[hands covering ears] Must. Not. Listen.

K*G*Barrett

"Ray B" wrote in message
news:jGcIj.4041$s27.3393@trnddc02...
Wrong, wrong, WRONG!!!!!

You must learn to use technology to allow you to take care of many more
plants than you could by hand!

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"K Barrett" wrote
It took me a long time to learn not to get more plants than I could take
care of in a reasonable span of time. I probably have too many for my
life right now but of course I can't get rid of *any* of them! So learn
from my mistake. Keep your collection controlled, *G*!

Setting up the database (I use a spreadsheet) takes time. Once set up, the time
in updating is trivial compared with the time to repot - & saves heaps of time
subsequently. I'll post a small part of mine on abpo as one example. When you
look at it, the blank entries for shelf information are those that will be
repotted this spring, & so have not yet been entered. I only started including
shelf info at last year's repot.


On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:27:05 -0700, "K Barrett" wrote:

I wound up re-entering a lot of names just so I could search the database
easier. For example plants were listed as Blc, brassolaeliocattleya and
every spelling in between. A computer genius I'm not but I learned
consistency isn't a hobgoblin of small minds where databases are concerned,
*G*. I wish she had recorded when each plant exited out of the collection.
What initially looked like over 1000 plants on paper wound up being about
300 or so in real life. So far. We still have the outdoor plants to do.
But again, it should be easy to mark who's present and accounted for..

K Barrett

"Dave Gillingham" wrote in message
.. .
Kathy, there's another use as well as the unpleasant long term
consideration. It
helps no end in tracking repotting & other treatment needs. I also try to
record *where* each plant is in my collection now. That's after searching
&
swearing, trying to find a particular plant (or many) that my database
says
should be repotted.

And, while I don't keep it all as up to date as I should, I do ensure that
each
purchase, loss, repot, and position on shelf is recorded.

For repotting, I find it far easier to sort the database by repot date
than to
work my way through the entire collection looking for the date of last
repot on
each tag.


On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:50:55 -0700, "K Barrett"
wrote:

Marilyn Light (North American chair of the Orchid Specialist Group) used
to
give OrchidSafari chats on the idea of orchid conservation vis a vis
hobbyist's orchid collections. Or to put it another way, since habitat is
being lost our collections just may wind up housing important plants,
maybe
even one's no longer found in the wild. You may or may not agree with
that
idea but one of the things Marilyn used to stress was to keep and maintain
a
list of all your orchids, hybrids included, because some just might become
important.

Lo and behold, my mentor did keep a list of her orchids. More importantly
she *maintained* the list! Dang, she even input purchases made just a few
days before she died. (The woman was compulsive, *G*.) I can't tell you
how easy it has been for her family to figure out what's in the GH. It
only
took a day to figure out what's still extant in her collection. Way more
easy than the daunting task of cataloging what's in her library and
potting
shed.

So, while Marilyn Light might have had some lofty goal, thinking that a
list
of what's in the GH could conserve orchids in the wild, in reality its
made
one facet of my mentor's heir's lives real easy. People here have
mentioned
their orchid databases, some that even include flowering records. *Kudos
to
you all!* I never really was 'together' enough to make a list of my
orchids, much less keep it current but now I'm considering it and
including
my library's books, too. I figure my heirs deserve a clue as to what's
worthwhile in all the crap they may want to dump or sell on eBay.

K Barrett

Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.

Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.

On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:36:10 -0400, Diana Kulaga wrote:
So, what does everyone use for this purpose? I had an Excel spreadsheet.
With it, I could add hyperlinks, sort, etc. But I'm hearing you guys talk
about data bases.

I'm a linux wennie and I found a cataloging program called tellico. It
has the ability to output HTML and I had some web space I was not
using so I put my collection online. The name of my boat is Stormy
Petrel so I called it the "Stormy Petrel Collection" for grins. I'm
way behind on the pictures but if you click on plant link and then
the pic you get full size.

www.llorenzini.com

Bob

Interesting stuff. Bob's log is great, but it looks like a lot of set up
work. The one I was keeping was similar to what Dave does. A few columns
differ, but that's to be expected.

