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Finding Information About Orchids Online

Welcome to the wonderful world of orchids! I've been enjoying orchid growing for several years now, after a false start a few years after I finished up college. These beautiful plants have provided me with many, many hours of enjoyment. I'm partial to oncidiums, but over the years I've grown phals, cattleyas, vandas, and probably a few others I've forgotten about. If you're just getting started on orchid growing, have no fear that the resource for growing orchids online these days are boundless; compared to when I was starting out, there must be 10 times the info available on the web. Whatever you do, don't stop digging; with ten or twenty days of part-time browsing, you can find out all you need to know to get into orchid growing and be successful. The most important thing to learn when you decide to start growing orchids is that there are no real general rules for caring for orchids; their care requirements differ so dramatically from one variety to the next that the optimal treatment for one variety will kill many others. If you're getting started, take some time to find a few varieties that you like, then read up carefully on the care for JUST THOSE varieties. Make sure that the care requirements will work out for your own personal lifestyle. If you work a lot of hours and won't have time to take care of them every day, don't pick a high-maintenance variety like vandas. Likewise if you do a lot of traveling and don't have someone to fill in while you're gone. There are plenty of varieties that don't require daily attention that should work for you. Once you've spotted the varieties you're interested in, read up on their requirements for:

Humidity

Watering

Light

Fertilizers

Repotting

The most critical of these to know, in my opinion, is the light requirements. Almost nothing will damage or kill your orchid quicker than giving it the wrong light exposure, especially putting a sunlight-intolerant variety like phals in direct sunlight. You can burn the leaves yellow in just a few days. After that, be sure you're watering the right amount, and associated with that be sure you've got the best humidity situation you can manage given the conditions you're growing in. If you're growing inside and you have no ability to put the plants into a sealed and humidified environment, a good trick is to set the pots in a large tray with some spacers underneath, then put a quarter-inch or so of water in the bottom of the pan. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the pots! Fertilizers aren't as great a concern. Most orchids don't really need a lot of fertilizers in the first place, especially the epiphytic varieties that are adapted to grow in the limbs of trees. Terrestrial varieties (ground-dwellers) generally require more, though there is again no fixed rule there. Schedule your fertilizer applications based on the specific variety you've chosen, but in general, when it comes time to apply, I've found that applying with a mister works fine for every variety I've ever grown. I like to use a mister even for watering (I label the fertilizer and water VERY clearly), and even for the really thirsty varieties like my oncidiums. The repotting issue is one that you don't often have to deal with. Generally you'll repot when you first get your plants home from the nursery, unless it's a variety like cymbidiums that you don't want to repot at all. Then most varieties should be repotted no more often than yearly, and many varieties can go 2-3 years between repottings -- unless you spot rotting media, of course. My point being that this gives you lots of time to learn your plants before you set about repotting, and there should be no excuse for you to know when to repot your plants by the time it's needed. I hope you found at least some of this information useful, and I really encourage you to pursue your interest in orchid growing. It has provided me countless hours of relaxation and enjoyment. I love my orchid plants, probably more than any other plants I've tended to over the years. The variety and beauty of the different types of orchids never ceases to amaze me; regardless of where you live or how, you should be able to find an orchid that will work for you!

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The Tassimo Brewbot Coffee Maker

