Good beginner orchid?
 

Hello! I've had two phals for a bit more than a year, and have had a lot of success with them. I do have a third, which was sick when I got it, and other than that haven't had any trouble. I'm looking to get another plant, one that isn't super difficult to look after. Where is a reputable place to get one? I'm looking for something other than a phal. Thanks!

Tiffany

My suggestion would be to get to your nearest orchid club and see what they have. Most like;ly get a couple and all the help you'ld ever need. other than that, I would look into a brassavolalaeliacattleya or BLC. It is a big cattleya. Or one of the superb mini calleyas. Very easy to grow and flower. Dendrobiums are nice too. Epidendrums are cool as are cymbidiums.

It depends on your conditions, how much light you can provide. Mini-catts, many Dens (Den-Phals, most Latouria, as well as others), most Oncidiums and Oncidium alliance intergenerics are good windowsill growers.

Big Catts if you can provide the space and light. Cyms if you can grow outside part of the year at least, and have a nice sunny spot.

I still struggle with Phals myself, after a number of years, so don't feel bad :) Paphs are usually considered good beginner orchids, tho some are harder to grow than others I believe - and myself, again, not my best ones (they grow ok, but have only rebloomed one one time) :p

Hopefully someone in Canada can recommend some vendors for you.

James' suggestion of Orchid Societies is a good one as well!

I don't have a huge collection of orchids compared to many on this forum, and it's also not very diverse. All my plants are NOIDs, and bought without name tags or anything at local nurseries.

I've killed several oncidiums and a couple of phals, but I've never managed to finish off a cymbidium or a maxillaria tenuifolia. And my cattleya is also fairly happy. I've got to admit I'm pretty impressed with their will to survive, and would definitely recommend them to other newbies.

My cymbidiums and epidendrums stay outside for most of the year, and are only moved into frost free areas when we're having cold spells. The cattleya, onc, phals and dens are standing in window sills around in the house, and moved into a small homemade hot house to provide higher humidity during the driest periods of the year.

Orchid societies are great. Other than that I'd look at a good site, pick out a few you like the look of, and research them. I'm not sure there's really such a thing as an easy or hard orchid: it's whether you can provide what they need. When choosing think about whether you'd like to make sure you get flowering/flowering sized: younger ones will often be cheaper, but might be more delicate and take years to flower.

I think Paramount is generally recomended in Cananda?

You might also want to look down the board at the project forum: few nice easy orchids with long informative threads about them there!

Brassavola Digbyana. That's what the tag says.:waving:evil:

Thanks for all the great responses! I will be growing inside, as here in Newfoundland our temperatures generally don't get warm enough to put them out.

Wynn Dee can help you find orchids that will do well in the north country. Phals can take temps down into the 50's and still grow though only slowly. Miltonia hybrids can grow at lower temps too. But most of the time in NFL your house temps can grow very nic ochids. There's someone else here that lives by you.

Cymbidiums can take cooler temperatures.

Certain Dendrobiums can, such as Dendorbium victoria-reginae, Dendrobium garrettii, Dendrobium gregulus, Dendrobium delacourii.

Some Cypripedium spp. can. Cypripedium may be easier for people who live farther up north than people who live in Southern California, for example.

You could try the easier to grow cool growing Masdevallias, like Masdevallia caudata.

If she's growing purely inside then warmer plants might be better. Depends on how she likes her heating! Orchids that need a cool winter are a problem if you live somewhere really cold and don't have a cool greenhouse. I've got some I'm intending to try putting on the windowsill outside the curtain, but there's a risk of them getting cold burns, or not getting cold enough: only time will tell. I'm willing to give it a try, but it's a risk buying plants like that. For most of us Notherners our house temperatures might be a bit cooler than for Califonians. But there's also those who like the heat turned up.

The coolest plants I recommended were the Cyps. Cyps are meant for outdoors growing. They can take the frosts because they go dormant during the winter. Some of them are native to areas close to where Tiffany lives in.

Everything else likes mild temperatures - not too hot, not too cold.

OK, they might work then if you've got suitable outside space for the Cyps.

My point still stand though: ones that like a centrally heated house all year might be a lot simpler to accomodate, depending on how high you like your heating Tiffany!

Cyps for her fourth orchid? Hmmm, maybe you missed that she was looking for an easy orchid to take care of. I'm trying to grow lab propagated Cyp. guttatum (yes, they natively grow around here), but it requires very specialized care. Some plants grow natively doesn't mean that they are easy to grow. And Cyps aren't cheap.

When I started, Oncidium hybrids were the easiest.

I've not had a terribly difficult time with Cyps even down here in the warm climate of Southern California.

My only problem with them was that I couldn't afford a special refrigerator to get them through dormancy. I needed one because Cyps in general don't like temperatures that go above 80 F - 85 F. But some of the ones I've grown have demonstrated that at least during growing season, they can still grow in temperatures that well exceed 80 F - 85 F.

