Do you track the growth of your plants?

[Jungeoma]

I was doing it on Excel until we went on a trip and than all good intensions fell by the wayside. I do take pictures thou, reduce them in Paint Shop, print and laminate them and stick them in the pots. At least I will know what the orchid looks like when it's not in flower. I found keeping track of a bunch of orchids tedious and they are going to do what they will, weather I keep track of them or not.

[Fiacre]

I do...visually. My collection isn't very large, and I check over the plants every day during normal care of my other non-orchid plants that require more regular watering. I'm familiar enough with all of them that I can easily keep track that way. Luckily for me (and my wallet) I can't really acquire many more orchids with the space I have.

[u bada]

I have to look into the software, didn't know what that is...

I just eyeball things and get a feel for things, which is of course faulty... if a plant is doing nothing for days, it's like it's been weeks, and nothing for weeks feels like months... a spike forming to flower feels like 6 months even if it's, well, only two... one thing set in stone is when I go through receipts and go, oh, I just got that plant 3 months ago...

and as a side note (and this won't be the first or last time I've mentioned this) I've tried my hand growing so many different kinds of plants, and orchids literally have a schedule of their own when they want to do or not do anything... sometimes I think many cactus do more in a period of time than orchids...

hence, orchid people are the ones that get excited over a fraction of an inch, ie 1 mm of new growth...

[katrina]

Personally, I've never come up with a good enough reason to motivate me to do it.

When I first started growing I read where people track everything from watering/fert schedules to every detail involved in growing and I initially thought I should do that too. I started an excel spreadsheet and had all my categories but I quickly realized that the process was just way too much work for me and it fell to the wayside shortly after I started. Truth be told, I just want to grow and enjoy them. Keeping up w/the watering and fert and other tasks is time-consuming enough for me and all that tracking felt like a chore. I didn't want my hobby to feel like a chore. I have pictures through the years but other than that...they either grow into larger pots, or they don't.

I do keep an active list (when I can remember to update it!) of the plants I currently have. Also, when I do repots I have a Brother PT that I print a label w/the plant name and repot date and I put that on the outside of the pot so I can easily see that info at a glance. That's the extent of my tracking though.

My hats off to those of you who keep detailed records but I'm just too lazy to mess with it.

Oh, wait, I did start keeping track of where I got the plant and when but I just do that on the plant tag. I make a label and stick to the back of the tag. For the vendors with no name on their tags and divisions I've gotten...I was starting to forget where I got some of them. Trusty Brother PT to the rescue.

[nicola]

Thank you all for your testimonials,
it seems that what makes the difference are years of experience in growing orchids.
Being able to assess the needs of a plant with a glance is definitely an advantage.
I'm learning and data help me to evaluate.
But the main help came from this beautiful forum.
A big thank you to all the members for their questions and answers.
Nicola

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by u bada

I have to look into the software, didn't know what that is...

I just eyeball things and get a feel for things, which is of course faulty... if a plant is doing nothing for days, it's like it's been weeks, and nothing for weeks feels like months... a spike forming to flower feels like 6 months even if it's, well, only two... one thing set in stone is when I go through receipts and go, oh, I just got that plant 3 months ago...

and as a side note (and this won't be the first or last time I've mentioned this) I've tried my hand growing so many different kinds of plants, and orchids literally have a schedule of their own when they want to do or not do anything... sometimes I think many cactus do more in a period of time than orchids...

hence, orchid people are the ones that get excited over a fraction of an inch, ie 1 mm of new growth...

Yes, compared to my other plants, orchids don't really do all that much and so I don't find them really worth fussing over unless they are in bud/bloom. I give them the care they need (watering them daily) and then ignore them unless they have an issue or are in bloom. Most of my other plants are putting out new leaves daily and others that send out fragrant blooms throughout the year (jasmines and gardenia). Then there is the passiflora...they grow inches per day and put out new blooms daily during the summer. I find it difficult to find a reason to keep a journal for the orchids. zzzz

[tucker85]

I have a good old fashion journal that I write in with a #2 mechanical pencil. I have a couple pages for each orchid and an index in the front. I usually only write in it when the orchid is blooming. I'll write down how many blooms and pseudo-bulbs, general health and any problems. I also have an excel spread sheet where I keep track of everything that's blooming. My third tool is a calendar where I jot down when I fertilize and with what. I also note any insecticides or fungicides I've used. I don't track my watering though. I do have Orchid Wiz and I love it but I don't track my own orchids in it.

[Helene]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Yes, compared to my other plants, orchids don't really do all that much and so I don't find them really worth fussing over unless they are in bud/bloom. I give them the care they need (watering them daily) and then ignore them unless they have an issue or are in bloom. Most of my other plants are putting out new leaves daily and others that send out fragrant blooms throughout the year (jasmines and gardenia). Then there is the passiflora...they grow inches per day and put out new blooms daily during the summer. I find it difficult to find a reason to keep a journal for the orchids. zzzz

I only have orchids- and two tillandsia😜😳 Somehow orchids are the only plants I can keep alive. Funny considering my humidity is 20-30%…

But reading about flowers that makes leaf everday, and even blooms makes me reconsider. Maybe the experience I got now can make me keep other flowers aswell. (But have to admit, I'm more a plant/root person than flower)

Oh- I have some tomatoes- seems like vegetable is in my list aswell. Carrots, tomatoes and stuff I can keep alive. Tomatoes grows like weed.

Lol, but you do have a point- orchids are for patient people😂😎 (I'm not even that, I just pretend to be)

[wintergirl]

With different types of orchids it helps me to write on my calendar when I water or give fertilizer. This is the quickest easy way to keep track. I will water all my catts on the same day so I just write catts on the calendar. I also have a notebook page on each plant. this is mostly written when I get the plant, price and where it was from. I take pictures too. I try to keep it simple.

[Plodde]

I just take notes on my computer.
I note when i purchased the orchid, from where, when i repot.
From there i note the dates of flower spikes, then when flower opens, and also when the plant is finally out of bloom.
I do this to remind myself of the average length of bloom and rate of growth each orchid has.
I also note specific details on the species i discover along the way.