Okay. Back to Excel, and off we go.

Diana

"Dave Gillingham" wrote in message
...
Setting up the database (I use a spreadsheet) takes time. Once set up,
the time
in updating is trivial compared with the time to repot - & saves heaps of
time
subsequently. I'll post a small part of mine on abpo as one example.
When you
look at it, the blank entries for shelf information are those that will be
repotted this spring, & so have not yet been entered. I only started
including
shelf info at last year's repot.


On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:27:05 -0700, "K Barrett"
wrote:

I wound up re-entering a lot of names just so I could search the database
easier. For example plants were listed as Blc, brassolaeliocattleya and
every spelling in between. A computer genius I'm not but I learned
consistency isn't a hobgoblin of small minds where databases are
concerned,
*G*. I wish she had recorded when each plant exited out of the
collection.
What initially looked like over 1000 plants on paper wound up being about
300 or so in real life. So far. We still have the outdoor plants to do.
But again, it should be easy to mark who's present and accounted for..

K Barrett

"Dave Gillingham" wrote in message
. ..
Kathy, there's another use as well as the unpleasant long term
consideration. It
helps no end in tracking repotting & other treatment needs. I also try
to
record *where* each plant is in my collection now. That's after
searching
&
swearing, trying to find a particular plant (or many) that my database
says
should be repotted.

And, while I don't keep it all as up to date as I should, I do ensure
that
each
purchase, loss, repot, and position on shelf is recorded.

For repotting, I find it far easier to sort the database by repot date
than to
work my way through the entire collection looking for the date of last
repot on
each tag.


On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:50:55 -0700, "K Barrett"
wrote:

Marilyn Light (North American chair of the Orchid Specialist Group) used
to
give OrchidSafari chats on the idea of orchid conservation vis a vis
hobbyist's orchid collections. Or to put it another way, since habitat
is
being lost our collections just may wind up housing important plants,
maybe
even one's no longer found in the wild. You may or may not agree with
that
idea but one of the things Marilyn used to stress was to keep and
maintain
a
list of all your orchids, hybrids included, because some just might
become
important.

Lo and behold, my mentor did keep a list of her orchids. More
importantly
she *maintained* the list! Dang, she even input purchases made just a
few
days before she died. (The woman was compulsive, *G*.) I can't tell
you
how easy it has been for her family to figure out what's in the GH. It
only
took a day to figure out what's still extant in her collection. Way
more
easy than the daunting task of cataloging what's in her library and
potting
shed.

So, while Marilyn Light might have had some lofty goal, thinking that a
list
of what's in the GH could conserve orchids in the wild, in reality its
made
one facet of my mentor's heir's lives real easy. People here have
mentioned
their orchid databases, some that even include flowering records.
*Kudos
to
you all!* I never really was 'together' enough to make a list of my
orchids, much less keep it current but now I'm considering it and
including
my library's books, too. I figure my heirs deserve a clue as to what's
worthwhile in all the crap they may want to dump or sell on eBay.

K Barrett

Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.

Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.

On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:36:10 -0700, Diana Kulaga wrote
(in article ):

So, what does everyone use for this purpose? I had an Excel spreadsheet.
With it, I could add hyperlinks, sort, etc. But I'm hearing you guys talk
about data bases.

Which do you use?

Diana

Hey, Diana -
I know I'm in a small minority as a Mac user, but I've found it possible to
create very serviceable databases, first in Appleworks and more recently in a
cheap, independent program called iData3. I'm sure there are equivalent
programs for PC. Out of fear of Mick's wrath, I'll post a screen grab of one
orchid record on abpo.
Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D200

That looks interesting, Tom. I'll look into it.

Diana

"tbell" wrote in message
.com...
On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:36:10 -0700, Diana Kulaga wrote
(in article ):

So, what does everyone use for this purpose? I had an Excel spreadsheet.
With it, I could add hyperlinks, sort, etc. But I'm hearing you guys talk
about data bases.

