Product Description

Helps beginning orchid growers develop the skills necessary to progress to more difficult ones.

Plenty of information to inspire more advanced orchid growers.

Provides a basic understanding of optimum environment for growing orchids.

Helpful hints for creating that ideal environment.

Explains potting, staking, and dividing orchids.

Teaches about orchid growth patterns, and shows how to handle plants based on those patterns.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93175 in Books
• Brand: MEREDITH BOOKS
• Published on: 1999-01-15
• Released on: 1999-01-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Features

• Fragile and fussy though they appear, you ll discover that most orchids are actually easy to grow.
• Author elvin mcdonald tells how to monitor the environment in your home so you can select the
• Learn the tricks of watering, fertilizing, staking, potting, and dividing orchids, quickly
• Each orchid in the orchid gallery selection guide is rated by the level of care it requires.
• You ll find the perfect match between an orchid s needs, your level of skills and the amount of time

Customer Reviews

This one is packed with information and great photography.
I really enjoyed this book and refer to it often when looking for information about a specific orchid. I'm the Orchids host at BellaOnline.com and do a lot of research on orchid plants and their culture.

This book from Ortho is great for a beginning orchid lover. The photos are plentiful and of nice quality. One of the best sections for someone just starting with orchids is the area of the book that describes and pictures the many types of orchid potting mixes. I also found the tips on mounting an orchid to a cork raft very helpful.

The main sections of the book cover basic growing information, propagation of orchids, orchid naming conventions, pest, diseases and an orchid gallery of the most commonly found orchids.

If you are looking for a basic resource at a very reasonable price, this book should be a the top of your shopping list.

Excellent information for the beginner
The book contains about 92 pages. 13 pages are on general growing instructions (light, temperature, humidity, and air circulation). This section includes an excellent tip on how to measure light using a photometer in a camera, and they include a handy chart for converting camera aperature "f-stops" into "footcandles" of light. They also include more handy charts like the ideal light ranges for 19 genera, adjusting day length, and ideal night temperature ranges. 24 pages on buying orchids, potting orchids, fertilizing, dividing, and propagation. 6 pages on problems and disease. 8 pages on orchid botany and breeding. 36 pages on 18 common orchid genera. Each genera is described in about 12 paragraphs with comments about specific growing needs, species and hybrids, tips for success, and about 5 photographs of representative plants. 1 page on orchid suppliers and a 4 page index.

When I bought my first orchid, I purchased it with an excellent book called "Easy Orchids" by Mimi Luebbermann. The Luebbermann book got me through the first several months (and the first 6 orchids). The Ortho book adds to the excellent information that you obtained with Luebbermann. Ortho gives you that vital information necessary to take your orchid addiction ... er, I mean, your orchid hobby to the next level (and another 6 orchids).

Ortho's All About Orchids contains excellent information for the beginner. It is a must have book for the first time orchid grower.

JP
I received my first orchid as a gift, not knowing what to do with it a went out and bought this book. I have since accumulated about a half dozen different orchids. This book is an excellant beginners book. It walks you through what to expect with each general orchid type and many 'how to' details to get you started. The only reason I went looking for another book was that I bought a new dendrobium and this Ortho book did not have the information on that specific type of dendrobium due to the vast genus of dendrobiums.
I would recomend this book to anyone interested in starting out with orchids. It has lasted me years, without needing another reference.