Other than that, they've all sprouted, and at least one species bloomed. The one species that did bloom came from mid-elevation forests. And the one species that bloomed produced more sprouts. But like I said, it's too warm here and I didn't have a special fridge to get them through dormancy. And I couldn't make the whole putting it in the fridge with the food thing work because I got caught, and got complaints. Otherwise, I'd still have them all.

Cyp reginae is relatively inexpensive and grows around the Newfoundland area. That could be a good first try.

Cyp japonicum is a good one to start with too.

There's nothing wrong with growing some of the Chinese Cyps. Cypripedium macranthum and Cyp franchetii shouldn't really be all that difficult for someone in Newfoundland either. These guys like well drained soil with lots of calcium and they like it cool, that's really it.

Cyp calceolus, or Cyp parviflora would work too.

I didn't specifically recommend Cyp guttatum. Cyp guttatum has been known to come from the cold mountain forests of Alaska. Not many people succeed with this species. If you're having trouble with this species and it naturally comes from your area, maybe it needs calcium. Many of the Cyps I've read about, and some of the ones I've grown seem to have a pattern of growing in areas that have lots of calcium in the soil, because they grow on mountains or hills that are mostly made of calcium or are around areas that have a large source of calcium.

Nor have I recommended growing the acid loving Cyp acaule, specifically. I just mentioned Cyps in general. But when you understand how to grow acid loving plants, you'll eventually get the hang of growing this particular species. Acid growing plants are actually heavy feeders. People get the wrong idea when they hear that the soil they grow in is "nutrient deficient". The acidic soil doesn't retain much organic nutrients. But inorganic nutrients such as calcium and magnesium are very plentiful.

In my experience, you don't really need a whole lot of experience in growing these.

If she doesn't feel comfortable with Cyps as a recommendation, then she can try the easiest terrestrial orchids I can think of - Bletilla striata or Bletilla ochracea.

Thank you for the info, Philip. Maybe this should be a separate thread, but I guess it would be more difficult to grow them in south. My previous try with Cyp. parviflorum (which is supposed to be one of the easier) was that they did grow ok for the first year. But they didn't come back after the winter dormancy. But this time, I have read more about them, so I'm hoping that they will do better. About 50% are surviving so far (mines are not established mature plant, and they are deflasked this year from Spangle Creek Labs). They seem to be easily infected by fungi, though. Cyp. macranthos seems to be more difficult than C. guttatum or C. yatabeanum for me. Maybe I need to add Calcium. You are right; one population of C. guttatum I know is growing in calcium rich area. However, the other population is in the middle of an island in a glacial fed river.

That's too bad your fridge police found them. I'm going to use a small dorm type fridge to put the entire pots. Or I might try ziplock method in our normal fridge.

Just remember, calcium and magnesium have got to balance out, or they start interfering with each other.

If I'm not mistaken, the ratio is calcium:magnesium - 5:2.5.

@ Naoki - I looked at Spangle Creek Labs' availability list just now.

I read the description for their Cyp macranthum. It's no wonder you have a difficult time with them!

Don't find ones that come from Siberia!!! That's absolutely worse than getting a Cyp guttatum!

You need to find yourself ones that come from China. They tolerate warmth better.

Try looking into Holger Perner from Hengduan Mountains Biotechnology Ltd. as a source. He just opened up a lab that deals mostly with Chinese Cymbidiums, Paphiopedilums, and Cypripediums about a couple years ago.

I really encourage people to support his lab if they're interested in Chinese Cypripediums. Ask for an availability list, his website does not have one.

Thanks, Philip.
But remember, I'm located in Fairbanks Alaska, so we are more closer to Siberia than to China. Bill Steele, who is extremely helpful, said that he experiences browning leaf problems with Cyp. macranthum, which could be caused by many things. Maybe I'm overwatering.

I did contact them to get a price list since their web page doesn't contain anything. But I have never got a reply...

Oops! :/

I confused Alaska (AK) for Arkansas (AR).


Maybe try again with the availability list? He has responded to me before.

I guess you can try cutting back on the water. Letting them dry briefly between waterings hasn't killed mine before.

You could also try to see if they are nutrient deficient.

Unfortunately physical signs are kinda fuzzy on the details. The only way to get a fairly accurate understanding of what the problem is, you may have to consult one of those people who do soil sample tests, tissue sample tests, and water sample tests for agriculturists.

Cyps? Try Roberts Flower Supply. Wayne Roberts really knows cyps and sells them. ROBERTS FLOWER SUPPLY

Easy orchids:
Sunny, south window:
neofinitia, Maxillaria tenuifolia (as someone mentioned), Vanda coerulescens, Iwanagara Apple Blossom 'Fantastic', Laelia purpurata var.

Good lighting but not direct light: paph delentalii, Burrageara Nelly Isler 'Swiss Beauty', Onc. Twinkle, zygolum louisendorf. There are also species phals that are really nice and different.

My home temp is set at 17'-18'C during the winter but where we live it is windy and, near the windows, it gets cooler...thus, most of my plants tolerate cooler temps.
Good luck!