Which do you use?

Diana

Hey, Diana -
I know I'm in a small minority as a Mac user, but I've found it possible
to
create very serviceable databases, first in Appleworks and more recently
in a
cheap, independent program called iData3. I'm sure there are equivalent
programs for PC. Out of fear of Mick's wrath, I'll post a screen grab of
one
orchid record on abpo.
Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D200

Also a Mac user and I set up a database in Filemaker Pro. You can easily
set up whatever you want from simple to complicated, including relating
records. I like it because you can include photos with each entry so
that when a tag or label goes missing it's possible to relabel it.

tbell wrote:
On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:36:10 -0700, Diana Kulaga wrote
(in article ):


So, what does everyone use for this purpose? I had an Excel spreadsheet.
With it, I could add hyperlinks, sort, etc. But I'm hearing you guys talk
about data bases.

Which do you use?

Diana


Hey, Diana -
I know I'm in a small minority as a Mac user, but I've found it possible to
create very serviceable databases, first in Appleworks and more recently in a
cheap, independent program called iData3. I'm sure there are equivalent
programs for PC. Out of fear of Mick's wrath, I'll post a screen grab of one
orchid record on abpo.
Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D200

I don't use anything to track potted plants, but I have a
custom-built database for the lab. It got to the point where paper wasn't
good enough, so now the Access database keeps it all straight.

For the uninitiated: Excel and other spreadsheets are "flat"
databases, although it is possible to tie things together if needs be-
with a bit of programming. Access and other relational databases have a
lot more power, if needed. For example, Excel could give you a nice
breakdown of the average pot size (if someone wanted that information for
some weird reason) of all your cattleyas. A relational database would be
more useful if one needed to produce a list of all plants belonging to
cattleya species starting with the letter "m" that were last repotted more
than 16 months ago.

In my case, I could have a list generated on command of all flasks
still on the shelves after X number of days- along with the shelf
location, and container identification. At the end of the day, I could
(and do) get an average age of containers on the shelves, and a standard
deviation of that age. Helps keep things fresh, you see.

A little tip: Open Office has a free (as in beer) office suite
that mimics that of Microsoft's, including its own database program and
spreadsheet. Lots of power there. And it's all free.

The address in the header is bogus. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Thanks for the idea of Open Office, Aaron. How ya been, boy? Seedbank
keeping you busy? Saw the new book. Congrats! Hope its selling well.

K Barrett

"Aaron Hicks" wrote in message
...
I don't use anything to track potted plants, but I have a
custom-built database for the lab. It got to the point where paper wasn't
good enough, so now the Access database keeps it all straight.

For the uninitiated: Excel and other spreadsheets are "flat"
databases, although it is possible to tie things together if needs be-
with a bit of programming. Access and other relational databases have a
lot more power, if needed. For example, Excel could give you a nice
breakdown of the average pot size (if someone wanted that information for
some weird reason) of all your cattleyas. A relational database would be
more useful if one needed to produce a list of all plants belonging to
cattleya species starting with the letter "m" that were last repotted more
than 16 months ago.

In my case, I could have a list generated on command of all flasks
still on the shelves after X number of days- along with the shelf
location, and container identification. At the end of the day, I could
(and do) get an average age of containers on the shelves, and a standard
deviation of that age. Helps keep things fresh, you see.

A little tip: Open Office has a free (as in beer) office suite
that mimics that of Microsoft's, including its own database program and
spreadsheet. Lots of power there. And it's all free.

The address in the header is bogus. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Ya gotta love Open Office. It's really slick. Two years ago, I did
a presentation at the National Fire Academy (unrelated to orchids,
unsurprisingly), and used Open Office's "Impress," the equivalent of Power
Point. It meshed flawlessly. I was a little concerned about trying it out,
untested, but didn't have any option. Worked great.

The Seedbank is doing well; there's a spring lull in orders, but
it'll pick back up again soon. Seedling sales will be in full swing within
a month. Then it's back to writing, making more flasks, and cranking out
more seed orders in the fall. It's amazing how cyclical it is.

