Ewan, Sorry, I missed your initial posting. The book that Peter suggested is a good one. I'd also recommend "Orchids Simplified: An Indoor Growing Guide" by Henry Jaworski.
As for the specifics of your question. It is difficult to answer without knowing more about your growing conditions. Can you tell us if you will be growing under lights, on a windowsill (what direction?), or in a greenhouse? As you know, Sarracenias, lowland Nepenthes, and Mexican Pinguiculas all require different culture. Same deal with orchids. Most of the major groups of orchids have plants that are easy for beginners, and hybrids are often more tolerant for species. It would probably be hard to go wrong with a hybrid Phalaenopis, hybrid Dendrobium, or miniature cattleya. Seed propagation should probably wait until you master basic culture, unless you are already tissue-culturing your own CP. If you have a handle on tissue culture techniques, then you should be able to flask orchid seed. Nick -- Nicholas Plummer Chapel Hill, NC, USA ____________________________________________________________________________________ The fish are biting. Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
