Pretty Yellow Cattleya, no tag
 

This pretty lady is finally in bloom but I don’t know what she is, I have a couple here I don’t know what they’re called in the pictures!

Would long any help!!

Those are wonderful! The yellow is a hybrid in the Cattleya alliance. The yellow with red lip is a Dendrobium. Behind it in the same photo is an Oncidium hybrid that might be a Colmanara of some kind. The plant outside on the rocks is an Oncidium hybrid. The hanging plant is a really great Vanda.

Thank you! I’m venturing out of my phal comfort zone!

If it helps I'd stick with Catts and Vanda's.

They are trickier to get to flower than phals but my loss rate with catts and vanda's is very low.

I've lost the most dendrobiums by a big margin. Not sure if it was the bad roots but dendrobiums have very thin roots that tend to rot easily. They are generally seasonal plants so that might also be a reason, they like to drink lots in summer but then little in winter so do you pick a summer mix that then rots the roots in winter or do you pick a winter mix that doesn't hydrate the plant enough in summer?

It's a problem I don't have with many orchids but with dendrobiums I've had the most problems I find.

Not sure if anyone else has had the issue. Even my maxillaria's, sometimes they can come in terrible condition with all roots missing but they have a high tendency to recover.

Not so much the dendrobiums. What happens with them is they make keiki's that only grow to a quarter of the size of the original plant. You see people showing this from time to time, like my den nearly died but now it's making keiki's.

The thing is when a den reaches that point it is very hard to save it, yes a new keiki was formed or even several. They don't grow to full potential and then never have the energy to carry on growing a new bulb.

But you rarely get an update a year later saying that actually the den never made it in the end even after producing a keiki.

I don't want to give them bad press but I have had worse experience with them overall and I don't feel there is enough mention of this.

Like as a beginner branching out it is normal to move on to dendrobums after phals.

Then oncidiums and angraecums. Then possibly a vanda and catts are usually last. But this is unjustified considering how few catts I have lost compared to dendrobiums over the years.

Actually dendrobium are fairly easy, as long as you know the cultural requirements for the specific den. A Den Phalaenanthe hybrid is a great beginner in the dendrobium family.

Dendrobium Spatulata is usually not considered a "beginner" den, mostly due to most folks having to tweak the environment and be very conscientious of watering habits.

The Dendrobium (Nobile) is one of the ones that needs that winter rest period. When not done correctly, they tend to keiki a lot more instead of producing flowering canes.

Similar are the Latoura, a good not-quite-so beginner choice. They don't require a really strict winter rest, but are definitely a high light choice.

No harder or easier than Cattleya. I'd actually suggest a hybrid Cat or Den before venturing into oncidium tribe. All are fairly easy branching out choices for a beginning orchid collection. The main point... learn the requirements of the particular orchid before buying to see if it matches ones environment and culture unless willing to learn a different culture for a different genus and/species. That's why hybrids are good choices for beginners as well.

Orchid101, you're obviously doing right by the ones you've shown here. They all look to be faring very well.

It's always interesting to see what grows well for people. Different people have very different growing conditions. Growing orchids in a cold-winter climate is very much more difficult than in an area with almost no frost.

Tell me about it! Currently 11F here. Got up to-15F about five this morning. Brrrrr.

---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 PM ----------

It’s more difficult when one lives where it goes from Siberia to Hades depending on season. Gives meaning to the term microclimate. :biggrin: