Orchid Care Tips Blog

We’ve just posted 10 new Orchid FAQ - Frequently Asked Orchid Care Questions we’ve been collecting, to the Orchid Tips Website. If you have Orchid questions yourself, please feel free to ask them on our Orchid care discussion boards, and when we have enough good new questions saved up from new posts started, we’ll post a Page 2 of Frequently Asked Orchid Care Questions.

Enjoy!

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These are my three favorite Orchid books for the beginner through advanced Orchid grower.

Late one evening this coming week I’ll post my favorite books for just the beginner Orchid grower, as well as my favorites for the only advanced Orchid growers. The three books below are excellent Orchid care resources that you’ll want to keep on your bookshelf for years for Orchid care reference.

Enjoy! - L.T.
8/23/06 11:10 PM

1. This is a wonderful book. This has always been one of my favorites as it is very rich in content: Taylor’s Guide to Orchids: More Than 300 Orchids, Photographed and Described, for Beginning to Expert Gardeners. If you click this link to Amazon.com, you can look inside this book and buy at a discount at this link.
2. Flora’s Orchids is a beautiful hardcover book. Great Orchid care information and more. Click here to take a look at this book on Amazon!
3. Understanding Orchids: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World’s Most Exotic Plants is a great book, well designed with a lot of photography. It is filled with Orchid care information as well as Orchid varieties. Click here to check out this book on Amazon - they give free super saver shipping and excellent discount book price. =)

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As an Orchid expert, these are the top 7 kinds of Phalaenopsis Orchids I recommend to choose and grow. There are many kinds of Phalaenopsis Orchids, and I have chosen an execellent representation below to show the cross section of the categories of Phalaenopsis Orchids. I do love all kinds of Phalaenopsis Orchids as they are easy to care for, beautiful, and flowers are long lasting. Included below are some great premium Phalaenopsis Orchids that will perform well, as well as some of my favorite novelty Phalaenopsis Orchids.

Enjoy! - L.T.
8/22/06 9:18 PM

1. Mini Green PhalaenopsisThis is a mini green Phalaenopsis Orchid. Although this plant won’t bloom longer than other types of Phalaenopsis Orchids, it is mainly sought after for being more compact. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
2. Premium Standard Purple PhalaenopsisThis is a standard, premium purple Phalaenopsis Orchid in a 5″ pot. This is the most common standard pot size. This Phalaenopsis will perform and have good plant strength. Click to read about this purple Phalaenopsis on Amazon.com.
3. Compact Novelty PhalaenopsisThis is a novelty Phalaenopsis Orchid. Novelty Phalaenopsis Orchids are my favorite as I love the waxy, thick texture many of these have, their compact nature, long time flowering, and most importantly, variety in colors, patterns, and flower shapes. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
4. Award Winner Novelty Phalaenopsis with Blended Flower ColorThis is another novelty Phalaenopsis Orchid, but with taller arching spray of flowers and blended flowers. This plant is an award winner and therefore you know the flower shape pleases us Orchid judges with perfect symmetry and other features. Flowers are also well spaced. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
5. Premium Standard White PhalaenopsisThis is a wonderful perfect premium white standard Phalaenopsis Orchid. This is a large plant which is very strong and should flower for a nice long time. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
6. Award Winner Yellow Novelty Phalaenopsis with Clear ColorThis is an award winner yellow novelty Phalaenopsis with white lip. Phalaenopsis Orchids this clear are often very sought after and hard to find. This plant has wonderful shape and clarity of color. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
7. White and Pink Blended Premium Standard Phalaenopsis Award WinnerThis is an award winner pink and white blended Phalaenopsis. This plant has very nice color and is a great plant. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.

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This is the story of what it took for me to get into Orchid care at Rod McLellan Company, the world Orchid expert at the time.

More than 10 years ago I had moved out to the San Francisco Bay Area with quite a bit of plant experience growing Daylilies during the summers. I’d grown them for many years, hybridized, named varieties, and more.

I was green and just out of college. After seeing an ad in the Sunday paper for Rod McLellan Company “Acres of Orchids”, I was overwhelmed with what they wanted. The ad was very long, with a huge list of qualifications amounting to them wanting to hire one of the best experts out there in Orchids, puiblic speaking, training, etc.

I realized it was such a huge job description that there probably weren’t many people who would apply with qualifications, so I applied. I went in for my interview with some Orchid experience, but mostly the interest, other plant experience, and dedication in doing whatever it took to become one of the best Orchid experts out there. I think they saw the aptitude, hope, and energy I was willing to devote, and I got the job.

Years there were spent as pretty much an intensive training all the time. I immersed myself in Orchids and eventually was an Orchid expert within the first year. The first months they started me out with supervision as I oversaw greenhouses and staff.

