The Ortho "All About Growing Orchids" is quite good for beginners. Taylor's
Guide to Orchids is also pretty good, with one caveat -- a lot of newbies
get caught up in the pretty pics and forget to read the accompanying text.
An awful lot of folks show up here with Taylor's in hand looking for
Miltoniopsis and other cool-growers that don't do well here in south Florida
....

There is another thread floating around [relatively current] about how to
access and search the archives from this newsgroup, in which you are likely
to find lots of answers to lots of your initial questions, but you are
always welcome to post them here. There are always new readers joining us
who haven't read those questions and answers before.

Welcome aboard,

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"RPM1" wrote in message
...
Greetings fellow orchid lovers!

Last Christmas I bought a lovely little phal. I didn't plan on it. I
figured I'd go home with a Christmas cactus or somesuch. The
nursery staff assured me that I could handle caring for the orchid.
I was skeptical. I bought it anyway. Well, it has yet to drop any
of the flowers that it came home with on December 23rd! About
a month later I stopped by the nursery to get orchid fertilizer and
I ended up coming home with two more plants. Yesterday, I
was driving by the greenhouse and I saw a big sign "Orchids 50%
Off!" Well, of course I had to stop in.

So, I now have 6 assorted orchids. Two are going to need some
sort of trimming (I assume) once they lose their last flower. Would
you folks recommend a few good books for beginners? Is there a
newsgroup FAQ link so I don't pester y'all with typical newbie
questions?

I read somewhere that orchids seek to achieve a 45 degree growth
angle. Are there pots to accommodate this or do you just keep
re-potting them and straightening them up. Seems cruel if 45
degrees is what they really want. Why not give it to them - make
them really happy?

Ruth CM
upstate NY