New member

[silieputty]

New member here. I have been more seriously growing orchids the past 2-3 years. I have lost track of the number of orchids I have, but I think around 60-70. I do not have a greenhouse.

I am in Eastern Shore Maryland (USA). I have a handful of Paphs, 1 Phrag, and 1 Mexipedium. I just attended the Paph Forum and enjoyed it. I brought my 1 blooming mini Phrag and it didn't win anything, but I'm not surprised. It's the first time I ever entered an orchid into any type of show, so it was exciting.

I'm mainly a Vanda person but enjoy a few other genera also. Cattleyas don't like me/I don't like them? (Any I have repotted are acting like they are dying, get all dehydrated and calcium deficient - I just put one in a basket and treating like a Vanda, so far so good...).

At the Paph Forum I bought a Paph. rothschildianum and a Paph. Lady Isobel. I am excited to try and grow these. Looking for the best light conditions in my house at the moment. I have 1 West facing window where most of my potted orchids live (on a 2-tier iron plant shelf) and I have LED lights there - but only for the top tier (I am sure it doesn't make it down to the bottom tier much). My Vandas and mounted orchids are inside for the winter (October through May too cold outside) - they hang in windows in the sunroom (south and southeast near floor to ceiling windows).

 

[big923cattleya]

Well first off, welcome to the site! Always great to meet new people.
I grow slippers, Cattleyas and several miscellaneous plants. Out of all that you talked about, the Cattleyas can be the most finicky plants to grow. Why? The timing of a repotting must be precise. You pick the right time, they grow beautifully. The wrong time and they suffer. Learning to correct the repotting issue can be the difference between life and the trash can!
Regardless, glad you are here!!!

 

[mrhappyrotter]

What's the hybrid name of the mini-Phrag? Are you looking to expand more into the slipper alliance?

I've been a Vanda-alliance fan since early in my orchid hobby addiction, but I've never grown many. What types do you grow? The few Vandas I have in my collection are "small" and formerly weren't even considered Vandas, like Vanda falcata and Vanda vietnamica. I've also got a Vanda coerulescens, though.

I don't really have the space or conditions for it, but one day I would love to grow and bloom a Vanda Mimi Palmer. I'm a big fragrance fanatic, and although there are numerous fragrant slipper orchids, I turn to other genera to fulfill my fragrance needs and the Vandas have a lot to offer there. From what I've heard, Mimi Palmer is one of the best of the best.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Nice to meet you and welcome to the club.

 

[silieputty]

The mini Phrag is Phrag Panther Run. I bought it from Woodstream Orchids in 2023 and this is its first bloom. I have re-potted once since initial purchase.
I have a Paph. victoria-reginae (aka chamberlanium?) that has put on 1 new leaf per year for the past 2 years. No blooms yet - also from Woodstream (that one I bought in 2022). I have 2 Maudiae-type hybrids (1 vinicolor and 1 green). And now the 2 new Paphs.

Vandas: I have mainly hybrids. My consistent bloomers so far: V. Pachara Delight and V. Thailand x tessellata x Mimi Palmer (yes very fragrant!). I have also had others bloom: V. Pine Rivers x denisoniana most recently, and just before that Rhynchostylis gigantea (orange), Vanda Midnight Indigo, V. Somsri Blue Classic x Chulee Classic, V. Loke, V. Rapeepath Yellow Lip. I have a Trichoglottis brachiata (atropurpurea) which also bloomed recently. Several are fairly new imports and putting on new root growth, so no blooms yet. I do have a Vanda falcata and a Vanda Lou Sneary. A couple of Aerides (houllitiana 4n, not bloomed yet - and Aerides cootii x V. flabellata). Etc.


Nice to meet everyone also. Thank you for being so welcoming.

 

[Ray]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Tom-DE]

Welcome!

 

[Walter Meshaka]

The mini Phrag is Phrag Panther Run. I bought it from Woodstream Orchids in 2023 and this is its first bloom. I have re-potted once since initial purchase.
I have a Paph. victoria-reginae (aka chamberlanium?) that has put on 1 new leaf per year for the past 2 years. No blooms yet - also from Woodstream (that one I bought in 2022). I have 2 Maudiae-type hybrids (1 vinicolor and 1 green). And now the 2 new Paphs.

Vandas: I have mainly hybrids. My consistent bloomers so far: V. Pachara Delight and V. Thailand x tessellata x Mimi Palmer (yes very fragrant!). I have also had others bloom: V. Pine Rivers x denisoniana most recently, and just before that Rhynchostylis gigantea (orange), Vanda Midnight Indigo, V. Somsri Blue Classic x Chulee Classic, V. Loke, V. Rapeepath Yellow Lip. I have a Trichoglottis brachiata (atropurpurea) which also bloomed recently. Several are fairly new imports and putting on new root growth, so no blooms yet. I do have a Vanda falcata and a Vanda Lou Sneary. A couple of Aerides (houllitiana 4n, not bloomed yet - and Aerides cootii x V. flabellata). Etc.


Nice to meet everyone also. Thank you for being so welcoming.

Welcome! Majority vandas, too, hybrids and spp., both. I keep some other groups as well. Have been expanding paphs and a few phrags in semi-hydro with geolite using a light cart. Very helpful site.

