Orchid trends.......
 

Currently, I am super focused in buying "big boys." The grammatophyllum that recently bloomed for me sort of kick-started my current buying trend. At the Redlands show, I bought a grammatophyllum hybrid. Then, I bought another from Kawamoto orchids online, and I just purchased two Ansellias.

I am thinking of buying another grammatophyllum species. Also, I saw that Kawamoto has this new grammatophyllum/cymbidium cross for sale, and I'm intrigued.

I want to try out cymbidiums very badly, but I don't know which are heat tolerant and which aren't.

I hope the trend stops before I run out of room!

What's your current orchid buying trend?

I'm personally going smaller and smaller these days, simply because of space. Also investing in hardy ground orchids that thrive in my area.

I figured out that Phals and Paphs do the best in my conditions, and I ran out of room a couple of months ago, so I'm trying NOT to buy anything, but if I can't stop myself, I only bring in smallish Phals and Paphs.

Phals, Phals, Phals, and more Phals!!!! :D

A good large heat tolerant Cymbidium would be Cymbidium tracyanum. Another one would be Cymbidium madidum. Cym madidum looks small in photos, but they're actually not minis.

As for trends...

I'm kinda on a terrestrial orchid kick right now. I don't post much about them because most of the ones I currently grow have relatively little to no cultivational information on them, so it's hard to say much about them at all. I'm still figuring them out and many have not bloomed at all for me yet.

A few like Bletilla striata and Eulophia andamanensis are very easy to grow, so any questions regarding them I can answer with confidence.

Other species I own, I prefer not to say much about until I feel I got it right.

Cym. tracyanum is not generally known as a heat tolerant Cym. One area where it grows natively is on the higher slopes of the Himalayas and hence is far better adapted to cool temperatures, especially when it comes to bloom initiation.

However, Cyms. madidum, canaliculatum, suavisimum and the coriacious leaved (thick leaved) Cyms. do well in warm climes. Even though the flowers themselves are miniature, the plants are very robust growers and can take up a lot of space if grown in cramped quarters.

CL

Phals and vanillas

Mostly Vandaceous , primarily because I am enjoying some success blooming them...in pots..without a greenhouse

Dendrobiums. I grow small, on two shelves indoors under lights, but have still managed to amass two dozen Dendrobium species. In fact the obsession is getting so bad that I'm now selling off other plants to make room for more Dendrobiums... :blushing: Stephen