An orchid tracking system . . .
 

Hi, all –

I thought I would share my system of keeping track of my orchids, and their needs and progress. Maybe this will help some newbies out there or even experienced growers. I’m kind of a newbie myself, with just over a year of growing, and a little bit of success.

While an actual database program would be great, Excel works, too. Here’s my system:

1. One workbook, two spreadsheets.
   

   • The first is an inventory/progress sheet (pic 1). Each orchid is inventory-numbered and each row contains orchid by number, name, when purchased, mounted, potted, spiked and bloomed. Off to the right, not shown is a place for notes.
     
   • The second is for culture (pic 2). This shows each orchid in a row by light, water, and temp requirements. I key the light and water requirements from 0 – 4 and the key is shown below the rows.

2. Then, to keep track of what they are doing, I take pics of each orchid about once a month and file in folders by their inventory numbers (pic 3).
   
3. Each orchid has a plant marker with inventory, name, and key for water and light (pic 4).

It works for me and once you get the data loaded, is really easy. I hope it helps someone set up a system that’s helpful!

PS: Darn, those pics of the Excel spreadsheet and my photo folder didn't come out so well. If you blow it up, maybe you can see it!

Great Idea! I will keep this in mind and hopefully set up one of my own. I think this would help me with my watering and show the progress of the plants.
Thank You for sharing.

You are welcome, SHag42!

I'm a programmer and was thinking about developing either a Mac or iPhone app for keeping track of orchids. I think there are some, but they don't look too great.

Laser, I think the reason this works so well for me is because after eons in admin support, I know Excel really well. I don't see resounding shouts of "Hooray - great idea!" in response to my post and of course - duh! - that's because I forget that not everyone works with Excel!

Yeah - I agree about the apps out there - not great. Go invent!

Laser, just make sure you have one for thr IPad too. I would pay to get one that was easy to add photos and keep track of potting methods used.

Thanks, I will give this a try! But, I'd also like to see an ipad app :-)

OrchidWiz allows you to enter your plants so you can track them. It also contains some rudimentary guides for culture (not too reliable for the more obscure species).

OK, that's my next project... an orchid tracking/inventory program for iPhone/iPad. I think more people have those than have Macs.

---------- Post added at 12:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------

Everyone post what they'd like it to be able to do.

Blackvine, I think an Excel spreadsheet or application would be great for many of us.

I have made a rough stab at making an Excel spreadsheet that would keep track of my info on each plant, culture data, bloom dates, etc., but I have been so tied up in trying to decide what needs to be in it, that I haven't actually USED it yet. I need to get off my duff and enter the data for my plants into the beta version, then decide what improvements to make later on.

Thanks for sharing your approach!