Curbside orchids (Cattleya and phalaenopsis?)

[shhcat]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. Sometimes I go by shhcat, and I'm a Trashdigger.

Over the weekend, a post appeared on my local classifieds facebook: some poor shmuck had bought a house with a greenhouse attached -- a LARGE greenhouse, entirely filled with orchids. The new homeowner didn't want a greenhouse full of orchids. So out to the curb they went, for free.

It was a nice day and the house was only 8 blocks away, so I threw on some walking shoes and went to go see what this was all about. And wow, was it worth it. When the homeowner said they had orchids, they meant it. Hundreds of pots littered the sidewalk, under a huge cardboard sign proclaiming "FREE ORCHIDS" in Sharpie. I was late enough all the plants with flowers were gone, but there were still plenty of options. I picked up as many as I could carry and walked home. Then I went back with my car. Then I went back again to pick some up for a friend.

Whoever originally owned this greenhouse really knew and cared about their plants, maybe they were even a member of this forum. But the plants had sat for some time without anyone taking care of them. They were pretty neglected, and the later ones I picked up were pretty picked over.

The next few days, I took stock, began my research, and started repotting. I had 8 orchids of various sizes, 5 with "clear" labels and 3 without. The potted orchids were in a mix of styrofoam peanuts, perlite, and bark.

Some of the labels have dates, and that's how I learned that the oldest plant was first acquired in 2000. I have a 17-year-old orchid. This orchid legally operate a motor vehicle. I suspect it's looking forward to voting next year. It's almost certainly been talking sass and fooling around behind it's owner's back.



I will copy the tags verbatim [STRIKE]and then post what I suspect is meant in parenthesis[/STRIKE] (nevermind, the forum won't let me post links). Clockwise from the largest plant, in the top center-left:

1. "C. Irene Holguin 'Grand Lady' RF Orehids div 5/16 1 of 2" (I found Cattleya Irene Holguin "Brown Eyes" which seems v similar. "Grand Lady" seems like a less common color, more pink and less lavender)
2. "Lc Canhamiana 'Coervlea' Stewarts div 5/16 3 of 4" (Laeliocattleya Canhamiana coerulea was easy to find, not sure what the "Stewarts" refers to)
3. "C. deckeri v. alba Micklow (and then a bunch of dates, I'm guessing repottings. This is the plant that goes back to 2000)" (My best guess for this one is either Lycaste skinneri var. alba or Guarianthe skinneri var. alba)
4. No label. This was a keiki I took off a plant that was utterly entwined with the greenhouse. I think the plant had white flowers? My guess is it's some variety of Phalaenopsis from the shape of the leaves and the fact it was a keiki.
5. "Blc Maikai Rpt 5/16" (Clear enough, this is Brassocattleya Maikai)
6. "Lc Memoria Robert Strait 'Blue Hawaii'" (Another nice clear tag, this time even with the variety color)
7. Another keiki, again probably a Phalaenopsis. This one has flower spikes!
8. This plant had fallen out of it's pot so the tag was lost. Another likely Phalaenopsis, with a purple-green spike that had already flowered... except for a single bud.

The Maikai and the Blue Hawaii both had scale, but I think I caught it before it could spread. I wiped them down with isopropal, sprayed them with Sevin and set them on a high isolation shelf where my cats can't get to them.

I've been repotting in Miraclegrow orchid bark, in either their original pots or in cheap plastic pots from Lowes. The pots are not orchid-specific but they do have drainage holes. All the orchids are sitting in a big SSE facing window, which isn't doing a lot of good because it's poured every day since I got them!

It seems all my plants will bloom either white or pink/lavender (you know, orchid color), which is slightly disappointing. My favorite colors for flowers are orange, yellow, and deep red. But hey, free flowers!

I've never owned an orchid in my life. This thread may be one continuous list of orchid death, but hey, they were all going to be thrown out anyway.