new grower hoping to expand collection

[grevelyn]

Hi all! I am a new orchid convert looking to pick out a few new plants. I'd love everyone's suggestions for their favorite windowsill friendly orchid.

I have pretty great light- 4 south facing windows that receive dappled-full sun depending on the window.

I am most interested in plants that are:
1) compact/miniature. I've got limited space!
2) either interesting foliage, bloom more than once a year, or sequentially blooming. Again, limited space so I'd prefer maximum visual interest!
3) I really love bunches of small flowers or flowers with unusual shapes.
4) non-fussy/tolerant of a bit of abuse. I'm new to orchids, so I'm sure I'll make some mistakes.

So far I have a Neost. "Baby Angel", Prosthechea cochleata, and a few Paphs. I'd really love to hear what orchids are your favorites!

[WhiteRabbit]

Dendrobium Microchip is a good windowsill plant, and in my experience is not difficult to grow. Mine only blooms annually, but the flowers are quite long lasting (3-4 months). Can get a few spikes per cane, and the canes can bloom more than one year.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Look up mini Cattleyas from Gold Country Orchids and Sunset Valley Orchids. They do well on windowsills, especially in warmer and sunnier parts of the country. Many bloom more than once a year. And many are fragrant.

Also look for smaller reed-stem Epidendrum hybrids. The older hybrids were very tall plants, but they are being bred down for windowsill growing. They have large clusters of very bright flowers at the tops of their stems. They can be in flower much of the year.

[grevelyn]

Thanks for the replies!

Perhaps a stupid question, but are all epidendrums reed-stems or does that term apply to a particular subsection of epidendrums?

[estación seca]

Excellent question!

At one time botanists placed lots and lots of different kinds of plants in genus Epidendrum. Many have since been placed in different genera, like Anacheilum, Encyclia, Euchile, Polybulbon and Prosthechea. Many orchid hobbysits still think of them all as Epidendrums.

The ones with tall, slender reed-like growths, alternate leaves in one plane on the growths, and balls of small flowers at the tops of the stems, were called reed-stemmed Epidendrums in the past. Almost all plants now in genus Epidendrum are "reed-stemmed", but people often include that term because people who haven't kept up with all the name changes know what this means.

[Mountaineer370]

Welcome to the board!

[jkofferdahl]

Welcome to the OB, where you'll be encouraged to spend your every last dollar on new plants!

The humidity here in the Atlanta area is great for orchids. Your South window may be a bit too bright for Paphs, so give them a bit of space from the window. There are some absolutely delightful miniatures which will give you something to look at, are easy to care for, and can tolerate a bit of abuse, though all orchids do need some attention. I'd suggest looking at Neofinetia, Haraella, Phalaenopsis, Aerangis, Gastrochilus, and the delightful Zygostates. I grow all of these here in the Atlanta conditions.

[Paphluvr]

You may want to check out Ascocentrums. Foliage is not of interest but they should meet you specs of compact size, mutiple blooming/year and clusters of small flowers, often on multiple stems.