Wish we had a beginner's thread for orchids.

I am just loving orchids and learning, but this forum is beyond me and all my DG friends who have started on orchids. Would it be rude to keep a beginner's thead going for us? I am just now learning the difference between a phal and a dendrobium, etc...........having great luck and have a good one blooming just not very much knowledge.

This one blooming right now I don't even know what kind she is. Actually this is an old picture from her blooming about 6 months ago. She has more blooms now but my house is boarded up for the hurricane and I can't walk around to the porch to take a pic at night..............ooooooooh rattlesnakes........will take one tomorrow.........

RAinGazer.........you are new and have some new pictures, I know.

I think a beginner's thread is a great idea. That is a beauty-it's in the cattleya family (Cattleya, Lc., Slc., Blc., Pot. are some names in the Cattleya alliance). If I were a beginner I'd start by reading the stickies.

Gessie, you just did. :-)
I just fixed the top link of the stickies/helper links which pointed to the AOS basic Orchid pages.

http://www.aos.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Orchid_Information&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=4938

Hope that helps already a bit.

I never even thought about reading the stickys.............thanks again.............this forum is very friendly..........

Hi Gail;
good to see you here also, i jst got a mini phal.the stickies are really a big help. now i am just looking to get more mini streps. i bought my last one from ebay, but i see hausermans has minis too.
bonnie

I don't have any mini orchids. I am looking for mini streps, too. It seems all the hybridizers are working on making more small streps. I don't know anyone on ebay who carries mini streps, but RainGazer loves the mini orchids and has a lot of them. I think she buys them from someone on ebay.

i will have to ask her where she gets them, i love my little one.Gail i do have the mini strep fernwoods minuitte & siloutte & just got a new one called cape baby, if you like i can send leaves?
bonnie

Oh mo gosh!!!! I have the first two but I am dying for Cape BAby............please send me a leaf.............I won't forget that you did that!!!!
gail

A beginners thread is a great idea. I'm away from my orchids for most of the summer, but look forward to getting back to things and following your posts. There are lots of very knowledgeable growers here but, this forum is small compared to some, so hang in there with it. I am very pro beginner and delighted with your enthusiasm.
Laurel

Nancy is sending me the leaves, Bonnie!..thanks anyway

Hi there everyone,
I too am a beginner with my first orchid and I don't completely even understand the name had someone not told me what it means, it's a Stima. 'Kelly Lea" orchid and it has grown so many new bright green leaves since I got it (from a friend who didn't want it after it finished blooming...can you imagine not wanting an orchid!) and I don't know exactly how it reproduces itself since I can only find one that fits the hefty I.D. of Brassovola Nodosa x Cattlyea x Broughtonia. I saw a picture of it and it is amazing! It sure is a mini-orchid with almost spidery spotted flowers...very gorgeous. I also don't know when to repot vs. whether to let it be, though its roots are starting to grow through the holes in the bottom and through the top of the pot. Eek! If someone who knows about this type of orchid or knows anyone who would, I'd be so thankful!! Thanks very much. I too wish for a DG beginner Orchid thread. Whom should we appeal to? LOL

Peace,
Thor

Thor,
welcome! Roots growing out of the pot is a good thing! If you might be able to post a picture, perhaps we could tell if it needs repotting or not?

If I may address the wish for a beginner Orchid thread? Would it please be possible to explain what you beginners want to see in a beginners thread: Do you want to draw on everyone's experience, or do you only want beginners to answer?
If the latter is so, we simply bow out in trying to answer questions (which we usually do as good as we can) and leave it to you to discuss.
I am a bit at a loss here! It would be nice to have some clarity here, so how about diving right in and state what you would like to see.
Oh and btw - ANYBODY can start a thread here! :-) It is only if you want a new forum that you have to ask Dave.

Oh no, I don't want a forum. I just get embarrassed to ask stupid questions. If you can put up with us, I will continue to ask beginner's questions. I want you knowledgeable people to answer my questions. A thread was all I was talking aboutl
gessiegail
PS My orchid are doing great.....I now know how to pot them in clay orchid pots and they are loving their new homes with orchid bark and a little peat moss. One is getting ready to bloom the second time. Life is good! Thanks for answering RUK.

