What orchid speices work?

[Jenni929]

I live in Canada
I have a south eat facing window so sunlight pours in in the morning but not directly. My apartment is always kept really warm. We have really humid summers but dry winters but I could fix tht with misting right?
No green house.
There r tons of funky Orchids out there and I love them all. What are my limitations tho? What Orchids are too picky for me to look at? Especially probably growing from a seed.

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[PaphLover]

Welcome to Orchid Board! You've come to the right place for all your orchid questions.

First off, I would hesitate to start your orchid collection with seeds! They require very specific conditions and orchids take so long to grow to blooming size (years!) that you might become frustrated with the waiting --and most likely, killing of countless seedlings. (There's no shame in this--keep reading here and you'll see how many full-grown orchids die at our over-caring hands every year.) Plus, there are so many varieties out there already blooming and just itching to get to your home and brighten it up with their sunshiny flowers.

Phals are a great place to start. There are some beautiful and unusual varieties in this most popular of orchid species. Paphs (slipper orchids) are my favourite and are quite easy to grow on your windowsill. Oncidium Twinkles are compact and have lovely smelling sprays of blooms. They pack a punch with their small size. (Silken has a thread on here with photos of her beautiful plant in bloom right now.)

I'm sure others will chime in with their picks for your beginning collection. Beware! It is a slippery slope into orchid addiction... but a beautiful ride. One is never enough!!!!!!

[PaphMadMan]

Growing orchids from seed is a very specialized endeavor, and generally quite a challenge for anyone. If you don't have a strong science background including some experience in sterile culture procedures you will need to do some extensive reading and preparation. And you definitely need some success with growing mature plants before you take on young seedlings.

There are many orchids you could grow but you should probably start with some of the easier and inexpensive hybrids and begin learning before you aim for the funkier species. Compact/miniature Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Oncidium intergenerics, Paphiopedilum Maudiae types, and some Dendrobium and Zygopetalum hybrids are types you will often find at grocery stores, big box stores or local florists. Any of those should work for your space, and easy to find general care instructions for. Take some time to learn with a couple plants to start.

The main limitations you will have to deal with are not enough light for some, too warm for some, as well as the low humidity. Misting by hand without an enclosure is of limited help with humidity; humidifiers do more.

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[silken]

Welcome to Orchid Board. When spring arrives, so will the orchid shows. Attend one or several and browse all of the orchids available to try. The advice already given is good advise and a knowledgeable seller at the show should be able to find you a suitable plant. In the meantime browse this forum and read what others do. Phals are a good start and can be found in box or grocery stores. They don't need real bright sun so I would set them back from that window if you go with Phals or even Paphs. It seems in Canada there aren't a lot of other options from box stores but occasionally some Oncidiums show up in the grocery stores too. At least out here. I bought a nice named Oncidium at Home Depot a few years ago but haven't seen any since.

[Jenni929]

Closest show is in Toronto on Feb 13th and 14th. I work in a floral shop, not allowed to book any part of tht weekend off. That really sucks.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Jenni929

Closest show is in Toronto on Feb 13th and 14th. I work in a floral shop, not allowed to book any part of tht weekend off. That really sucks.

That's too bad. I don't know how far you are from London or Ottawa. I myself drive 500 km most years to attend the Edmonton Orchid show which is the closest one for me. But I am an orchid addict

Looks like there is one in Burlington Feb. 26, 27 at the Royal Botanical Garden.

[Roberta]

Another thought... the smaller Cattleya-type hybrids ("mini-catts") grow very nicely on windowsills (having been bred, at least in part, for precisely that market). Some of the colors are knockouts, and many bloom more than once a year. They are readily available by mail-order. My personal favorite ( it's not that far from me and I really like the owner, Fred Clarke) is Sunset Valley Orchids. The website is sunsetvalleyorchids.com . Also feel free to email Fred for information and recommendations.

[silken]

Yes, Fred Clarke has many small and mid size Cattleyas. Only trouble is that its rather costly and takes a fair bit of paperwork to order from Canada. He does come to Canada occasionally tho. He is coming to both Calgary and Edmonton societies in June so he might be going somewhere in Ontario too. Cloud's near Niagara Falls sometimes sells some of SVO's seedlings and they have a good supply of various orchids in general so check them out. They are great to deal with and have excellent plants.

[Roberta]

If Fred will be in Canada, you could probably make an order for him to bring and mail when he is there, even if you can't make it to one of the places that he's visiting. I expect that he will be bringing lots of plants to sell, so the paperwork and most of the shipping would already be done and the postage would then just be domestic. (In the US, international vendors use that approach all the time, waiting until they in the country before sending shipments)

[silken]

Yep, I have bought from Fred in Edmonton before and just paid him Canadian cash for the plants. I did pick them up though. That's the beauty of buying from vendors at shows or when they come to speak at a society meeting. All the paper work is done by them and you just hand over some $$ and take your plant!