How to Grow Orchids

Orchids sure are beautiful:

They can be tricky to grow. You should do a google search and read all you can. The purchase of several orchid growing books will help you too.

Northern orchids such as the lady's slippers shown below: are just as finicky as the tropical varieties (but different).

I bought an orchid at the supermarket last year for $12, similar to the pink one shown by Bricktop. Potted in very coarse bark. It didn't survive the indoor winter conditions here (or my lack of expert care). But Dominion supermarket florists (Loblaw's I believe) do have a source of the plants, they appear periodically in our shops here in the north for $12 to $20 a pop. So: it can be done.

Will you be selling them in the florist market, or are you looking to develop medicinal products? (the infamous satyrion root?) I found little or nothing when I went to look for info on cultivating/spreading wild lady's slippers (some 8-9 years ago): there was some research published in Poland about it, with cultivation methods (in Polish, unfortunately for me). Tropical orchids are an item of commerce now, so I would expect you'd find the info on them pretty readily.

Google for it, you'll find what you need. Most species do behave well in wet and shadowed conditions, planted in iron rich and very well ventiled substrate. All do need substantial suplements during flowering. But look for specific needs for the specie you're interest, they vary a little. I agree that it may be a little tricky to grow at the first sight, but, if you take those simple tips and go for the specific needs for the kind you're thinking about, you'll do well. They need really little care after well set. I had myself at home two phalaenopsis indoors (they felt by sickness), and, in the trees in the garden, there's a wild variation that's easily found around here that just live there, and grows and grows year after year. Last spring, one of them just gave us something like 25+ flowers at the same time. Just for reference, the weather here varies from around 40C in some days in the summer, to something like 0 to -4C early in the morning during some days in the winter. It's wet most of the time, and the trees do loose leafs in the winter, while giveing a good shadow during all summer.

this is a link to orchid propagation 101

This place is about ten miles from Disney World. They have a veritable jungle in their huge hothouse.

http://www.aworldoforchids.com/awoohao/mainpage.html

And just up the street is a miniature recreation of China and all its tourist attractions. A "must see" kind of thing

Dr Yin-Tung Wang at Texas A&M is a good friend of mine, check this out:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=com.microsoft%3A*&newwindow=1&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=TAMU+orchids&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=