Third book sold out of its first printing in 3-4 months. I was
surprised how well it sold. Now working on second edition of my first
book, and another text- again, entirely unrelated to orchids, but on the
same thing I lectured about at the National Fire Academy. And the
occasional feature in The Orchid Review. And for those that missed it, the
bit on Spiranthes delitescens in the Orchid Digest last summer- there'll
be another one coming up before too long on another species, provided they
find it sufficiently intriguing.

Too many irons, not enough fire!

The address in the header is bogus. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Ok -
I am late to the party -- but I lost my C drive in the middle of
March, which is not good for a Tax Accountant. I just got Agent,
GigaNews and You All back yesterday.

John and I use Access.
Advantages beyond the normal sort and print functions:
1. table for proper spellings and abbreviations of genus
I too suffer Kath's problem
2. table for vendors names, addresses, email, website, phone etc
nice to know where to go back or who to avoid
all link to THE list of plants.

The plant list sorts like Bobs with a click so I can look at or print
all the Catts or in our case it is usually all the Paphs and Phrags
to take shopping.

The ability to post pix in the database is there - the pix just made
it too big so now it is just a x box to say the pix is in the web
file.

I found taking the laptop out for inventory did not work. We were at
the point of getting a scanner the same label printer will print
barcodes for numbers. We had a number set that included the vendor
number as well as the plants number in the database.

John found a ThinkDB at one time that allowed access to be reduced to
PalmPDA sized database and it was very helpful during shopping trips.
It is so disconcerting to fall in love with a new plant only to get
home and find the reason your in love is because you already have 2.
G If you only learned to re-bloom them, you would have known.

I use colored tags for repot - this year is blue, last is yellow.
Anything in yellow needs it... anything in blue should be fresh.
I don't do updates well except for deaths, sales, purchases.
We are way - way behind on the photos and well be completely revamping
the gh this summer - the Phrags are taking over the west bench and all
plants in the way have to go.

Anyone got a good fern control. I don't know where they came from
except the staghorn but at least 3 ferns are making my gh home and
causing havoc with all things orchid.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/orchids


On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 15:22:39 -0400, "Diana Kulaga"
wrote:
Okay. Back to Excel, and off we go.

Diana

What will you be revamping in the GH?

K Barrett


"Sue Erickson" wrote in message
...
Ok -
I am late to the party -- but I lost my C drive in the middle of
March, which is not good for a Tax Accountant. I just got Agent,
GigaNews and You All back yesterday.

John and I use Access.
Advantages beyond the normal sort and print functions:
1. table for proper spellings and abbreviations of genus
I too suffer Kath's problem
2. table for vendors names, addresses, email, website, phone etc
nice to know where to go back or who to avoid
all link to THE list of plants.

The plant list sorts like Bobs with a click so I can look at or print
all the Catts or in our case it is usually all the Paphs and Phrags
to take shopping.

The ability to post pix in the database is there - the pix just made
it too big so now it is just a x box to say the pix is in the web
file.

I found taking the laptop out for inventory did not work. We were at
the point of getting a scanner the same label printer will print
barcodes for numbers. We had a number set that included the vendor
number as well as the plants number in the database.

John found a ThinkDB at one time that allowed access to be reduced to
PalmPDA sized database and it was very helpful during shopping trips.
It is so disconcerting to fall in love with a new plant only to get
home and find the reason your in love is because you already have 2.
G If you only learned to re-bloom them, you would have known.

I use colored tags for repot - this year is blue, last is yellow.
Anything in yellow needs it... anything in blue should be fresh.
I don't do updates well except for deaths, sales, purchases.
We are way - way behind on the photos and well be completely revamping
the gh this summer - the Phrags are taking over the west bench and all
plants in the way have to go.

Anyone got a good fern control. I don't know where they came from
except the staghorn but at least 3 ferns are making my gh home and
causing havoc with all things orchid.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/orchids


On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 15:22:39 -0400, "Diana Kulaga"
wrote:
Okay. Back to Excel, and off we go.

Diana