wall of orchids

[Roberta]

Consider size at maturity too... Based on prices you have a bunch of seedlings. They're little and cute now. But you have some St. Bernard or Great Dane puppies in there...

[Martin555]

Yes, I can imagine that not all of them will be appropriate for the wall just as you let me know the cyms I got would be too big but that is ok I will find somewhere for them and the wall will probably take a while to perfect, if ever, I chose these mostly because they were not so expensive so any fails would not be so painful and the low price means they would be small which may help them fit the wall, if they flower while they are small that is, anyway I was stressing over which ones to get and the equation for the perfect one's was just getting more elaborate and beyond me, lol, so I just bought some, I am used to making mistake's so I will learn something or other along the way, thanks Roberta.

You have some great danes in there as well,

[ArronOB]

Did you mess up ??? Well, let’s see.

Here’s my take on what you bought

The 4 coelongyne species I’m not sure about. I think they are mostly altitude species so should be ok. Glad you avoided Col. cristata - it’s the best Col. Species but doesn’t like a Sydney hot spell. Likewise Col. usitana looks great but won’t do well. It’s rare to find someone growing Coelongynes here.

The unchained melody will do very well as I mentioned. Don’t give it much fertiliser as it will get leaf tip browning really quickly.

Oncidium sphaculatum, good choice.

Im not familiar with any of the 4 cattleyas together but suspect they will be a bit more difficult. Can you bring these into a nice bright spot inside for winter?

The next two dendrobiums are Australian natives so should be right at home.

The next Dendrobium (snowdrop) appears to be a hybrid of two PNG species. I think both are high altitude species so it probably doesn’t like heat. I’m sure Roberta has grown them and can probably advise.

The next Dendrobium is an Aussie native so should feel at home. Your three natives are derived mostly from D. speciosum which in September you commonly see flowering on local bush walks or your neighbours’ gardens.

The last one (C. purpurata) is a good choice. I have a very large one growing in a tree in our back yard. It needs supplemental watering but otherwise takes care of itself. Snails and grasshoppers get most of the flowers.

So no bad choices at all.

Not to worry if you did make bad choices. We all buy dumb stuff from time to time. Buying emotionally. I bought a Cattleya violacea a while back. Go figure. After I got it home I didn’t even try to keep it alive.

Cheers

[Roberta]

Den Snow Drop is predominently Den moniliforme (a species from Japan and Taiwan) so should be OK. It'. likely deciduous, so watering should be reduced a bit and fertilizer eliminated in winter. (I mostly don't dry my deciduous Dens, the winter chill seems to be adequate to inspire flowers).

Oncidium sphaculatum I haven't had success with - it gests very large, but I think it wants to be warmer than I can provide. Hope it works better for you. It will be some years before it gets big enough to even think of blooming, though... one of those "puppies".

[Martin555]

Thank you so much Roberta.

[Roberta]

Sorry, I looked up the wrong plant... you actually have Den Kingfisher Snowdrop - which is mostly Den. kingianum with other Aussie Dens so should be fine. Den Kingfisher Gold is mostly Den speciosum, so likewise.

[Martin555]

I will for sure learn to understand what you are saying about the hybrid nature of these plants, if that is in fact what you are commenting on, will take me a while.

[Roberta]

On the Den hybrids, they may grow faster than their dominant parent - one of the things that breeders may be seeking, by breeding in faster-growing species. The ancestry of a hybrid gives a lot of clues about what conditions the plant will need. A good source of information about hybrids is Orchidroots . For species, you can learn a lot about where they grow (which also gives a clue about their needs and often hints about their size) at IOSPE

[Martin555]

Just some photos of windows and props I will be using to display my orchids.

[Roberta]

Don't overreact to the leaftip browning of the Cym...some are just more sensitive to salt building that others. The time release fertilizer shouldn't be a problem. What might help is, when you water, WATER ... so it runs through the pot. Flush it well. That not only flushes out crud, it also pulls air into the root zone. Unlike the more epiphytic orchids, Cyms do like to stay damp. Don't skimp on the water.