don't have books on those. The go-to book for paphs and phrags is "Tropical Slipper Orchids" by Harold Koopowitz, which is loaded with great information. Another good one is "The Paphiopedilum Grower's Manaual" by Lance Birk, but it only covers species, not hybrids.

The most comprehensive book I've found on phalaenopsis is "Culture of the Phalaenopsis Orchid" by Bob Gordon. It covers everything from home growing to commercial growing. It was written back in 1985 and It's also out of print but you can usually find used editions at Amazon.com.

Some of those books are very expensive and they may not even contain the kind of information you want. Those are just some of the books I've enjoyed but there are many, many more available.

[bil]

Originally Posted by tucker85

If you're looking for culture information, it's best to find books written by someone in your area. For instance, here in Florida, lots of growers use a book called "Florida Orchid Growing" by Martin Motes, because the culture section is specific to our conditions.

For Cattleyas, I really like "Classic Cattleyas" by Arthur Chadwick. It only covers the large blooming cattleya species (less than 20 species) but it has some wonderful stories about the discovery of each species and the early hybridizing attempts. It has a little information about hybrids but not a lot. I also like "American Cattleyas" by Courtney Hackney. It covers the history of hybridizing in the US and gives a lot of information about how breeders try to get specific traits. I thought it was a very interesting book if you want to know about hybridizing. "American Cattleyas" is out of print but you can find used editions on Amazon.com.

I don't grow dendrobiums so I don't have books on those. The go-to book for paphs and phrags is "Tropical Slipper Orchids" by Harold Koopowitz, which is loaded with great information. Another good one is "The Paphiopedilum Grower's Manaual" by Lance Birk, but it only covers species, not hybrids.

The most comprehensive book I've found on phalaenopsis is "Culture of the Phalaenopsis Orchid" by Bob Gordon. It covers everything from home growing to commercial growing. It was written back in 1985 and It's also out of print but you can usually find used editions at Amazon.com.

Some of those books are very expensive and they may not even contain the kind of information you want. Those are just some of the books I've enjoyed but there are many, many more available.

Yeah, I define wealth in books. If you are truly rich, you can afford to buy every book you might want to read, you can afford the rooms to house them in and you don't need to work, so you have the time to read them all.

Some of those are quite interesting sounding. I might well look at the paph one, as I can see myself getting a taste for them, providing the ones I have bought can do well here. If they can't, well it's a shame but that's life.

Where we lived I had a whole room for my books, It was a Victorian house, and the ceilings were ten shelves high (paperbacks) and about 5M long.. The only bits of the walls that were not covered in shelves were the window, the door, and the chimney breast. All the rest was hidden with books.

There was a entire wall of the bedroom that was all shelves.

We had to downsize when we moved out to Spain. We packed up what we could house here, (I am allowed a room 3M x 3M, and 2 metres high. It's full. Even the wall above the door is covered.)
We sold what we could of the rest, and then we were taking wheelbarrows full to every bookstall that would take them. It was deeply traumatic.

---------- Post added at 02:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 PM ----------

YOWSA!

Just looked on Amazon for that Paph bookk. You have a copy don't part with it lightly, unless it's to me. There's a few copies on Amazon ranging from 160 to 780 POUNDS.

[estación seca]

I still have my lecture notes from Biological Sciences 101-A: Evolutionary Biology, University of California at Irvine, Fall quarter 1974, taught by Harold Koopowitz, PhD. Wonder if they're worth £160-780?

[dangerouseddy]

Originally Posted by tucker85

The most comprehensive book I've found on phalaenopsis is "Culture of the Phalaenopsis Orchid" by Bob Gordon. It covers everything from home growing to commercial growing. It was written back in 1985 and It's also out of print but you can usually find used editions at Amazon.com.

Some of those books are very expensive and they may not even contain the kind of information you want. Those are just some of the books I've enjoyed but there are many, many more available.

I've got that book its useful even if some of the info is a bit out of date.

wouldn't mind his Orchid Seedling Care (With Special Emphasis on Water Quality) book but in the uk its a bit on the pricey side.

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by dangerouseddy

I've got that book its useful even if some of the info is a bit out of date.

wouldn't mind his Orchid Seedling Care (With Special Emphasis on Water Quality) book but in the uk its a bit on the pricey side.

I wasn't aware of that book. I'm going to look for it. Thanks for mentioning it.

[naoki]

I like to collect orchid books, too, and I think Tucker's recommendation is pretty close to what I had in my mind, too! Nice recommendation, Tucker!

For culture, Gordon's Phal book is very good for many orchids (not just for Phals). Chadwick's Cattleya book is fun to read (similar info is on their web page). To supplement it, Fowlie's The Brazilian Bifoliate Cattleyas and their color varieties is excellent (a little difficult to get at a reasonable price). It has interesting stories, and information about habitats. Another good Cattleya culture book is Cattleya alliance : a cultural guide by P.C. Tomlinson, published from Wellington Orchid Society.

Bark's Paph book is also pretty informative, and a must-read for Paph growers. The content of the culture section is in his web page. I'm not so fond of Koopowitz's Paph book, though. If you are interested in hybrids (I'm not), it is a great book. I prefer this book:
Averyanov's Slipper Orchids of Vietnam

This book contains a lot of ecology, habitat information, so you can understand the biology of Paphs. Bream's books are pretty boring since it is just taxonomy as the main subject, and not much info about biology. The older ones (2 volume) with Baker and Baker contains the climate data, and these can be useful (Vol. 1, Vol. 2).

I have a couple books about Dendrobium, but they are not focused on culture. It is a genus with large diversity. So Baker and Baker can be useful:
Orchid Species Culture: Dendrobium by Baker and Baker

If you are interested in miniature orchids, this 2 volume set is amazing:
A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species by Parson and Gerritsen Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
It is expensive, so I hesitated to buy them, but the quality (photos and contents) makes it worth the price. Vol. 1 has a good section about general culture. But the great part is that there is a recommendation for the culture of each species.

[bil]

Fabulous books, but an invitation to bankruptcy.

[bil]

I suppose one day I'll have enough money....

[DeaC]

Naokis post and last paragraph of the mini orchid volumes is something I also agree with. Yes,it was a major purchase but we had Mr.Parson as our society speaker and I'm becoming a bit better growing minis so this was a great selection for me.Hope you can find books that suit your needs.

[tropterrarium]

Second parsons and gerritson miniature species book. One of the best general intros out there. Worth the price for just that. The rest is a free addition.


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