Keeping track of them all

[Ridley Ann]

How do you guys keep track of all your orchids? I’ve heard of the orchid sense app but it wasn’t for me. Any suggestions other than just a written out list?

[Roberta]

The first thing to do (easier while your collection is still small) is a unique identifier for each plant... write it on the tag. Right now you probably don't have more than one of a name, but in time you will, so name isn't a good "unique" identifier. I assign a sequential number to each plant as I get it. (When I make divisions, each of those gets a new number because it's an individual) THEN you're in a good position to use a variety of tools for the list, you can create your own and then it will fit your needs perfectly. I suggest something that is easy to search, filter, and sort. Excel (or equivalent, there are some good free MS Office substitutes) is a good basic tool. add columns for that ID number, genus, species and name (a separate column for parentage is good for unnamed hybrids rather than putting it in the Name field) then more columns for what you want to track - like where and when you got it, how much it cost. Is it a species? When did you last pot it? When did it last bloom? And anything else that you want to keep information about.

Then if you want to get fancier, you can use a database instead of a spreadsheet so that you can track all of the bloom dates, all of the potting dates, etc (data where there's more than one item for a given plant but you don't have to do this to start - because each plant has a unique ID, it's easy to do the database thing later. Photos can be added too... there are considerations that we can discuss when you have the basic framework working well.

[rbarata]

Maybe not the best opt for a large collection but I document the significant events of all my orchids with photos (new growths, when I bought them, repot, diseases, etc) plus a word file to keep track of the waterings.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by rbarata

Maybe not the best opt for a large collection but I document the significant events of all my orchids with photos (new growths, when I bought them, repot, diseases, etc) plus a word file to keep track of the waterings.

Small collections tend to get larger... Do what works.When you start finding it difficult to search for the information you're looking for, you can change the model, just don't wait until it's out of control. You just want to capture enough information to start with so it isn't a daunting task to go back and revisit every plant. (I started my numbering scheme when my collection was 40 or 50...it took some time to find everything and write the numbers on the tags, but not horrible. The system still works with a collection a bit over 1800.) I save the photo files with those numbers, adding a letter for multiple photos of the same plant (...a, b, c, d etc), which makes it easy for me to find all the photos of a given plant. There are certainly other ways to keep track of the photos, like a separate folder for each plant. Again, that system scales up to a certain point, then you may need to re-think.

[rbarata]

I save the photos inside each plant's folder, but I add for each photo session a brief description of the reason why I took photos together with the date.
My collection is small, may 40 plants so it still works this way.

[SouthPark]

I currently use a spreadsheet ---- MS Excel spreadsheet. I decided to just make one up for storing my orchid names. It could easily be amended to include number of each type grown, etc.

I have an example seen at : CLICK HERE

In general, I go down to the bottom of the spreadsheet to select the genus name to bring up the correct spreadsheet page for that genus. And then I fill in the details in the empty row. Eg. put in C. for Cattleya, then put in the grex name or species name, and the script in other columns will fill in the rest.

In my existing spreadsheet ----- if automatic filling is not done, then that's no problem. The script codes contained in some cells (in some columns) can be copied to cells further below, so it's just a case of copying cells (containing script codes) to other cells whenever needed. An 'add-more-as-we-go' method only.

For cases where somebody might want to account for multiple plants of the same kind ...eg. various pots of the same sort, then it's possible to use a short computer program script that can help generate a unique identification number that can then be manually added to the details for any particular orchid row.

An example of the unique ID generator is included in the extra excel spreadsheet. The method is based on using your own computer's date/time (day, hours, mins, seconds information) to generate a unique ID. So once you click the button, then that ID can be manually assigned to whatever orchid you want to assign it to.

Another option for record keeping is - as mentioned by others - a software database - which uses particular information data structures to automatically keep track of the entries - with automatic ID identifiers and other goodies. That's another option.

Also.... with any software... or data files... making backups is always a good practice.

[Roberta]

If you happen to own Orchidwiz, it includes a database, the Journal, for keeping track of one's own plants. That alone would not be reason to buy it, but if already owned because it's a fantastic data source for orchid hybrids and species, it's a bonus. Alas, this feature is pretty much undocumented, so requires some poking around to figure out.