Orchid yearnings/compulsions
 

As more and more of my 30ish (yes I know small..but I'm a windowsill grower and not limited to orchids either) start budding up, the desire to acquire becomes a burning need.
Then my fickleness arises and do I really need more of the mostly same orchids I already have? yes, habit may differ, leaves may be different, flower color may differ. So this is probably the only thing saving me from being evicted from my windowsills.
I do think maybe a dendrochilium wenzelii might have to grace the windowsills this winter. And (sigh) maybe a paph hybrid of some sort (not really sure what I want)..but the windowsills don't have room for much more ;) So maybe common sense also precludes a buying spree, as does lack of funds *lol*.
I have many oncs, 7 or 8 paphs, one phal (yes one snuck in, somehow), many dendrobiums, a zygo. My climate preference is intermediate tolerant orchids (or tolerant cool growers).
Do seeing spikes make you want to order more? :)

My desire for "more" is usually dependent on seeing someone else's blooming "whatever" and thinking Ooooo, I wanna grow that!

Then I remember my never over 100, try to stay around 80 rule of thumb. If I've been growing something for awhile, or bloomed it and thought Well, it's okay but not great (in my eyes) I might pass it forward and try the newest Ooooo, gotta have it phase.

And then again, that age old problem of funding. :biggrin:

People are breeding mini Paphs. There are miniature to small Dendrochilum species available.

Ha ha, Estacion, don't help me ;)
Lead me toward Orchids Anonymous instead.

There also are some small-to-mini Angraecums, that are also cool-to-cold tolerant.

Not so much with the regular houseplants (snake plants, pothos, calathea, etc) but with all of the plants I have now it's more of an interest in breeding them.

This is the case with nepenthes, some sarracenia, butterworts, some sundews, venus fly traps and now partially with orchids.

It's the an interesting in combining things like a mad scientist and seeing what you get.

I’ve been toying with the idea of making my windowsills larger. More room for larger pots and more plants!

Orchid breeding is a different game... First, you need to get the cross to generate seed. If you succeed at that, seed needs to be sown under sterile conditions. Then figure a year or more to grow in flask until the seedlings are big enough to live in the world. Then several years (anywhere from 3 to 10 or more depending on genus) to get to blooming size. So when you make a cross, you're investing a lot of time, as well as space (a seed capsule produces thousands of seeds, at various stages the stronger seedlings get selected to grow on) . So having a plan is important.

You don’t have to be limited to windowsill growing, a lot of people grow under lights and terrariums

Some years ago, I had an obsession with Angraecums. Fortunately, I got that under control. White flowers that are basically shaped the same...why? And, yet, I still have four different species of Angraecums.

I set a limit on the number of of orchids to 50. I had years that when autumn came, I would panic trying to find space for them indoors. I would have to give some away because I could not fit more hanging, on shelves, in windows or under lights.

I collect other plants, too. There are different varieties of Passiflora, jasmine, citrus, coffee, air plants, herbs, carnivorous plants, geraniums, and ficus carica...and the two banana trees...and some other random tropical plants..

Agreed, but one still has to have the space for those other options. :)

This is a topic near and dear to me. I currently have only ten orchids. Yes, you read that right. I am green with envy of those of you saying you have 30 or 50 or 100. ;)

I get such pleasure out of caring for my orchids, watching them grow and spike and bloom. In a way, it's a type of meditation, for lack of a better term, and I feel it's beneficial for my mental health.

But my only available space is on my kitchen/dining room table. The ten orchids and three fairly large African violets take up all the space I can give them and still leave a small area where someone could sit at the table and eat. :D

I would very much like to have more orchids, and some days, it gets to feeling like more than a wish, it feels like an actual need. I'll find myself wasting hours browsing vendor sites, deciding which ones I would like to have, and then realizing the futility of it all. So, yes, it is an unfulfilled yearning. :dunno:

Oooo, not to enable, but... I have a windowsill "extender" shelf my dad built me many years ago for a kitchen window that needed more plant space. It's movable. Will take a picture!

What’s wrong with that! 🤔 Angraecum leonis is probably my favorite smelling plant in my collection. The scent is so pleasantly sweet. 😃

Well my drooling continues apace. I currently have three possible picks:
Paphs at Paph Paradise, Mini-Cat at SVO, Asst at Hausermanns (including paph, cat, oncidium, dendrobium).
I expect to pull the 'Buy' in the next few days (ahem, funds become available). Due to the failing nature (and replacement) of a fridge, I think only one can win. Now....what do I want worst? :)
It's fun to make up carts, but even more fun to open boxes and anticipate growth and blooms.

I do have four different species of Angraecum, including a leonis so I clearly still enjoy Angraecums but I have convinced myself that I do not need to buy every Angraecum I see or find online. :)

I did almost buy more orchids and a few other tropical plants but I reminded myself that there is no more room! None!

Please do post a pic, I am totally building a sill extender this weekend. I’ve been toying with buying a cat perch and adapting it but certainly there is a better way. I want to set up a cool humid area for my dendros and paphs that would appreciate it for winter, but the small aquarium I want to use is just a touch too wide for the sill.

Well ok, Fred Clarke got my money this morning.
I really only wanted one plant, but I found two I liked, and then looking at $27 postage, I thought I better get three to spread that postage charge out a bit. And yes, I do think like that.

