New to Orchids!

[Falcon]

Hey guys!

Just a quick post to say hello to you all and curse you for getting me interested in Paphs! I moved to Canada from Ireland last October and got myself a Random Phal when I moved into my new apartment for the windowsill. Lo and behold it stopped doing well so I came online to see if I could figure out what was wrong and found this amazing forum along with all of your photos of your plants. The result is that I am now hooked and have gone off and ordered myself 4 Paphs that I thought were particularly stunning ( or will be in a few years when they bloom!) they will be arriving early next week so I will probably have thousands of questions / panic attacks trying to keep them alive so I will apologise in advance

Oh! The Phal survived also (I was drowning the poor thing) so thanks for that tip too!

 

[monocotman]

Greetings Falcon from Cambridge Uk.
Be warned your story is not uncommon!
Once the bug has bitten then there is no going back,
David

 

[NYEric]

Welcome from NYC.

 

[eOrchids]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[MaryPientka]

Hello from Saratoga Springs, New York!

 

[limuhead]

Aloha from Hawaii!

Step #1. Admit you have a problem and you have no power over it.
Step #2. Have fun, that's what it's all about!

 

[Falcon]

Thanks for all the great welcomes guys! I think I am already addicted monocotman! Haha The four Paphs I have arriving are:
Paph. Stonei
Paph. rothschildianum
Paph. St. Swithin (rothschildianum 'Ronnie's Wings' HCC x philippinense)
Paph Asendorfer Gigant (gigantifolium x Michael Koopowitz)

They are all a few seasons from flowering though so I am already looking for some that I can get some blooms from until the big guns are firing



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ruth]

Welcome!

 

[Silvan]

Welcome from Montreal !
You're starting your collection with some very difficult plants for a newbie..
My stonei has been flowering size for the past three years.. lol It's always best to choose your first plants at a show in my opinion. Are your plants from Paramount?
Another thing, isn't like -20C where you live? Winter isn't really the best time to order plants and receive them by post.

A fast multis while you wait for the ones you'll have would be a either a lowii or haynaldianum..IMHO But you kinda have to like them colourful. Under my care,
philippinense is not so bad either. A rothschildianum can be quicker to grow, but it depends on what clone you get. I have one from Crystal Star Orchids and is really doing amazing (imported from Hilo Farms in Hawaii), my other one from Taiwan..well..not so much, but is way bigger for the same price.

 

[SlipperFan]

Welcome to Slippertalk, Falcon!

While you are waiting for your new babies to grow up and bloom, why not reward yourself for your new addiction, er, habit, and go to an orchid show and buy a couple slippers in bloom.

We are great enablers, aren't we?!

 

[17andgrowing]

Welcome from New Jersey.

 

[Migrant13]

Welcome from Boston....will you quite sending us snow!!

 

[Falcon]

Welcome from Montreal !
You're starting your collection with some very difficult plants for a newbie..
My stonei has been flowering size for the past three years.. lol It's always best to choose your first plants at a show in my opinion. Are your plants from Paramount?
Another thing, isn't like -20C where you live? Winter isn't really the best time to order plants and receive them by post.

I saw that they can be tricky for sure. My Dad has a saying though, 'Go hard or go home' so I reckoned I would go for the ones I liked most :-D

They are indeed from Paramount Orchids on Vancouver Island, I had a chat with Chuck there and he gave me great advice to get me started so I am delighted I bought with them. The weather here is very mild at the moment, 8-14 degrees Celsius and The island is only about 60 miles away so they should only be a day or so in the post. They did offer to bring them to the next show for me but I am far too excited to wait till then

I was going to get some at a show but then all the work is done for you so I'll see how I get on with these bad boys first. I know that if I go to a show I'll probably end up spending all my money and trading a kidney though so probably not the best idea! I do have a question though, is there anywhere in Canada that sells MSU? the only places I can see online are US based and shipping is about 4 times the price of the fertiliser.

We are great enablers, aren't we?!

haha yes you certainly are! This forum is awesome but every time someone posts a new photo my immediate reaction is 'I want one' haha.

 

[Falcon]

Welcome from Boston....will you quite sending us snow!!

We haven't had snow in Van all winter! It's warmer here than at home in Ireland :rollhappy:

 

[abax]

Welcome to ST from Kentucky.

 

[NYEric]

Vancouver is an island!?

 

[Falcon]

Vancouver is an island!?

Haha no, Vancouver Island is a huge island off the coast and Vancouver itself is on the mainland. Paramount Orchids are based in Parksville as far as I remember

 

[NYEric]

Oh, OK, thanks. I don't know anything about the West coast of this continent!

 

[Lmpgs]

Welcome from Athens, GR

 

[Falcon]

They have arrived!

The Roth is a bit yellow on some leaves and the others need a little clean but I'm very happy, especially with the little Saint Swithin with 5 leaves and the Asendorfer Gigant with another leaf starting to grow