Customer Reviews

Ortho's All About Orchids

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this book and refer to it often when looking for information about a specific orchid. I'm the Orchids host at BellaOnline.com and do a lot of research on orchid plants and their culture.

This book from Ortho is great for a beginning orchid lover. The photos are plentiful and of nice quality. One of the best sections for someone just starting with orchids is the area of the book that describes and pictures the many types of orchid potting mixes. I also found the tips on mounting an orchid to a cork raft very helpful.

The main sections of the book cover basic growing information, propagation of orchids, orchid naming conventions, pest, diseases and an orchid gallery of the most commonly found orchids.

If you are looking for a basic resource at a very reasonable price, this book should be a the top of your shopping list.

The book contains about 92 pages. 13 pages are on general growing instructions (light, temperature, humidity, and air circulation). This section includes an excellent tip on how to measure light using a photometer in a camera, and they include a handy chart for converting camera aperature "f-stops" into "footcandles" of light. They also include more handy charts like the ideal light ranges for 19 genera, adjusting day length, and ideal night temperature ranges. 24 pages on buying orchids, potting orchids, fertilizing, dividing, and propagation. 6 pages on problems and disease. 8 pages on orchid botany and breeding. 36 pages on 18 common orchid genera. Each genera is described in about 12 paragraphs with comments about specific growing needs, species and hybrids, tips for success, and about 5 photographs of representative plants. 1 page on orchid suppliers and a 4 page index.

When I bought my first orchid, I purchased it with an excellent book called "Easy Orchids" by Mimi Luebbermann. The Luebbermann book got me through the first several months (and the first 6 orchids). The Ortho book adds to the excellent information that you obtained with Luebbermann. Ortho gives you that vital information necessary to take your orchid addiction ... er, I mean, your orchid hobby to the next level (and another 6 orchids).

Ortho's All About Orchids contains excellent information for the beginner. It is a must have book for the first time orchid grower.

I received my first orchid as a gift, not knowing what to do with it a went out and bought this book. I have since accumulated about a half dozen different orchids. This book is an excellant beginners book. It walks you through what to expect with each general orchid type and many 'how to' details to get you started. The only reason I went looking for another book was that I bought a new dendrobium and this Ortho book did not have the information on that specific type of dendrobium due to the vast genus of dendrobiums.
I would recomend this book to anyone interested in starting out with orchids. It has lasted me years, without needing another reference.

"All About Orchids" shows detailed step-by-step photos and instructions for all the various tasks. It also includes in depth sections on each category of Orchids, which has a "Tips for Success" inset that is great for beginners. This book provides a nice summary of Cultural Needs for each orchid. This book is packed full of info!

As a beginning orchid grower with no experience and no previous knowledge, I found this book very helpful and inspiring. There are lots and lots of good photos of healthy orchids, as well as photos of not so healthy orchids in case you're not sure what you're looking at. The chapters are relatively short, and it's easy to find a certain section when you need it. I also really liked that this book includes some pronunciation guides in the sections about certain species of orchids, since I had never talked to anyone about orchids, and would otherwise have no idea how to pronounce "phalaenopsis." I definitely recommend this book to beginning hobby growers.

As a beginner in the Orchid world, I found this book very helpful. It is well organized, so can be used as a quick reference later; very easy read. Was able to develope a wish list for other orchids I would like to aquire by using the bloom time information included. I hope to have blooms all year long using this info! Many pitcures depicting "how to's" in propigation, etc. Also found I was underwatering my first orchid received as a gift, and hope I have caught it in time. Information well worth the cost, and a great addition the the gardening library.

Ortho's "All about orchids" is a very good general guide for the beginner orchidist who wants to have a single reference book for information on topics ranging from potting materials to diseases, from understanding and adjusting environmental factors to fertilizer use. In addition to this general information, the reader finds information on each of the orchid alliances, with one or two pages for each popular orchid species and hybrids, including pictures, description, cultural information and heritage, and "tips for success". I find myself going back to this book all the time - and not just for the beautiful pictures. I recommend this to anyone who has a passion for orchids, and is looking for "how to" information.

This is a truly excellent starter and it's great for the medium level amatuer, too. There is a lot of information, yet it's not succint. The quality of the pictures is not satisfactory, however, this is one of the very few books which show overall plants, as opposed to show macro of flowers only. This is not a minor point: when I placed my first order online, I decided I was not going to buy dendrobium, because I don't like the plant. While this reflect my personal taste, knowng how the overall plants look like was a major plus. Moreover this book teaches how to measure the light intensity by simply using the lightmeter of your TTL camera. To me this information alone is worth the price of admission.

If you are just starting out with orchids, this is a great, low cost, book for basic information and great for a quick reminder to the experienced grower when obtaining new orchids. I would not say this is the last book you will ever need if serious about growing orchids, but it a good place to start!

Ifyou are looking for a comprehensive beginner's guide to orchids at a reasonable price this is it. The book is well organized, easy to understand, and decently illustrated. Photos and quality may not be of the best quality, but you can find those in one of the many other pictorial guides to orchids available. If you want to get growing, this book is a great start.