Types of orchids suitable for beginners?
 

Hello,
I'm excited to have found what seems to be a friendly community to start my journey into orchid-dom! As a short background, I will say that I've always wanted to be a crazy plant lady and have made great progress in the last several years with that. My house is a jungle and friends are constantly giving me their houseplants, both healthy and dying, so I've been learning a lot about many different kinds of plants.

Recently, I've learned how to not kill orchids and bonsai and could not be happier! I assumed these things were for more advanced plant people, because I have killed my fair share in the past. Maybe I have finally ascended? Who knows. What I do know is that I feel confident enough to start what will hopefully become an enduring collection of orchids but I find myself at a loss as to where to begin. The woman who helped me begin with other houseplants taught me a lot about paying attention to my specific growing environment and watering habits and helped me choose plants to start with from there. I suppose I'm not looking for that same advice with the specificity of orchids. So far, I have 5 grocery store Phalaenopsis and one Patricia McCully 'Pacific Matriarch' and would like to add to my collection responsibly with some more exotics. Looking around at available orchids to buy is overwhelming and I find myself ooohing and ahhhing at orchids I may very well kill. Right now I am obsessed with Draculas. Are there any dracs that could be recommended to a beginner with orchids, intermediate to general houseplants?

I'm in Western North Carolina, in the mountains. Asheville, specifically. I have my current orchids in a western wall of windows that gets good, bright, indirect light due to lots of trees outside. My current orchids have all put on new leaves this summer and are starting some (pardon my ignorance of proper terminology) flower stems, so I think they like it there. RH is low right now because it's winter (30-40%). Temps are usually around 65, with a low of 58 and a high around 70 right now. Summer conditions will be significantly higher in terms of RH (probably over 60%) and high temps in the house could be as high as 80 (maybe even more). I water them weekly with dechlorinated water and give them a weak fertilizer solution three out of four weeks that I got from repotme.com

Wondering mostly what families would be suitable to dive into for my conditions and level of experience. Like
I said, I do oogle the Draculas, but I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks so much in advance for any advice!

Draculas are tricky- I don't grow them but they are reputed for needing colder temperatures and high, high humidity. On the other hand- these genera of orchids are easier-

Laelia
Cattleya
Cymbidium
Oncidium
Epidendrum
Certain Dendrobiums such as Dend. Kingianum or Dend. Berry Oda- they are joked about as being impossible to kill

My first orchid was a dendrobium hybrid from a big box store; it was 50% off because it was no longer blooming. I figured if they couldn't kill it, I'd probably be able to grow it! I still have it, and another one I got under the same circumstances the following year. I divided them last summer and they are doing well. Other than those I have mostly no ID Phals, which also do well for me for the most part.

Also- check this out; it takes place in Asheville in
April.

2016 Asheville Orchid Festival - WNC Orchid Society

Welcome! We are all crazy plant people here.

Read through the forums on this site. There is a huge amount of information posted by great growers. Orchids come from a wide range of climates, and you can read about them here.

When you've learned more about some of them you'll be in a better position to decide. Cattleyas and relatives should grow easily for you. Also intermediate to warm Oncidiums and many Dendrobiums.

Read about Draculas and their relatives a lot before trying them.

Also, if you want to get a little more exotic, Neofinetia falcata is attractive when not in bloom, compact, and the flowers smell wonderful. And they are also quite forgiving. I agree, Draculas aren't going to be happy with the high temperatures in summer. There are a few warm-growing Masedevallias, but most of them are also not happy with the summer heat.

Welcome! Yes,Dracs can be tricky and I've tried one myself...don't ask.But I've had luck with Masdevallias that are the more intermediate growers as well as Restrepias.Small enuf in size and area requirements but very satisfying.RH can be increased with humidity trays or saucers filled with pebbles and water.Good luck and read,read,read!

This may be contrary to what others may recommend, but I would advise learning to grow the orchids you already have, grow them well and learn to re- bloom them, before branching out to the more exotic types. To me there is no faster way to extinguish interest in orchids than to buy a load of exotic hard-to-grow types before learning "orchid basics" with easier plants first.

Thank you. I've been reading, but it's a lot to take in as a beginner. Really glad to have the opinions of experts and other seasoned people to steer me in the right direction! I've read up a lot on the Draculas, and think I might be able to grow them in an Eastern facing room that has A/C (lots of us here in WNC have none, but my studio has a window unit) with a humidity tray. I'm willing to put in the work, as the overwhelming amount of plants in the rest of my house can attest, but I hope I'm not just some overzealous noob. I might go for a cheaper Drac, as I've seen some in the $10-$20 range, and I feel comfortable setting that amount of money on fire for learning. Will certainly look into the other recommended families as well though! Thank you everyone for the fast and friendly replies!

---------- Post added at 11:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 PM ----------

Solid advice, thank you. I have had my current bunch for a little over a year, no problems. One of them came to me with holes in the two sad leaves it did have, half the roots rotten, hadn't bloomed in years, and it's now got new everything! I did my research on fertilizers and potting mediums, roots and growth cycles, etc. Was waiting to see bloom spikes before deciding I really could do this, and I did so here I am. I'm in no danger of buying loads of new orchids, just one or two at a time for me. ;)

Remember, too, that Dracula flowers often like to pop out the side or bottom of the plant. So it is vital that these be grown in a hanging basket so that the flowers can come out wherever they want. (This is often not obvious from photos, but to get those "head on" shots, the photographer is either under the plant or tips it on its side)