Starting A Collection
If you are addicted to orchids or are looking to grow your collection…
Our advice is to buy a few new orchids a month in flower rather than buying a lot of orchids in flower all at once. This way you will keep interested in your new found passion and by purchasing one new in-flower orchid every month, after 12 months you will have 12 plants that will typically flower at different times of the year which means that you will have orchids in flower all year ‘round. From this you can build your collection and find the orchids that grow best and the ones that you like best.
If building a shade house, make it as big as you can or at least make it twice the size of what you think you may need. Once you start it is extremely an rewarding and addictive hobby and you can soon end up with a lot more orchids than what you thought you would.
Once you find what potting mix (medium) you like best, pot all of your orchids in it. Having all of your orchids potted in the same medium helps with watering because if one plant is potted in a different mix to another, the plants watering needs may be different too. If you cannot do this, you may want to group your orchids in a way to make watering easier.
If your growing area is outside, cover one part of it with clear horticulture plastic/solar weave/fibreglass or something similar. Use this area to put your flowering plants if not inside while in flower. This covering extends the life of your flowers and stops rain damage, etc. from marking your flowers. Also if you grow any baby plants or de-flask orchids, this will give you a more controlled environment for them as well.
Happy Growing!