Orchid Culture

If you're thinking about buying your first orchid, the culture sheets below, provided by the Canadian Orchid Congress, will help you decide which type of orchid best suits your home. It is best to start out with an orchid that will be easy to please in your home without having to go to a lot of trouble. Buy something that you can place in a high-traffic area, where you can enjoy it and where it will not be forgotten and neglected. Take note of the light, temperature, humidity, and moisture requirements of each of the orchids below, and find the one with the requirements that most closely match the conditions in your home. And of course, pick an orchid that you like! If you like the plant you buy, you will be more likely to try your best to keep it alive.

Start by reading the articles on general orchid culture, so that you can understand how orchids grow, and be introduced to some of the terminology used frequently in orchid culture articles. Then, go on to take a look at the articles on individual genera. We are currently also working on a glossary and FAQ section, so be sure to check back later for that information.

All of the orchid genera listed below can be purchased at our annual show and sale, or from the vendors at one of our monthly meetings.

Download Free Culture Sheets from The Canadian Orchid Congress (COC) website
(All files are in PDF  format):

• Click Here for Beginners Notes
  

General Orchid Culture

• Leaves
• Roots

Specific Genera

• Catasetum

• Cattleya and intergeneric hybrids
• Cymbidium
• Dendrobium - Phalaenopsis type hybrids
• Lycaste
• Masdevallia
• Miltoniopsis
• Oncidium and intergeneric hybrids
• Paphiopedilum
• Phalaenopsis
• Phragmipedium
• Pleurothallid
  
• Stanhopea
• Vanda
• Zygopetalum
  
  

Fragrant Orchids
Click Here for a list

Additional, more advanced culture sheets will be added to this page in the future.

A Note on Downloads from this Site

Documents and other downloadable items will be posted on this site periodically, such as entry forms for the show, culture sheets, etc. These are published in three different formats: PDF (Adobe Acrobat), Word, and Excel. Contrary to popular belief, you DO NOT have to have Microsoft Word or Excel to view or print Word or Excel documents. You can download both the Word Viewer and Excel Viewer for FREE. You can also download Adobe Reader (to view and print PDF files) for free. Click the links below to download these free tools, and you will be able to view and print any document posted on the OSA website.

Click here to download Microsoft Word Viewer.

Click here to download Microsoft Excel Viewer.

Click here to download Adobe Reader.