First-ever orchids arrived in mail today

[Zindaginha]

I'm tired, so forgive any typos or incoherencies in this post, please!

I just recieved three of 6 orchids that I ordered over the weekend from two different on-line vendors. I was actually expecting them to arrive next Monday, so I'm a little unprepared, particularly for the one that arrived bare-root, but here we are and it's time to learn quick, I guess.

The species are:
1. Eria Pannea
2. Sophritis cernua
3. Dendrobium refleixitpalum

I can't at this moment explain why I felt qualified to take on caring for any of these species right now, beyond to say that they were pretty, small and details in the descriptions of them seemed fascinating. I have never grown orchids before, but have experience with tropical epiphytes and other more challenging plants (nepenthes) and I am super motivated to learn.

I'm right now concerned about how to deal with them after they've gone through the shock of being sent through the mail AND the shock of now having to adopt to a new environment. Fortunately, they seem to be in good condition, though one has slightly shriveled-looking roots.

Wish me luck!

Oh: I'm a grad student in Oregon and I love plants and other living things, doing everything from outdoor gardening, foraging, botanical dyes and other stuff and juggling a rapidly growing houseplant collection that is probably 50% bromelliad by biomass, but includes other stuff, too, like mosses, staghorn ferns, lithops and carnivores. I grew up in a family that was recently transitioned from farming so growing things and knowing something about plant care were part of my childhood. The women in my family were all very much into very specific kinds of houseplants, most memorably African Violets. So, I grew up around lots of spider plants, outdoor daffodils, and other things that I somehow developed a dislike for (fortunately this disdain never spread to gesneriads). Some kinds of plants I just find cheesy, and I'll be honest that I felt this way about orchids--the ones that seemed aesthetically appealing sounded crazy difficult to grow and the ones that seemed easy to grow just seemed boring.

But lately I've been watching lots of youtube shows on plants, and one thing progressed to another. What started as just watching channels like Michael's Orchids for entertainment turned into a feeling that maybe I could actually raise species that I like. Plus, I have all these epiphytic bromeliads...why not shove in a few tiny orchids to the mix, as well?

I really hope I don't kill these guys. Wish me luck!

[SaraJean]

Welcome! It almost seems like a natural progression for a lot of people to start with bromeliads, mosses, carnivorous plants ect.. and then move to orchids or vice versa. I had several nepenthes when I lived in the sunset district of San Francisco, which seemed like such a natural area for them (unfortunately all died when I moved to New Orleans, lol), then got started on some various orchid species and now I’m trying my hand at a few bromeliads and stag horns. They are all massively interesting plants, though I’ll admit to being a bit partial to my orchids now

That Dendrobium reflexitepalum is very cool and I think I need it. I’m starting to amass a nice little collection of Den species, do you mind sharing where you got that at?

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