Ordered some new Orchids
 

Hi everyone,

I ordered some new Orchids from Andy's Orchids online. I was wondering, seeing as how I am a newbie, if anyone has had any experience with the orchids. If so, could you relate any hlepful advice. THanks.

Masdevallia / tovarensis Venezuela

Masdevallia / rolfiana Costa Rica

Haraella / odorata Taiwan

You've picked some interesting plants as "starters."

The Masd. tovarensis is truly a "cold grower" while the M. rolfeana may tolerate slightly warmer temperatures. The haraella (now known as H. retrocalla) is another one that can handle cool to warm conditions. Mine is grown on the warm side, and is blooming right now.

As you're getting them from Andy, they'll likely be mounted, so you'll need to keep them very humid and water them fairly frequently (think "cloud forest").

would you say that 70-80 degrees is to warm for them?

If that's the normal, daily conditions, you'll likely see them fade away.

There's a guy from the Delaware Orchid Society that has a "cool room" for such plants - it's actually a converted refrigerated meat locker with HPS & MH lights! His max is 65°-70°.

Ok,

What would you suggest from Andy's Orchids? The plants have not been shipped, and I am sure I can change the order before the 28th.

Thanks for the warning, I should have asked about them before ordering.

I found those orchids when using the powersearch, with the following conditions,
Shade for light
Moist daily watering, 4/7 times a week
Intermediate temps,
Any size, though I really need small orchids
Any mount,
And any price range.

I prefered the plants marked as miniatures, and easy growers.

Thanks for any help.

Suggestion
 

I've ordered from Andy's before and they've always been great. There are a couple of things you can do.

One would be to go to their web site and do a power search using the criteria of warm and easy grower it will then give you a list of warm easy growers! You could also add to that things like fragrant or miniature.

Another suggestion would be to call and ask Andy. He's very nice and will suggest plants to you that would be good for your conditions. For example if you are growing inside your house or outside, where you live, the fact that you are a beginner, etc.

Finally, he usually has a package deal on his site for beginners. A group of plants for beginners which are usually "easy growers", for one price which would be slightly discounted over what the plants would cost individually.

Best of luck!
Randy

Thanks, will do.