Pot. Little Circle (Pot. Golden Circle 'OPRL' x Pot. Little Toshie 'Gold Country' AM/AOS)
Slc. Bella del Caribe (Slc. Angel's Fantasy 'Solar Flare' FCC/AOS x Sc. Beaufort 'Hartford's Elwood' 4n AM/AOS)
Pot. NEW HYBRID (Pot. Ruby Delight 'Ruby Splash' x Slc. Mem. Trudi Marsh 'Sun Flair')

So, given I haven't grown a cattleya in years and years, I will now have three. I have a south facing window to winter them in (which has nothing in it at present). I did try to go for mini and compact, and multiple flowerings per year expected.
Set my expectations, am I likely to see flowers within the year?

Flowers within the next year are not only possible but likely. Those first two, especially, very likely. Those mini-catts bloom on very small plants.

Well *that'd* make me very happy. I can't wait (well I guess I can..but you know what I mean) *lol*

Ok, the little ones came today. They're respectably 6 inches, 4.5 inches, and 3 inches tall.
The six incher has a sheath, but I thinking it'll be blind. All have new leads starting though. I haven't yet wrapped my mind around which is which and looking at the labels only informs me for a few minutes (before fading). *lol*
Oh...after I hit submit, an insight took me. The six inch is Little Circle, the 4.5 is New Hybrid (unnamed I guess), and the 3 is Bella del Caribe.

Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if the next leads on any/all produce a sheath (if I don't keep them too cool this winter at least).

:waving Sorry! Been spending a lot of time with grands this past week. This link is pretty similar to the one I made.DIY: Removable Window Shelf for Plants - created by v.

Saw one recently that was made from a live edge board, which I now need. Just google "DIY window sill extender" and you'll get tons of ideas. I've also seen them for sale on Etsy, if you don't do DIY.

Watered this morning in the laundry room and found changes.
Pot. Little Circle (Pot. Golden Circle 'OPRL' x Pot. Little Toshie 'Gold Country' AM/AOS)--something growing in the sheath (not blind after all)
Pot. NEW HYBRID (Pot. Ruby Delight 'Ruby Splash' x Slc. Mem. Trudi Marsh 'Sun Flair') --naked buds (no sheath) but coming along.

I gave in to my yearnings/compulsions and increased my herd by 20 percent. That's right, I went from ten orchids to twelve. ;) Fortunately, they're both on the small side, for now at least.

In a few weeks, my orchid society will be having their annual festival. The venue forced us to change from a spring date to a fall date, but since we've already had our spring show, we get a second one this year. We will have several nice vendors, so I'm expecting to be tempted again. :drool:

Miniature orchids are a good way to go for those who do not have the space. I have some mounted miniature orchids attached to a small plastic trellis that I hung on the side of the cupboard in the kitchen window.

Mini-orchids...oh yeah.
Indeed, I'm getting ready today to try to mount some tillsandias and tolumnias and hang in the kitchen window. Gain a bit more space and have (hopefully) a neat display as well.

I am not sure if it is a neat display but it is practical.

In spite of having a big yard in a temperate climate where I can grow my orchids outside, , the orchids have filled it and I am STILL out of room. I am really getting into the miniatures. Many have a really good flower-to-plant ratio, as a bonus.

The issue for me is not space but time.
I have shelves in front of my "Good" windows and can always go up with more shelves.

What made me, at least temporarily, stop buying is watering.
This summer with the low humidity, I was watering my Dens, Catts, Oncidiums and 1 Paph every other day.
That is bringing to the kitchen sink, running water for a minute then letting drain on a towel.
I do enjoy the process but that was a lot of time each week.

Now that it is winter, I only water them every 5 days and the Phals every 10 days.
Yeah, I am looking at spending the winter thinking about ways to streamline the watering thing.

The automated watering idea sounds great but I don't think I can do it in my current setup and I have considered S/H but I have gotten them all established in bark and don't want to go all gonzo with S/H just yet.

33 orchids and a lot of house plants may be close to my limit with the work/life balance.

Suggest you just water the plants in place... a 2 gallon pump sprayer would do the job. If you put trays (with some depth) and "egg crate" light diffuser sheets (comes in 2 ft x 4 ft sheets from Home Depot) the water has a place to drain, it adds a bit of humidity. Here's what I did back in my condo days.
http://orchidcentral.org/GrowingAreas/indoor.jpg

Watering never took more than 10 or 15 minutes to do the whole room, with that pump sprayer,

I used to grow the orchids in such a set up and had to use a siphon to drain the water into a bucket because the lava rock had to be watered well (so more water). Now I use saucers and bowls which are emptied after watering. I have plastic drop cloth under the shelves to protect the floor.

Because of the fun of watering orchids indoors, I have found limiting the number of orchids allows me to enjoy them more than I did when I had many more.

Well, I am wishing (but thinking I shouldn't) that I really need a red miltonopsis like 'Bert Field'. I've had 'Andrea West' for a bit over two years and have achieved several flowerings, though I did have one set of growths that I allowed to get too dry and got crinkly on me (hate that), but it's slowly training me and actually does pretty well (inside in the AC of course).
The available space is getting quite limited now and I've spent enough this year (fridge went out, bought a new PC). Shipping this time of year is a bit chancey,etc. But as the Pokemon mantra goes, 'Gotta catch them all'. Well maybe not...but you all know the orchid buying bug comes around sometimes. I need to just be satisfied with growing out what I have to flowering size (got several dendrobiums that I bought as small mericlones from Olympic Orchids that I'm waiting to see first flowering on...I suspect most will grace me this coming year).
Anyone have a bold colored one that they hate because of crinkled leaves and finickiness? *lol*