Moving Forward

[Leafmite]

You have a nice variety, too.

[rbarata]

The addiction sets in a bit more each day. Now I'm thinking about a terrestrial, bletilla striata.
Grows nicely in the outdoors here and it propagates by seed without any special care, just like a vulgar plant. It has lovely and big flowers and once there's seeds, it multiplies like weeds.

[gngrhill]

[QUOTE=rbarata;818001]My strategy is to grow one plant of each of the most common genus to see what can I do with my environmental conditions. My windows are south and north, only.

That's kind of what I told my hubby when I started. I need to get as many different kinds as I can and see what does well for me and what I just can't grow.

[charlesf6]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

An example of an Angraecum:

Good luck filling those windows! I not only filled my windows but also had to put plants under lights. I love all of them, though.

Man am I gonna enjoy looking at all of these
thank you very much for the time and concern.

[Orchid Whisperer]

There aren't really any bad suggestions above.

A good source for inexpensive plants that fit into many of the above categories are the orchids in a bag commonly sold at many big- box hardware stores. They are often sold under the Better Gro brand. Many of these are clones of awarded plants. If you get them soon after they come to the store, they are usually pretty healthy. The care may be different from Phalaenopsis, but most of these plants are intermediate to warm growers and fit in well with Phals.

These bagged orchids usually come in two size and price categories. Larger plants that are near blooming size (and occasionally in bud) are usually in the $13 to $15 price range. If not in bud, they will usually bloom in a year or two. The other size and price category are plants in the $6 to $8 range that are seedlings that will need a few years of care before blooming.

Try one or two of these. See what you can grow from a young plant into a blooming plant. Make some mistakes, have some success, learn from the experience. It is a great experience growing a small plant into a blooming plant.

Examples of plants I have purchased this way:

Cattleya alliance (hybrids and species)
Vandas
Encyclia species
Dendrobium hybrids, species
Oncidium alliance
There are likely others I am forgetting.

[rbarata]

That's kind of what I told my hubby when I started. I need to get as many different kinds as I can and see what does well for me and what I just can't grow.

Note that my plan involves only the most common genus, such as Xylobiums and Bletillas.

Now, back to the topic, I think the best way for you start is to find one that you like and ask for advise here. We'll be glad to help you.

[bil]

[QUOTE=gngrhill;818008]

Originally Posted by rbarata

My strategy is to grow one plant of each of the most common genus to see what can I do with my environmental conditions. My windows are south and north, only.

That's kind of what I told my hubby when I started. I need to get as many different kinds as I can and see what does well for me and what I just can't grow.

Experimentation is the way to go.

[AnonYMouse]

Do you have a Trader Joe's near by? Great place to pick up inexpensive orchids to experiment on. The selection at my TJ's (multiple locations) have been pretty diverse. They always have NoID Phals and seasonally, Cymbidiums. I've spotted some Paphs, Onc. Sharry Babies, various Catts. For my area, they have the best selection for a chain/bigboxstore.

Just pick up a plant to get started!

[estación seca]

A friend is a very experienced and knowledgable gardener, but is just getting more serious with orchids. He buys them at TJ through the year with the idea they will bloom at about that time next year, so he can have something in bloom all the time.

[rbarata]

Yes, here they shell the different genus when they are in bloom. So, through out the year there are always different genus for sale. For ex, now they stopped selling vandas and there are less phals, but begun the cambrias and den season. In a month they start selling catts and phaps.