The first year I knew about Orchid care

• read about 15 full Orchid books
• trained with the best Rod McLellan Company Orchid hybridizers
• trained with the Orchid store staff
• traveled and learned from other Orchid Growers and hybridizers
• did a ton of learning in Orchid greenhouses
• gave some Orchid care talks

The second year I was getting to be an Orchid care expert and

• became a company hybridizer
• oversaw staff and the “Spa For Orchids” fully, where we cared for every kind of sick Orchid that came in to be boarded
• trained staff on Orchid care
• was an Orchid expert
• created Orchid displays for Pacific Orchid Exposition
• selected plants to save from sales greenhouses
• did Orchid photography
• started on my path to become an Orchid judge
• did layouts in Orchids Magazine, etc.
• gave talks to public
• oversaw breeding stock plants
• met with newspapers, was interviewed and written about in newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle
• did planning
• job title evolved
• and much more

My third year on I was Orchid expert

• meeting with people from all over the world about Orchids
• the main company hybridizer
• company photographer for new Orchids
• staff trainer
• Orchid judge
• in charge of breeding stock plants
• giving talks to garden clubs, garden centers, newspapers, Orchid Societies, many big events
• branding person - did much traveling and meeting with other Orchid nurseries
• did R&D - some favorite trips to find new Orchids were Maine, Hawaii, Chicago (some great growers here), Los Angeles ( LA has amazing hybridizers), etc
• creating displays for Orchids, selecting the Orchids
• designing layouts
• wrote full feature article with company president and VP providing input, on Colmanara Wildcat, one of the most famous Orchids bred by the Rod McLellan Company
• job title evolved
• and much more

I feel very lucky to have been given the opportunity by Rod McLellan Company to learn so much about Orchids. When I left just before the company was bought, I knew I had been given something very special. I had taken a ton of knowledge and experience from over the years there, and had learned to simplify what could be very complicated. Yes, Orchid care can be difficult, and we all know that, but it was my goal to learn all that I could, to be able to simplify Orchid care. This took a lot of careful thought, and making sure people first feel comfortable they can care for Orchids, with the tools they need to do it right. I truly feel that if people are given the right information and help in choosing the right kind of Orchid for them, Orchid care can be easy. That is the purpose of the Orchid Care Tips Website I created after I left Rod McLellan Company, to make Orchid care easy for anyone.

The most important thing I have learned about Orchids is this: you can grow beautiful Orchids but as there are many kinds that have various preferences, you need to choose the right Orchid for your care habits and environment.

I hope you enjoyed this story, and thanks for taking the time to read.

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There are 10 main differences between species Orchids and Hybrid Orchids.

1. Because species Orchids come straight from nature and are propagated for us to grow, the main difference is some species Orchids are a bit more different looking overall. As there are many hybrid Orchids out there, they are all bred from species Orchids originally. Eventually there are always some hybrids that look similar to each other.
2. In general, hybrod Orchids are more prolific. In general.
3. Species Orchids have longer names overall. Example: Bulbophyllum globuliforme
4. Hybrid Orchids in general are easier to care for. This is because they have various parents in their background with various tolerances.
5. Species Orchids thrive more on neglect. They are often used to being from strange environments where they may be deprived of planting material, nutrients, light, or shade… and have to manage to survive.
6. Species Orchid Orchids are the Original plant, no parentage can be traced.
7. Hybrid Orchids have family tree able to be traced all the way back to the species they were bred from.
8. The smallest and largest Orchids are species Orchids.
9. There are more “pot plants” that are species Orchids.
10. Hybrid Orchids are cheaper in general due to propagation being by meristem and seed.

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1. You have bright light
2. You’ve never grown a Dendrobium Orchid
3. You sometimes forget to water your Orchids (Dendrobiums like this)
4. You have some room to spare, as these Orchids are sometimes taller than others
5. You have bought and grow Vanda or Cattleya Orchids well (similar care)

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1. You have less than half a day of sunlight, and it is indirect
2. You’d like to buy a compact Orchid
3. You like a long blooming Orchid
4. You like an easy to care for Orchid
5. You have other kinds of Orchids and no Phalaenopsis Orchids

See the Top 7 Phalaenopsis Orchids To Grow and Buy - From an Orchid Expert

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Dendrobium Orchids are some of the easiest Orchids to care for. They love warmer weather, drying out between waterings for a day or so, and come in many colors. Dendrobiums come in yellow, green, pink, white, purple, red, and mixes of these colors.

When caring for Dendrobium Orchids, don’t pamper them. Put them near a window where they’ll get a half day of sunlight, and don’t let the leaves heat up too much without having some good air flow to make sure your Orchids don’t get sunburn.

Please use a humidity tray. Dendrobium Orchids will bloom for 2-3 months and won’t rebloom on the same flower spike like Phalaenopsis Orchids. A healthy Dendrobium Orchid will bloom again in 6 months to a year depending on how prolific the variety is.

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