Reading back over this, I did ask for a forum but that is not what I meant......just a beginner's thread so we don't have to interrupt those gorgeous pictures you all post. I will get there some day. (LOL)

Hi All Beginners. It would be great if one of you would step forward and create a thread that says something like "Beginner's Thread", or "Questions From Beginners" and then post a question. I'm a beginner in growing many types of orchids though I've been growing orchids for over thirty years. So, this could be a place I could post my questions too. We are all beginners with one orchid or another. Don't be shy. This is not that "other" forum. Take into account that this forum is not as large as some and you might not always get an answer. Don't take it personally because we might just not know everything.
Laurel

We all have different experiences, and having discussions helps each and every one of us. I've only been collecting/growing for about 10 years, but consider myself a beginner. What works for me may or may not work for someone else, but the information passed along through this forum is great. I have a huge number of books which is a wonderful resource. Your local book store and library can be helpful as well. You should also see if there is a local orchid society near you where you can interact with others to help with problems, questions and advice. Most will often have shows and sales where you can pick up new plants and supplies. - Lynn

I will be happy to answer any simple questions for a beginner with orchids, but it is dangerous to make too great an offer with a lot of gardeners! It can be an all day job. I would like to caution some beginners on the American Orchid Society (AOS) and its simple one-page instructions. They can be very helpful but at times a bit too complicated for someone who is not accustomed to reading even semi-technical information.

The orchid plant below is Cattleya Hawaiian Wedding Song. This is one of about a dozen plants I have in a greenhouse. In Hawaii a greenhouse does not mean a glass covered structure. We do not need heat here, except if controlled conditions must be exact or certain species. Global warming has played havoc with some orchids, including the Cattleya Hawaiian Wedding Song. I am not a professional grower, but a very experienced amateur. That orchid was developed for the June wedding season. I have had at least one plant blooming each month since June. It is now November.

This message was edited Nov 3, 2008 6:30 PM

I'm glad you started this beginner thread. I've had a few for a couple years but now that I am in FL, I want to start collecting orchids again since some kinds can be outdoors most of the year.
Since there are so many varieties with different temperments, it always seems so overwhelming to dive right in. I have checked out a few diff. orchid books from the library so I could enlighten myself further lol.

~Lenette

Lenette,
Maybe you could start a thread for FL growers' advice!!

I am too dumb to even be afraid............I have about 30 now and they just keep blooming so I don't worry. One of these days I will order some real outstanding ones, but for now I just grow in the heat of south Texas phals, dendrobiums and Vandas.

Wow, Gail. Your house must be full of plants!

Sarah

Inside I just grow gessies so I can worry about the same 'pests'...................every room in the house has a gro light stand and my office has 4 stands. (LOL)

The orchids live outside on the screened in porch but the wind blew one big one down and broke the pot today..........I wish I knew how to divide her as she is the giant one that blooms that lime green and white color.

I bought 2 new ochids today. They say oncidium mini-orchid. They say indirect light. These things are in tiny clay pots with straight charcoal. I thought they needed a bark mix? Anyone grow these things and how big is considered mini ?

I have a large victorian bird cage hanging in the screened-in patio . It gets indirect light. I put lots of grapewood in there and eventually want some small orchids to mount in there.

I should wait until the pros come around but a friend told me that she bought an oncidium mini-orchid and they needed a terrarium to grow right???????????????

I have some Oncidium "Twinkle" (both the red and the white), and they grow nicely in small clay pots right along with the rest of my orchids. They seem to like to be root bound, and because of this and their small pots, they get watered/misted more often. I have one in spike right now.

Angel, years ago those small Carribean orchids were called mini-Oncidiums. Some years after I started growing orchids they were known as "equatants". They are now mostly called Tolumnias. The terms are used interchangeably. Bright indirect light will work where you are (mine need more). I pot mine sitting on the medium, rather than in it, and use a two inch pot. I have used cut up twigs (as in dried clippings from a ficus tree), charcoal or a couple of hydroton pellets as media. They get lightly sprayed, every day or two and dry off quickly. They do best with a quick wash and dry rather than a drench that lasts a week, like Phals..

I have several orchids grown in straight charcoal. Encyclias and Oncidiums specifically. They grow and bloom well. However, because charcoal acts as a filter, I switch orchids out after one year because charcoal will be accumulating fertilizer salts over the year. My understanding is that it does not flush out like other potting media.
Laurel

I am learning a lot.................thank you!

Wow thank you so much for all that great info and speedy response. There are so many diff names for orchids I am having a hard time keeping them all straight LOL!
I imagine you learn and retain more info as you collect and physically care for them :) Thanks this is fun!!

:). Just understand that this is my personal experience and knowledge. There are many very knowledgeable people here who might do things completely differently. The internet, local growers, the library and your local orchid society are all great sources of information from "real" experts.
Laurel

Listen............everyone knows more than I do about orchids..........I spend my time on gesneriads and never get around to studying orchids...........I am very appreciative of your time and effort.

I will add that I grow my Oncs. in a 50/50 mix of long fibered sphag moss and perlite. Good aeration and moisture retention but not too much moisture retention. They seem to love it.