 

[Linus_Cello]

Welcome! Did you join NCOS also, the host society for the Paph Forum? If so, you should talk with Pete Ma, who grows a lot of Vandas (in addition to phrag Kovachii).

See:
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads...r-basement-grow-room.50108/page-2#post-772331

 

[Morja]

Glad you're here! Welcome from Idaho. I'm looking into some small type vandas, but I need to figure out my low humidity first. Do you keep all of yours in baskets?

 

[orchidlife]

Wecome from SoCal!

 

[Roots]

Welcome from Wa state. My sister lives in Fl and when I go visit I fall in love with the spectacular, but enormous! vandas. Haven't been able to envision raising one inside in the cold dark PNW. Will look forward to seeing some of yours in bloom.

 

[BrucherT]

New member here. I have been more seriously growing orchids the past 2-3 years. I have lost track of the number of orchids I have, but I think around 60-70. I do not have a greenhouse.

I am in Eastern Shore Maryland (USA). I have a handful of Paphs, 1 Phrag, and 1 Mexipedium. I just attended the Paph Forum and enjoyed it. I brought my 1 blooming mini Phrag and it didn't win anything, but I'm not surprised. It's the first time I ever entered an orchid into any type of show, so it was exciting.

I'm mainly a Vanda person but enjoy a few other genera also. Cattleyas don't like me/I don't like them? (Any I have repotted are acting like they are dying, get all dehydrated and calcium deficient - I just put one in a basket and treating like a Vanda, so far so good...).

At the Paph Forum I bought a Paph. rothschildianum and a Paph. Lady Isobel. I am excited to try and grow these. Looking for the best light conditions in my house at the moment. I have 1 West facing window where most of my potted orchids live (on a 2-tier iron plant shelf) and I have LED lights there - but only for the top tier (I am sure it doesn't make it down to the bottom tier much). My Vandas and mounted orchids are inside for the winter (October through May too cold outside) - they hang in windows in the sunroom (south and southeast near floor to ceiling windows).

View attachment 52681

Welcome from Chicago! I’m a window grower too. I grow my P. rothschildianum as close as I can to my west window; I grew it successfully in a south window for a long time but that’s one exposure u no longer have. Younger roth leaves can be nicely green but to bloom then you want high light such that it doesn’t burn the leaves but does turn them a chartreuse yellow-green that would look “sick” were it another species.

Cattleya indoors is a whole is a difficult proposition. I’m doing a few for some years and have bloomed Cattleya (Sophronitis) coccinea a few times. Also. C. walkeriana which, along with C. nobile, are thought to be more windowsillable. Cattleya are some that benefit from rest periods and also repotting only when necessary and only at the right time (generally when new roots start). I summer mine outdoors. I am 100% sure they would benefit from supplemental indoor light but I’m just not ready to go there yet. I’m committed to my windows. I also grow C. trainae and C. lueddemmania with nice lush plants, from young seedlings, but no blooms yet. These summer outdoors too.

A lot of people have success with Cattleya in LECA semiwater culture and you might want to look into that based in your basket experience. Ray Barkalow is a major force in SlipperTalk and he has many comments advocating LECA culture. I find that it works well for slippers, Cymbidium and Phalaenopsis; I have a couple plants of each of these in LECA but I still prefer bark for most of my stuff.

 

[Kaleighh]

Welcome from NC! I’m a newish orchid grower, just over a year. There’s a lot of good info here, and not just on slippers. I have 5 slippers, 4 paphs, 1 phrag. I’m quite enthralled with phrags but I’m waiting to find out if this one likes me before getting more. I have more phals than anything, (love the novelties); also some cattleya and oncidium alliance plants. Only vanda is a Lou sneary cross, so small. Don’t really have enough light or room, for standard vandas, but I think they are beautiful! Good luck with the new babies!

 

[BrucherT]

Welcome from Wa state. My sister lives in Fl and when I go visit I fall in love with the spectacular, but enormous! vandas. Haven't been able to envision raising one inside in the cold dark PNW. Will look forward to seeing some of yours in bloom.

I am a windowsill grower in Chicago. I struggled with Vanda for years until I discovered The Orchid Whisperer on YouTube. You have to watch a lot of her vids to catch on and adapt her ways to fit your conditions but basically she grows beautiful Vanda bare-root on clear tall glass vases (height adjusted for roots; during the adaptation period, you will lose roots that were adapted to other conditions). You mist ghe roots thoroughly, daily, in the morning, with very pure water. Some water sits in the bottom of the vase with roots touching it; she calls this “home water.” The OW then does soaks every 5 days or so for 20 minutes with weak fertilizer, then pours it out. I no longer do this; instead, once a week I mist the roots down with the pure RO or distilled water, let it absorb, then mist with the weak fertilizer solution (1/8 tsp/gallon K-Lite). I find this regimen grows beautiful roots that don’t burn.

I have raised Vanda coerulea from deflasked seedlings as well as going on two years with V. sanderiana and some years with Vanda (Neofinetia) falcata growing and blooming this way. I adapted a huge purple hybrid to this method successfully but I gave it away, as I don’t really like hybrid plants. One of my V. coerulea bloomed 3 times in calendar year 2024.

My point in sharing this info is to say you can absolutely grow beautiful Vanda plants in your home.

 

[Duck Slipper]

Welcome, from Kentucky!