Need Help IDing 7 orchids - Orchid Board

thepurpleorange · #1 10-20-2010, 05:30 PM

Hi everyone, I'm brand new to this forum. I just inherited a bunch of new orchids and have previously never owned any. Some of them are not doing so well and I would be better able to research orchid care if I had some idea of what I was dealing with! can anyone help? thank you!!

Nic100 · #2 10-20-2010, 06:19 PM

Congrats to you on your new acquisitions. Sorry I can't help with any info, but welcome to the board!

kavanaru · #3 10-20-2010, 06:52 PM

easy... NOID 1, NOID 2, NOID 3, NOID 4, NOID 5, NOID 6 & NOID 7

sorry, but not possible to ID plants like that... flowers would be needed, and even that would be in most cases an impossible task if you are dealing with hybrids!

nenella · #4 10-20-2010, 07:05 PM

Welcome to the Board!
I agree you can't identify them exactly, but looks like you have some from the dendrobium family, cattleya family and the last is a from the Vanda family.
Good luck!

bullsie · #5 10-20-2010, 09:03 PM

You do have a nice assortment, and yes, a general idea will help with growing them.

I am not positive on some as the pics did not show some of the things looked for for each species but, #2 looks like a Cattleya. #5, and #6 I would say dendrobium. #7, as mentioned earlier is probably from the Vanda family.

That should help a little in getting you started for your information search.

Shirley · #6 10-20-2010, 10:25 PM

Welcome to the OB. True, it isn't possible to give definite IDs but here are my guesses: #1 Epidendrum; #2, 3 and 4 Cattleya types; #5 Dendrobium, #6 Cattleya; #7 Vanda. This should give you a little help with culture and we'll look forward to seeing photos of your blooms. Good luck!

thepurpleorange · #7 10-21-2010, 01:41 AM

thanks everyone for your help and your warm welcome to the orchid board!

Yes I didn't think I'd be able to specifically identify each plant but I thought the general group ID would be sufficient enough for me to be able to gather info on culture. Before now I've been doing random searching on the net for plants looking similar to mine but I thought it would be better to ask the opinion of more experienced orchid-growers. I will definitely post more pics if/when my orchids decide to bloom!

thanks again, the suggestions have been really helpful!!

RobS · #8 10-21-2010, 01:44 AM

1 Dendrobium
2 Cattleya
3 Cattleya (skinnerii, bowringiana, aurantiaca group?)
4 Laelia (superbiens?) is it large?
5 Dendrobium
6 Dendrobium (speciosum?)
7 Vanda / Ascocentrum

thepurpleorange · #9 10-21-2010, 12:08 PM

Hi RobS, thanks for your post!

Yes I looked up pics of the laelia and what I found looks almost exactly like my plant! It's about a foot tall... which I would say is large. Each bulb has 2 leaves, although the new leaves it just sent out seem to look like they're sending out an additional leaf? (see attached) Also, I had it in under a tree where it would get a lot of sun (about 4 hrs a day) seeing that its older leaves were so dark green. However, now it looks like the leaves are possibly speckled yellow. I'm not sure if this means too much sun or simply too much water. It rains about 3 times a week so it could be that it needs to dry out?

also, interesting that you would say #1 looks like a Dendrobium. I thought they grow up in straight canes as opposed to long and vine-y? That one was doing really well but recently its leaves from the root up started drooping. Again this was outside and could possibly be too much water again due to the rain? I moved it to a covered area and stopped watering. Although the leaves did not perk up (does this even happen?), no new leaves started drooping.

what do you think?

thank you!

RobS · #10 10-21-2010, 01:47 PM

On the laelia yellow specks can mean lot of things. To much water, to much sun, water drop on the leaf in direct sunlight even could be a disease or insect damage. On your plant I'm not sure but most likely: mechanical (could be insect) or to high humidity (oedema like). Hard to be sure without having the plant in my hands.

Some dendrobiums grow drooping: latifolium, sulawesiense it could be one of these two but also something completly different maybe not even a dendrobium. For many dendrobiums it's completly normal to loose their leaves. This often starts a dormant period in which watering should be reduced to initiate flowering. However on this last part it's hard to be certain without knowing exactly which plant it is.