A surprised father to 10 orchids

[torosphere]

Hello there. Warm blessings from the Pearl of the Orient - the Philippines.

From a visiting tourist, I suddenly found myself a reluctant father to 10 NoID orchids. When I went sight-seeing, I happen to chance by stalls that sell these beautiful flowers, some of them even in full blooms. The stall owners claim they're wild varieties and were gathered from the foot of the mountain. I only wanted two or three souvenirs that I can bring with me back to the city. However, it seems that I got a bit lucky (or unlucky) since it was a lean season and tourists were hard to come by. Stall after stall offered me their goodies with each owner pulling the other's price down and throwing in more freebies than the other. As to how authentically wild they are, I'm not so sure. Though they were attached to tree barks that seemed to have been cut from a living tree. But you never know. But I don't mind. I like staring at orchids anyway. They're not the typical flower. They're so exotic.

Long story short, it seems that I have amassed the following (based on google and reading the boards here):
2 Oncidium leuchochilums (each with about 4 or more pseudobulbs)
3 Cattleyas
1 Isochilus carnisflorus (they call this the mosquito orchid)
1 black orchid (have no idea what variety but since it seems that anything black is rare, I got one)
1 waling-waling/ Vanda sanderiana which is a native of the Philippines (I do hope so since a lot claim this variety is getting rarer in the Philippines)
1 that looks like a lotus which I really forgot what the seller call it
1 with leaves that look like centipedes

Overall, I spent Php 650 or roughly USD 17 which seems a good deal since orchids sell for much more in the city.

I never thought I would go home that day with a haul of these beautiful plants. And now I'm getting excited and worried at the same time. I've never grown a garden. And now, I do need help in identifying them, and taking care of them. I think it would only be justifiable that I care for them since I had the opportunity that enthusiasts hope for.

The Philippines is a tropical country with two seasons. Dry season typically starts around mid-January until the end of May with temperatures reaching the high 90F and at extreme times to a 100F. Wet season comes in early June until December with temperatures cooling down to the low 70F in December. And of course, you throw in at least 18 typhoons spread between these wet months. And you know when they say when it rains, it pours... well... it REALLY pours. But I give my "babies" faith since they've been grown here so I do hope they can adapt to these conditions.

I will post pictures of them to help in identification. I plan to put them in pots but they seem to be deeply attached to the bark they came with. So a little help here. I haven't scoured plant shops but at the local hardware, I couldn't find bark, moss potting mediums. Most orchid growers here use coconut husks. So this is an option since we have an abundance of them here. And clay pots are really cheap too.

I welcome your suggestions. I realize now that I have serious responsibilities. But I do not want to be overwhelmed. So please be kind. I know some of you think I've bitten more than I can chew. But for our love of these exotic plants, let us help each other and make our world greener and more colorful, yes, even with 10 orchids for starters.

[torosphere]

I bet these are oncidiums...

[torosphere]

Photo 1 - Isochilus?
Photo 2 - Cattleya?
Photo 3 - ??? lotus like leaves
Photo 4 - ??? centipede like leaves
Photo 5 - Waling-waling?

[torosphere]

And I can't identify these...
Photo 6 - The one above is a Cattleya? I don't know the one below it... the mysterious black orchid perhaps? Any idea what is it?

Thanks.

[lambelkip]

please don't buy wild collected orchids. buying them encourages more collecting, which has led to the extinction of many species. you should only buy artificially propagated plants from certified nurseries.

for upload 1, those look lke Grammatophyllum, not Oncidium

for upload 2, photo 1 could be Isochilus, or it could be a dendrobium
photo 2 looks like a Cymbidium
photo 3 looks like a Pothos (not an orchid)
photo 4 looks like a Dendrobium
photo 5 is not Vanda sanderiana, you'll have to wait until it blooms to figure out what it is.

for upload 3, I think both plants are Cattleya

[torosphere]

Thanks for the enlightenment. Now I do feel guilty buying them. I thought it would be okay since they are selling at a tourist site monitored by the local government unit.

From the wild or not, pressure is on to care for them. I guess I never really got that waling-waling. Phew! How that pothos passed for an orchid in my eyes is embarrassing. Looks like I have a lot of work to do. Thanks for the help.

One more thing, since they came with the bark, would it be better if I keep them mounted that way on a tree? My potting skills have yet to be tested. Or if I pot them, would it be okay to pot them with it? I'm a little scared touching those roots. Thanks. Thanks.

[lambelkip]

the Cymbidium and Grammatophyllum should probably be potted up in a standard Cymbidium mix.
remove them from the mount, and pot them up with the pseudobulbs above the medium.
The rest of the plants would probably do best mounted.

[Bud]

Welcome Aboard !

WOW! $17 for all that haul??!! is that even enough to feed a family for a day in your country?

Kip is right ....first two pictures are Grammatophylum

upload 3 looks like Cattleyas

the 2nd upload:

first picture is a Dendrobium equitans its native to the Philippines and I have it growing in my Manhattan windowsill

second picture looks like a Cymbidium as Kip says....

third picture is a House Plant

fourth picture is a Dendrobium anceps native to the Philippines and I also am growing that kind of plant

the fifth picture is a Vanda of some sort but not a Euanthe sanderiana(I have four of those plants one mother that gave me three keiki baby plants thru the years) I think it has a coerulea parent because of the leaf tips and the short leaf span....sanderiana has very wide leaf span(22 inches blooming size); strap-leafed pointy kind and closed if thirsty and opens wide when humid and moistured well.

even if you dont patronize those poachers they will keep on harvesting in the wild....they are hungry = its their only way to eat(just like the fire starters = they need to plant food so they burn the forest)
I have never felt hunger in my life so I can easily say educate them on reforestation and conservation...I have observed addicts shooting in the subways...so I can relate to poachers who have nothing to eat for the day(they will kill, steal or husstle just to feed their kids=they are misguided, uneducated and poor)
At least you have tied them to your tree trunks and started caring for them =to me that is conservation in its truest sense youre giving it a chance on life
it will ensure the next generation of plants

[Wynn Dee13]

For upload three, the top plant is most likely a Cattleya but the bottom one looks nothing like a Cattleya. Its leaves don't look like a Cattleya and it doesn't have pbulbs like Cattleyas.

As for the Cattleya being wild collected, that can't be because the Philippines don't have native Cattleyas. They probably told you that thinking you were a tourist so you would buy them. Most people dont know it is not a good thing to buy wild collected plants so tourists probably think it is cool to have a native orchid. I bet you have a hybrid Cattleya. I'm not sure about the others though since I mainly grow Cattleyas and their relatives. You will have a better idea of what you have when they bloom. It can be very difficult to tell what you have without blooms. Good luck and post pics when your plants bloom!

[Bud]

You are right ,Wynn Dee .... Cattleya is not indiginous to that country....it must be grown by a farm and mounted in a way that it looks like it was growing from trees....and tourists will beleive it was taken from the wild....
Grammatophyllum and the pictured Dendrobiums are deep forest mountain plants....I dont think it will be accessible to poachers unless they are indigenous tribes of that forest ( orchid flowers are sacred to these tribes according to wiki.... they will not dare even pick a flower= the sanderiana is the embodiment of a goddess among those tribes=its the lowland dwellers/city people who know of its worth who harvest the orchids....yet there are no more orchids in the wild its all harvested so the chances that the plants in the pictures are from a farm located near a tourist area)