Hello! New member, new to orchids!

[alecStewart1]

I've been growing plants, mostly carnivorous plants, for a little bit now and I've taken an interest in orchids!

I'm mostly interested in Neofinetia/Vanda orchids at the moment. Miniatures and fragrant flowers are the general categories I'm interested in as well.

I'm very interested in cross-breeding plants. It'd be interesting to me to cross a variegated Neo with some miniature orchid. Granted, I've not even crossed any of the carnivorous plants I have yet (I have some pings that'll be interesting to cross, several nepenthes that god knows if I have both males and females yet, and several cultivars of venus fly traps), but I imagine the stratification process and germination process is pretty similar.

Hope to learn a lot here!

[Roberta]

Welcome!

[estación seca]

Welcome!

The orchids from seed process is very different from CP. Do some reading.

The orchid family is divided into several subgenera, then tribes and genera. Usually hybrids can only be made among genera in the same tribe. If you like to read encyclopedias go to the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia and start reading.

[Roberta]

Or if you are looking for an all-around good book on orchid culture, consider The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and Their Culture

[PuiPuiMolcar]

welcome! Carni setup and orchid goes hand in hand. I hope your stay in this new plant world will be worth while.

[Ray]

Welcome aboard, Alec.

[alecStewart1]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Welcome!

The orchids from seed process is very different from CP. Do some reading.

The orchid family is divided into several subgenera, then tribes and genera. Usually hybrids can only be made among genera in the same tribe. If you like to read encyclopedias go to the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia and start reading.

Definitely need to do some reading!

So hybrids like this:

Neostylis Pinky - Red Form (Rhy. gigantea red form x N. falcata) - OrchidWeb

Can be made because Rhynchostylis and Neofinetia are in the same genera, yes? I think I've seen a few "bean" leaf orchids that are all in the same region in nature, so I'm assuming a lot of them are in the same genera.

Fun learning stuff to further occupy my weekends/slow days at work.

---------- Post added at 10:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------

Originally Posted by PuiPuiMolcar

welcome! Carni setup and orchid goes hand in hand.

Yes! I think a lot of the orchids I'd like would be good to grow a long with some of the Nepenthes I have.

I think I'd just have to buy and convert another IKEA cabinet.

All stuff I'll have to figure out once my fiance and I are moved in to our new place.

[Roberta]

Related genera... DNA is showing new relationships so genera get changed (but don't change your tags...) So Neofinetia is now classified as Vanda, but there distincty differences in habitat and culture even if the DNA says they're the same genus. These are human-made dividing lines. In general, closely-related genera can breed much of the time. So Neofinetia can breed with Rhynchostyils, but neither of them could, for instance, breed with Cattleya or Dendrobium, which are more distant relatives (still orchids but not as close on the "tree".)

The criteria that determine dividing lines between genera (to say nothing of species...) are much more complex (and fuzzy) than those with animals.

---------- Post added at 09:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 AM ----------

Question, Alec... where do you live? In many locations, some orchids can grow outside at least part of the year. Since orchids come from every continent except Antarctica, from sea level to above tree line, at almost the full range of latitudes, they don't all grow under the same conditions. They are adaptable, up to a point. Learning what you can grow where is part of the fun!

[alecStewart1]

Originally Posted by Roberta

So Neofinetia can breed with Rhynchostyils, but neither of them could, for instance, breed with Cattleya or Dendrobium, which are more distant relatives (still orchids but not as close on the "tree".)

Makes sense to me!

Originally Posted by Roberta

Question, Alec... where do you live? In many locations, some orchids can grow outside at least part of the year. Since orchids come from every continent except Antarctica, from sea level to above tree line, at almost the full range of latitudes, they don't all grow under the same conditions. They are adaptable, up to a point. Learning what you can grow where is part of the fun!

I live in Texas. The only thing that I worry about are summers where it can get over 100 degrees Fahrenheit here. Humidity is also a factor, as it never really is at a consistent 60% - 70% that a lot of orchids would like.

Some of my carnivorous plants are only outside growers, and I'm surprised all of them survived the over 100 degree temps we got. Granted I put them in a more shaded spot, watered twice a day with ice cold water, and the venus fly traps had weird leaf growth as they don't like extreme heat.

I know there's a few orchids that like warmer temps from looking around the internet, but I imagine not mid 90s to over 100 Fahrenheit.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by alecStewart1

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I know there's a few orchids that like warmer temps from looking around the internet, but I imagine not mid 90s to over 100 Fahrenheit.

There are several Board members who live in Texas. You can get some ideas there as to what you can get away with. With some shading there are actually quite a few orchids that will handle those Texas high temperatures. (Shading keeps leaf temperatures from going above the ambient temperature) Lots of members of the Cattleya group will be fine. Members of the Catasetum group as well. Read through the various Board posts. Some very active long-time members, who live in hot climates and have shown photos of their growing areas and discussed the issue a lot, are estación seca (Arizona), isurus79 (Texas), RJSquirrel, (Texas), DirtyCoconuts (south Florida) for a start. Apologies to those I have missed... there are many others as well.