Orchid Wiz...worth it?

[fishmommy]

What are your experiences using Orchid Wiz software?
Thanks for your input, whatever it may be

[Leafmite]

It likely depends on how obsessed you are. I will never buy this as I just don't care enough beyond culture and, appearance, and blooms. But if you find yourself wondering about the breeding of your orchids, wish to learn more details of culture, want to know all the awards, are thinking of judging, keeping records, etc, this might be a good option.

[fishmommy]

I do participate in shows, so maybe it might be useful there. I wonder what the record keeping is like in it - that might be useful as well.

But yeah, it's a big investment so I need to make sure I'll use it

[orchidsarefun]

for the following:
- keeping track of orchids and parentage ( eg $ paid, date purchased, vendor...there is a long list available )
- notes functionality is useful as you can make individualised notes on significant events - like blooming, repotting, pollination , seed germination etc
- investigating hybrid parentage before buying. Orchid profiles are great.
- looking at photos
- gives detail on species cultivation
- uploading photos into photo album
The only downside for me is that there is no smartphone app. The upside is that I was able to computerise all my notes and have everything in one place. Being able to have your own pictorial history of each plant has also been extremely useful.
I would recommend if you are a serious hobbyist and are one of those who cannot say no to buying or receiving another orchid.

[tucker85]

My opinion is that for the average orchid grower it's probably not worth the money. My favorite part of the program is the Baker culture sheets which describe the habitat that species are found in, in the wild. Those sheets are only available in the full version, not the express version. For hybrids, the culture information is very general and not all that useful. The program is great for checking orchid names and their ancestry, if that's important to you. The section for tracking your own orchids is useful but I haven't put very many orchids in it. I prefer my other programs like Word or Excel for tracking my orchids. If $300 isn't a lot of money to you then you might as well get it, but if you're stretching your budget to buy it, and you're a hobby grower, I would suggest you pass. I think you'd get more information from a good book on orchids. That's just my opinion.

[orchidsarefun]

I think OB members get a discount - anyway ask if you decide to get one.
I got one at a special rate. I had OrchidWiz and then I upgraded.

[ronaldhanko]

I wouldn't be without it. The photos are helpful as is all the other information and I keep all my plants and photos logged into it using both the photo album and the journal, the journal to keep track of the plants and the photos with them and the album for all my other photos. Also use the awards records for keeping track of my awards.

It's very useful for cultural information, for looking up a plant you don't know and seeing pictures of it, for parentage, for seeing if something is worth taking to judging. Greatest orchid program ever IMO.

[DavidCampen]

I use it to maintain a catalog of my plants with date of purchase, vendor, and price and journal entries for when plants are repotted, flower, tested for virus etc. Also the catalog entry for each plant has photos that I have taken of the plant.

I wouldn't be without it.

And speaking of Orchidwiz, in another thread it was mentioned that it had a listing of of hybrid names with the genera that are in hybrids of that name. I can't find that. Would someone tell me how to get to that.

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by DavidCampen

I use it to maintain a catalog of my plants with date of purchase, vendor, and price and journal entries for when plants are repotted, flower, tested for virus etc. Also the catalog entry for each plant has photos that I have taken of the plant.

I wouldn't be without it.

And speaking of Orchidwiz, in another thread it was mentioned that it had a listing of of hybrid names with the genera that are in hybrids of that name. I can't find that. Would someone tell me how to get to that.

When you open Orchid Wiz there will be a list of orchid genre on the right side. Double click on the genre you want, for instance ‘cattleya’. A screen will appear with a list of all cattleya species and hybrids on the left side of the page. Scroll down to the hybrid you want, or type the name of the plant in the box at the top of the list. Don’t type the genre in. If you’re looking for Cattleya Drumbeat, just type in Drumbeat. Clonal names are not included in the list. So if you’re looking for C. Drumbeat ‘Heritage’, you will only find C. Drumbeat. When you find the hybrid double click on the hybrid name. It will take you to a screen with a flow chart that shows all the orchids in that hybrids ancestry. A round ‘pie chart’ will be on the bottom. It shows how much of each species is in the hybrid. You can click on ‘Awards’ to find the clonal names and a list of awarded plants.

[trdyl]

I love it and would not want to be with out it.