Overwhelmed!

[Persephone]

Hi there, I am very very new to orchids. I purchased my first one (a paph) last year at the Orchid Show at the NY Botanical garderns. I fell in love with it. She has had a place of honor in my bedroom which has lots of windows but sheer curtains and has been doing quite well. In my terms, that means 'still alive'. Like any new parent, I am worried about her development as there is no evidence of a new flower. My son suggested that I peruse the net and find an orchid forum to find out. I've found a few. As a matter of fact I have been sitting in front of my computer for a few days now gawking at incredible photos of orchids and fantasizing about pruchasing a green house or building a conservatory onto my house and geting more...and more... and more!

But I have much to learn first....like not thowing away the plant ID tags. I look forward to visitng here often- it's been my experience that plant people are the best. I'm sure that you will be seeing lots of questions from me in the near future. I thank you in advance for your patience.

[cb977]

Hi Persephone Welcome to OrchidBoard

You'll find a very nice, very helpful, and very interesting bunch of people here...all willing to help each other as we all follow the path of knowledge in growing orchids.

We are a largely diverse group, spanning the globe and we all started with that first plant...and then losing control

It's a great addiction and this is the place to learn all you'll need to know.

We have a nightly chat, usually starting around 8pm est...try to join us some night. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you...and we'd love to see some photos

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Your new friends will help you get the answers you seek

[Tindomul]

Hi Persephone. Can you please hurry up and leave Hades so the summer can come back?
Welcome to the Orchid Board!!! Glad to have you with us. Like Sue says, we all started with one or three. Ask all the questions you got, and hopefully you will learn little by little. I know I did/am.
I am still getting in trouble for throwing out the labels
When will I learn???

[weng]

Hi Persephone,
Welcome to the Board

If you have not yet found the answers to your question, then here is a potted life cycle of your paph:

Paphs are apical flowering - that is, the flower emerges from the very tip of the plant. It also means that the plant cannot carry on growing. And, in the case of paphs, will not flower again. However, it will produce one or more little plantlets from the base of the plant. As these little plantlets mature, the mother plant will start to die. But don't worry, you should expect more flowers from these plantlets in about a year or so. Do avoid the beginners tendency to split the plantlets

Weng

[justatypn]

Aboard Persephone, its great that you have joined the best orchid forum on the web. The OB is a great place to hang out and learn from all of our good and wrongful experiences. There is a wealth of information awaiting and yet to come. We all have started with our first orchid accept Tindo, he buys in three's My first paph just recently opened and it was so citing. They are generally slow growing orchids but the blooms is outstanding in presentation. Wend thanks for your information as well, being I am new to paph growing and actually did not know that the adult plant dies back, now I will not have to cry when I see this guy passing on. I remember being so so cited when I saw a baby chid growing right next to the mommy plant. But anyway, the gallery is a place to store your personal orchid s and to share with other addictive orchid growers. It's great to have you here

[Tindomul]

Weng, thanks for the info. Up until about 2-3 months ago I didn't know that the blooming plant died off. It was a shock to me .