Ok, I've done a bad thing and ordered stuff I know nothing about...
 

Dear Orchid friends, I have a confession to make and some questions to ask. Before I knew of this information super-site I ordered some orchids on EBay. They are due to arrive in about two weeks and I am wondering if anyone can tell me anything about Cattleyas, Dendrobiums and Vandas. I picked these purely by "prettiness" and I'm sure I've made some inappropriate selections for newbies. I am going to go print out the fact sheets (or care sheets?) from here, but was also wondering if anyone can give me a heads-up on what I will need to plant these in. Thanks a million for your assistance! You all the best! :biggrin:

X 426 S. Den Ceasar Pinky
L 539 DTPS Sogo Manager
KV 59 JVB Gordon Dillon
P109's Brother Spring Dancer
C284 Cattleya B David Sander
C 232 CTNA Cattleya Sogo doll
HKNSA Sogo Doll "Little Angel"

P.S. What do the #'s at the beginning refer to? Or are they just something from this seller?

I'm a newbie myself so I may not be of much help. I'm sure our Forum friends will be able to help you.

I think I know who you purchase your orchids from, my first Ebay purchase were from the same vendor. The #'s and letter before the name is how they track/id their plants.

Make sure you soak them when they arrive, I'm sure they're gonna be thirsty, you can add SuperThrive to the water.

Goodluck

:hello Kathy
Welcome to the world of orchids.:evil:
As for your questions you may not be getting as large as plants as you might think. And some may take several years to bloom. I am not trying to discourage you but they are coming off e-bay. Not the best place to get your plants.
Any way if you go to aos.org and click on Beginners' FAQ, from there look for culture sheets. Under culture sheets print out Cattleya, Dendrobium, Phalanopsis, and Vanda. This will give you a basic on the plants that you have.
As for as the #'s, that is only a greenhouse reference number.
By the look of the names you gave you did pick out some very nice plants. If you are getting these plants from where I think you are you should receive some fairly nice plants. I may have received some from them myself.
Welcome welcome welcome :D :D

Jayme

Not inappropriate selections as such, but what you picked needs varying light conditions. You will need bright indirect light for the phals, and a lot of sun for the catts and vanda. Will you be able to do that? Catts need a fairly coarse, fast drying medium. Different people use different things. I think coarse bark is a choice, and for my part I use large CHC. The CHC holds water, but since the pieces are big there is plenty of air circulation so it dries quickly. The vanda will do best growing barefoot, and that means you need to keep up with the watering, especially on hot days.
Love Phal Brother Spring Dancer. I have one of those, and it's my favorite orchid!

Hi people! Thank you for the information. I know that the majority of these are quite small. I sort of planned it that way. This way if I kill it I won't feel so badly about it because it was rather inexpensive and not flowering yet. Know what I mean? I guess these are all sort of experiments to see what the heck they are like.

From what I have read so far, which is not a lot, but it seems like the Vanda will be a challenge. How does one grow something that is bareroot? Eeek! I do have places in my house which get a lot of sun and places which do not so I am ok on that count. We'll see how the rest go. I'm a little nervous! Ok, I'm A LOT nervous...

What is CHC? I am glad someone else recognized one of these names! I hope I am able to do it justice. :)

Thank you so much! What is SuperThrive? :)

not all ebay plants are bad nor are all the ebay sellers bad (i sell on ebay periodically)....so you didnt do a 'bad' thing...you just happened to pick a bad seller for your first time out....not much good to say about bill asia....but soak the plants in superthrive when they arrive and maybe you will be able to grow em out to blooming size.....pot up in appropriate medium per plant, the catt in large chunks and the others in smaller chunks.... i assume you are going to use bark....catts like to be rather firmly packed in thier bark, while the phal likes a little looser medium....put them all in rather small pots....just large enuf to fit the root mass in....
you really took on a challange! gl with your new plants....now, reward yourself by going to hausermanns and buying a nice big blooming plant to keep you encouraged!!

What is SuperThrive? Where can it be purchased? Does Hausermanns have a web site? Which one(s) would you recommend a newbie like me purchase? It made me giggle that you knew who I bought these from. :) Thanks for the info! :)

It is a growth enhancer that contains vitamins and hormones. It is now available at the BBS (big box stores)

Post some photos when you receive your chids.