I've been a caffeine addict for years now, which is what happens when you spend any amount of time living in either Seattle or San Francisco (and I've done both during the last decade). It started out when I was living in Seattle and working from the University of Washington. You can not swing a towel in Seattle without hitting a coffee shop, and half the people I worked with were into lattes and cappuccinos, so naturally I ended up going on coffee breaks toward the University Ave. My regular poison was a tall single latte, though that eventually became double, and after that even triple. Should you've ever nursed a big-time gourmet coffee habit, you recognize exactly how much money it costs. I figured out that over the last 7 years, I probably spent minimum 12,000 dollars on coffee drinking. If you're hitting a Starbucks once or twice a day, 5 to 7 days a week, you are going to drop at least 150 bucks a month on your coffee habit. Well, work has slowed down during the last year, and I don't have as much money to spend on my habit, so I started looking around for other options. I knew I wanted to be able to make lattes, espressos and cappuccinos, but I thought it might be nice to start mixing it up with some tea and chai drinks, too, especially to try to drop back on the caffeine intake. I just don't handle the dosage the way I used to. I'm living at a small place now, and the kitchen is really small, so I didn't have room for a big bulky full-on espresso machine. Which I couldn't afford anyway, those things cost a BUNDLE! You're looking at half a grand to buy anything even halfway decent. I spent some time snooping around the net, and didn't really find anything I liked, but about 3 months ago, a woman I did some market research for invited me to a party at her place, and she had just about the coolest little automated coffee maker I've ever seen. I walked in the door early, and she asked me what I wanted to drink. I asked what she had, and she rattled off half a dozen hot drinks that she could give me. I told her she didn't really need to put herself to that kind of trouble, but she said it was no trouble at all. So I asked for a latte, and before I got back from washing my hands, it was waiting for me on the dining room table. So I spent the next 10 minutes quizzing her about this great little machine, and what it could do, where she got it, how much it cost, the works. It was made by Bosch, a brand I knew about, and the official model number is the T20, I think; you can find it online. This thing was completely automated, you didn't even have to push different buttons or dial knobs around to make very different kinds of drinks. The drinks come in these little packages called "t-discs" and you simply pop one into the machine and hit the button. The machine reads a barcode on the disc, and knows exactly how much water to push through the disc, how fast, what pressure, what temperature, everything automatic. By the end of that, I knew I had to have one. It was precisely what I was hunting for! What really got me was that with all features it had, it cost less than $100 buying it online; it was called a tassimo brewbot, and Bosch had a promotional deal on it. Needless to say, I pulled up my computer and found the deal online the moment I got home, and by the end of the week, I had that machine in my hot little hands. This thing is great! There's at least 40 or 50 different brands and varieties of t-discs, and it can make 7 different types of drink. If you need a tea, it makes tea; you want hot chocolate, you're set; you want an espresso, latte, cafe crema, you're good to go; cappuccinos, check; and it even makes plain old coffee to boot. I've got three cabinet shelves full of t-discs, everything from chai to Suchard hot cocoa and Starbucks too. The drinks are great, I can make one whenever I want, and they also cost one fifth or less what I would spend at a Starbucks or SBC. I easily saved the cost of the machine within the first two months. Plus, the thing is a breeze to take care of; all the parts you would want to wash you'll be able to detach and set in the dishwasher! So when you're a coffee addict like me and you wish to cut back on the cost of the habit, I strongly advise you to look into the Tassimo Brewbot. The last time I checked, it is easy to still get the deal online, but even if you didn't, it's more than worth their full price (I think it's $130). You can try it out for a full month and send it back if you don't like it. But I really doubt you will; they'd have to take mine at gunpoint!

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Buy Orchids With Confidence

There are an enormous number of different varieties of orchids; between 25,000 and 30,000 different species are found in nature. As if that wasn't enough, human growers have produced almost 150,000 distinct hybrid varieties by cross-pollinating different but related species. Different types of orchids have different requirements to keep them healthy; with such a variety, trying to do the job right can be a daunting task. Don't fret; I've been there myself, and not so long ago that I don't remember what it was like. You can get a fairly good grasp on the subject with probably no more than 10 hours of diligent study, and be growing beautiful orchids in no time. There is a huge online support network of forums and enthusiasts' sites to help you along the way. Let's start out by breaking down the most popular orchids varieties and giving you an idea of what sort of care they need.

Some of the Most Popular Orchid Types

Cattleya Orchids

Oncidium Orchids

Phalaenopsis Orchids

Masdevilla Orchids

Cymbidium Orchids

Dendrobium Orchids

Epidendrum Orchids

Cattleya Orchids

This variety is named for William Cattley, an English botanist who introduced the species to Europe in the early 1800s. These are classic "corsage orchids" and produce beautiful blossoms. They can handle direct sunlight, though not as well as oncidiums; and they need alternating wet and dry periods; let the media get completely dry for a day or two before watering again. Give them a weak fertilizer in light doses about once a week -- misting works well for this!

Oncidium Orchids

These are probably the most popular indoor orchids because they produce lots of beautiful blossoms during their peak season. They handle direct sunlight far better than most of the other popular varieties; in fact, they need some direct sunlight to produce their best blooms. And like the other species that like sun, they like a lot of moisture too; you should water them every other day. Don't use too much fertilizer; use a mild fertilizer no more than twice a month.

