hello

[cephas]

My wife and I are new to the world of orchids and were wondering if anyone could recommend where to start or perhaps what would be a good book to purchase.

[Ross]

Welcome to the Orchid Board from sunny Cadillac. There have been a few posts regarding best books as well as some book reviews in the articles section on the main forum page. Where to start? Guess I recommend buying some orchids and getting your feet wet! Lots of folks buy from Home Depot, Sam's Club, Costco, etc where you'll get primarily Dendrobiums or Phallenopsis. Good choices to start with. Other things to consider - how much light can you provide? How much humidity? How easy will it be to water? Etc. There are lots of articles and culture sheets provided here if you'll do a bit of checking. Welcome.

[Candice]

Welcome to the OB!

Wow...just started and very brand new, eh?
Great place to begin is here and do research on different species which is what you are already doing!

I suggest "Growing Orchids: successful gardening indoors and out" by Brian and Wilma rittershausen.
It is a great overview on popular orchids, from the history of orchids, botany of orchids, where to grow, care and cultivation.
You can also visit your local library and I am sure they would have some books also, if you don't want to buy 20 to 50 books to start
There's so much out there...
Even go to AOS (American Orchid Society) homepage and they give care sheets on certain genere of Orchids.
Try to find a local orchid society that you can go to and maybe join if you like You can do a search under AOS website also!
Try to figure out what your current environment is and what orchids would benefit from that environment the best.
Oh and if you kill a few in the process.....DON'T WORRY I THINK ALL OF US HAVE DONE SO!
I am still killing a few now and then, even after a year or so! But its always a learning experience.
Ask questions of course if you need any help!

[Shirley]

Hello cephas and welcome to the OB. Being rather new to the forum myself, I'm finding it to be extremely helpful. Have been growing orchids for a number of years now but here are the names of two books that I found to be great for general knowledge when I was just getting going: "Orchids and How to Grow Them" by Gloria Sessler and "All About Orchids" by Charles Marden Fitch. I was able to borrow them from the local library and did that for some time before buying my own copies, which are now quite dog-eared! You're into a wonderful hobby so enjoy!

Shirley

[Tindomul]

Welcome to the Orchid Board. Here is a link to some book reviews reccomended by orchid Board members. In general any book will give you basic info on how not to kill orchids.
http://www.orchidboard.com/bookreview
I would start out with Phalaenopsis types. Very easy to care for and will teach you the do's and dont's about orchids.