First post from Mexico City

[marcmaubert]

Hi! I've been lurking this board for a couple of months but now I've decided I should join the fun. I'm Marc, I'm 27 and I'm from Mexico City (sorry if my grammar isn't perfect, I almost never write in english) and this year my orchid obsession exploded. I started growing orchids almost 8 years ago (well... technically not growing... I started killing orchids almost 8 years ago). My first 2 orchids were a typical white Phal and a beautiful "harlequin Phalaenopsis", then I got a Dendrobium Nobile, a Maxillaria tenuifolia and a NoID Oncidium. Needless to say, I bit more than I could chew. Only the harlequin Phal survived my terrible care (it's growing a lot this year!). A couple of years passed and I got another NOID pink Phal, a NOID Cattleya, a Dendrobium Phalaenopsis and a Vanilla (directly from Papantla, Veracruz) that fared better for a couple of years (but each new growth was smaller and smaller). Last year I lost the Vanilla and the pink Phal, my cattleya and mi harlequin Phal didn't bloom and my Dendrobium Phal rolled down the stairs and broke its flower spike (the only flower spike I had that year). I was determined to save my Cattleya, Phal and DenPhal so this year I studied a lot, I started dividing mi orchids by temperature and light requirements (I had to buy some LED grow lights since all of my windows are obstructed by buildings and I have no way to grow my orchids outdoors unless they can handle full sun), and converted almost everything to S/H. This year I've seen growth like never before on my old orchids and my stair-rolling Den Phal is giving me a summer flower spike (it's never done that, it only bloomed in winter. I'm so excited). I'm very optimistic about my success, so I went crazy buying a lot of different species to give them a try and see if I can manage them, and so far I've only had an accident with two orchids that got scorched in my car (never leaving my new orchids in the car again) So I'm the proud owner of:
- NOID Harlequin Phalaenopsis (my first ever orchid, it's a true survivor)
- NOID Cattleya
- Dendrobium Phalaenopsis
- mini Phal. (it sits happily in my office)
- NOID Oncidium
- Brassavola Nodosa
- Encyclia Adenocaula
- Encyclia Cordigera
- NOID Cymbidium
- Vanda Pachara Delight (this one got scorched in my car so it lost all 4 lleaves and of its flowers the day I bought it. Right now it's growing 4 keikis, does anyone knows how long until those start to flower? I'm guessing years, right?)
- Maxillaria Tenuifolia (this one got scorched too, I'm not giving up on her, but she's not doing anything at all, I don't know what to do)
- Zygopetalum mackaii
- Dendrobium Nobile
- NOID Miltoniopsis
- Paphiopedilum Armeniacum
- Prostechea Radiata
and a Monnierara Millennium Magic 'Witch Craft'

If anyone has certain tips on the orchids I grow I would be really grateful. I'll be posting pictures of the ones that bloom this year for all to see! Hello everyone!

[bethmarie]

Welcome, Marc; your English is spectacular. I have a friend who left for Mexico City this past Saturday.
He's not an orchid fanatic, but I'm working on him ;-)

[marcmaubert]

Thank you! He's gonna love it here. I'm trying to influence my boss so she becomes an orchid fanatic too! Anything to fill the office with orchids.

[Optimist]

It looks like you are doing everything correctly! The sun problem can be circumvented by different grades of shade-cloth.

I am in New Mexico, and for some reason "tender" orchids do not do well. I have a horrible track record with oncidiums, and next year will try a trichocentrum to see if an oncidium with thicker leaves will grow better in my environment. (My psychopsis is doing well).

Does Mexico City have an orchid club? Orchid show/sales?

[marcmaubert]

Yeah, maybe I'll make a little bit of room to put some shade-cloth but I don't think I have much space. And yes we do have orchid clubs and orchid shows. The Mexican Orchid Society meets every first wednesday of the month at the Botanical Gardens of UNAM (Mexico's National University). I haven't had the chance to go because of work. And we have a Spring and Fall Orchid Show with conferences and orchid vendors.

[camille1585]

Welcome to OB Marc! Don't worry about your English, if you hadn't said anything I wouldn't even have realized that you have trouble with it.)

I think everyone starts out (and then continues) killing orchids, it's just part of the hobby. I've lost track of how many orchids I've murdered or that committed suicide.

Have fun trying out all sorts of different species! As you do that you'll discover what types of orchids grow best in your conditions, and then you should try to stick with those afterwards.

I was buying everything that caught my eye in the beginning and I learned a lot of hard lessons (that I was very good at killing mounted orchids, orchids that love high humidity, and dendrebiums). So now I avoid those, and buy what does well in my growing conditions- mostly Phals, Paphs, Oncs and some Catts.

[marcmaubert]

Thank you, Camille! I don't think I have trouble with my english, I just stopped writing and speaking it when I finished high school almost 10 years ago. I'm kinda self-conscious about it because I think I'm rusty, that's all. Maybe I'll use this board to practice my writing again.

I stay away from mounted and high humidity orchids too (i still want to at least try a couple of them and see what happens).

[rbarata]

Welcome, Marc!
When I read "Mexico" the word "Laelia" comes to my mind.

[marcmaubert]

Thank you, rbarata! You're right! There's lots of mexican orchids ranging from Laelia, Brassavola, Gongora, Stanhopea, Maxillaria and Vanilla.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Your English is excellent!

There were historically a lot of terrestrial orchids growing in and around Mexico City. Keep an eye out for them. Not many people know about them.

And keep your eye out for a magnificent book, now out of print:
https://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx...xico-libro-_JM