Phalaenopsis Orchids

This is the variety that most newbies start out with. They are fairly hardy, adapt well to being grown indoors, and don't require a lot of constant care. Unlike the Oncidium, they do not like direct sunlight. Put them in east or west-facing windows that don't get direct sunlight, or grow them under lamps, otherwise they will get scorched and yellow leaves. They need to be watered about once a week. Watch the roots; if they start to turn white or light tan, you aren't watering enough. During active growing, give them fertilizer weekly; during winter, once a month or less.

Masdevilla Orchids

Originally from the Andes mountains, they produce single blooms of a distinctive triangular shape, not sprays. They are fairly high-maintenance, require daily watering and constant humidity, and do not tolerate direct sun. They prefer cooler temperatures, between 55 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cymbidium Orchids

This variety originally came from the Himalayas! As you might guess, it handles cool temperatures well, but it also is very sun-tolerant. They are very hardy, and will grow well near any window; they have the added benefit of producing very long-lasting flowers, sometimes for several months! Be aware that they need a significant temperature drop at night to do their best, on the order of 20-25 degrees fahrenheit.

Dendrobium Orchids

These generally require warm temperatures and a lot of light, even direct sunlight. Like the Oncidiums, they should be watered frequently, as often as every other day. During the winter, however, they should get very little water and no fertilizers at all.

Epidendrum Orchids

These are possibly the least finicky of all orchids. They are very tough, and also produce beautiful arrays of flowers that can last for years! If you are just starting out, this can be a good choice, because it is almost impossible to screw up with them. Be sure to give them good water and fertilizer in the spring to summer months.

How to Select Orchids to Purchase

The first thing to select is not the orchid, but the supplier! Look for a nursery that either specializes in orchids or can demonstrate significant expertise. Check yelp.com, ePinions.com, and the bigger orchid forums for suggestions on good suppliers in your area. If you have friends who already grow orchids, be sure to ask for their suggestions, as well. Having chosen your supplier, it's now time to evaluate the plants and select those to purchase. It's absolutely necessary to fully scrutinize several aspects of the plants when you want to buy orchids that you expect to produce great blooms and have acceptable longevity. Don't make the mistake of buying an orchid plant for the sole reason that it happens to be producing all sorts of blooms. Sometimes orchids can be encouraged to over-bloom with excessive fertilizer early in the growing season. Some varieties, such as phalaenopsis, can actually produce so many blooms that they will not recover the following season. If you are going to buy an orchid that is already fully in bloom, check for the classic telltale of over-fertilizing: glossy leaves! That said, the two most important things to inspect on the plant are the roots and the leaves, in that order. The roots should be firmly attached to the growing media, which is easily checked by doing a wiggle test; grasp the plant at the base, just above the roots, and gently shake it. It will be immediately obvious if the roots have not firmly established themselves in the potting material. If not, pass on that plant. The roots themselves should be light green if dry, dark green if wet, and definitely NOT tan/light brown or white. The leaves should be solid, even hard, and roughly the color of a granny smith apple or possibly a little darker. Some slight yellowing is fine so long as it is localized on a few areas of the leaves and not extending onto the stems. Generally this is caused by a sun-intolerant orchid getting too much direct sunlight and will go away if you provide the proper light conditions. Look closely for small holes and significant discoloration on the leaves -- this could indicate pest problems. If you find such holes on multiple plants, the nursery may have pest problems; it would probably be wise to find another supplier. After the roots and leaves, check the growth bulbs on the orchid. These are the points on the plant where new stems and flowers will grow. They should be plump and healthy-looking. Note that different types of orchids have different numbers of growth bulbs, some, like phalaenopsis, have only one such growth point, others like cattleyas will have several. The details on this are outside the scope of this article -- look for information on elongated rhizomes with respect to your chosen variety. Whether the plant should have unopened blooms is almost entirely a personal choice, apart from the advice about avoiding fully-blooming plants that may have been over-fertilized. Generally, a plant with a mix of opened and unopened is your best bet, as you get to enjoy the existing blossoms as soon as you get it home, but the unopened buds are a near-guarantee of continued enjoyment in the weeks or months to come. I hope this information will help you to pick good, healthy orchids that will provide you with years of enjoyment!