Ordinarily I would look for growing, healthy roots, first and foremost. However at this time of year, many Angs will be resting and so the roots won't be growing. So keep that in mind.

The more healthy, firm leaves the better. The longer the 'stem' length, the older the plant is and, generally, the easier it is to acclimate (more accurately, the harder or slower it is to kill).

Look for signs of past spikes. That will tell you the plant is old enough/big enough to bloom. It would be kind of silly to recommend specific plants without knowing what Nasser is going to bring. I would lean toward Angs with thicker roots since they are more forgiving of watering failures.

Apparently Nasser has a bunch of large Ang hybrids. I forget the exact cross. He was really pushing me to buy one when I was arranging an order with him. I didn't. I would buy his plants again, but only if I saw them in person first. He has a well-earned reputation (i don't care what he says about how great he is) and that is for selling improperly labeled plants. He's had that rep for years but I placed an order anyway. I ordered five or six plants, none of which were cheap, and so far two of them have bloomed out to be wrongly labeled.

Don't get me wrong...the plants I got were some of the biggest and best Angs that I've ever received, but they were not what I ordered. If I was a new collector, it wouldn't be that big a deal. But at this point, if I order an Aerangis laurentii (he's got the genus name wrong on that anyway, it should be Summerhayesia), I do NOT want to receive Aerangis biloba, regardless of how big or nice it is....because I already have TWO of them. Similarly, I ordered Aeranthes nidus, and the plant I pulled out of the box was immediately recognizable as Aeranthes peyrotii. The thing is...if Angs are one of your main things, as he maintains, you do not accidentally mislabel these plants. I'm not saying he's doing it on purpose, I'm just telling you about my experience.

In summation, buy a big, thick rooted plant or two or three or five from him if you see something you like. But five years from now when you're trying to find places to buy Angs you don't have, don't mail order from him. :)
-MB

Ok thanks for the tips.

Like you say since I have no Angs. just a myriad of other things getting mislabeled ones is not a huge deal. But I would like to have them correctly labeled at some point, so I will have to post them here and get double checks.

I will probably only get one of two to start because he also has bulbos. which I am also interested in. I want to see how my growing complements them before I invest in a collection.

Sounds like they basically have the same things to look for as any orchid. I always try to buy plants that are in bloom or spike so I can at least get a look at them when I first get them so hopefully some are in bloom.

When I was asking if you have any recommendations I know he will not bring everything. I just wondered if any come to mind that are a good place to start with Angs. so if he does that that particular one I would recognize it. Probably more importantly are there any I should avoid at first.

For example if someone was just getting into orchids and was going to a show I would not recommend a Ghost orchid, but I might way to look out for a twinkle.

If you don't mind miniatures, you could look out for Ang. didieri or A. elephantinum. Each has the thick, white, warty roots favored by Mr.B for ease of care, and each stays under 6" tall or so. Big flowers for the size of the plant. Neither likes potting, so either go with the mount, or (as I did) stick it into an empty clay pot. The growing roots will quickly (for an ang, anyway) grab the walls and anchor it. A. didieri has continued to grow roots for me potted bare-a$$ed like this in winter down to 35% RH! Now that's tough....

Thanks I have that one on my want list so I am glad to hear it isn't a bad one for me to start with.

I feel a little less nervous about these now that I am finally trying to learn about them. i love the white sparkly-ness.

I second didieri. Veitchii, a larger plant, I have found to be relatively easy. Mine is in bloom now actually. I also liked aerangis mysticidii and ang distichum.

Those would all be fine choices. He's got his species list back up on his website but I don't see any Ang hybrids mentioned. But as I said before, he almost certainly will bring some. I can't remember for sure if it was Lemford White but i think so.

His website lists florulentum which has truly one of the most glorious fragrances of any living thing. They're not so easy to bloom however. Pretty easy to grow though. If he brings one, you should get it for sure. Magdalenae is more of a cool/intermediate grower, but if he's got them growing in SC, they're probably acclimated. So if he brings that, buy it.

He's likely to have at least one member of the perrierangraecum section of Angraecum, which are all quite similar in culture, growth habit, flower size and appearence (that's why they're all in the same section...duh). So if he has: didieri, elephantinum, compactum, obesum, or equitans, get one. I would get one of the latter three if possible because you can get didieri anywhere and you can get elephantinum from CalOrchids.

As for Aerangis.....I bet he brings biloba. They're fairly sturdy as Aerangis go. He might bring fastuosa which would be sorely tempting...after all, the beauty and fragrance is nearly unrivaled and the plant is cute and small. But, it is pretty easy to kill. I'd say that you should avoid Aerangis species that have small, thin roots, in general. But then again, you have to break some eggs to make a fritatta, right? I mean, ask yourself...how does he know its easy to kill? Cuz I've killed it. :(

Maybe that's the moral to this story. In order to really figure out how to grow Angs or orchids in general, you have to be willing to roll the dice sometimes and just try one that you like. Often one finds out that one cannot grow something that one likes, or at least can't grow it for more than a month! But often one finds that one CAN grow things that one wouldn't expect to be able to grow.

So, in closing, i don't know what to tell you or what you should do, besides the obvious, which is GET MORE ANGS! :)
-MB

Well back from the meeting. He was focussing on Bulbos. and had talked at two other societies Sunday and Monday. So either he didn't bring many Angs. or they all got bought up.

I did not see this post before the meeting so I did end up with an Aerangis Hyaloides. So hopefully I don't kill it too fast it is in spike so I should at lease see a blooming. This was the only Ang. he had.

Upside he didn't want to have to take any of the Bulbos. home so 40% off
ended up with three of them, but that will be another post.

Awww, sorry to hear that. Hyaloides is a great orchid. The flowers look like they're sprinkled with diamond dust.

Use only pure, clean water. How is it potted? Or is it mounted? Don't let it dry out completely. Medium light, good humidity. Per Stewart: It comes from the East coast of Madagascar at sea level and up to the highlands. It grows on twigs in moist forests amongst mosses and leafy liverworts. Mosses and liverworts=constant moisture, but air to the roots is also important, so i think a small clay pot and frequent waterings works pretty well. Good luck!

It is not potted or mounted in some kinds of media wrapped in foil. I was thinking I would mount it. If I can find something to mount it on. But I am not sure I will be able to find that up here.

I would put it in a small wad of good quality sphag moss. Stick that in a small (1.5"?) clay pot. Then stick that small clay pot inside ANOTHER slightly larger clay pot. That way there will be a small air space between the two clay layers which will provide for more airflow, you can water between the pots if you want, or even set them in a small dish of water to allow the clay to soak up some water to boost the humdity a bit. You could also use a plastic pot but be more diligent about watering habits.

So you don't recommend mounting? And they like to be moist most of the time?

Many Angs have dry seasons in their habitat, whereas others grow in fairly wet forests.

Buy the plant(s) which is least likely to be found online cheap; you can buy the rest anytime. Oak Hill always has several inexpensive Aerangis, Angraecums and an Aeranthes species or hybrids (pay attention if it is blooming size or not). Cal-Orchid has a several Angs also at low prices. So buy the rarer ones from Tom; no telling when they will be available again in the US -- right MrB?

After MBs description, I went to Oak Hill to see if they had an Aerangis fatuosa. They did but the picture is pretty pathetic looking. You'd think they'd post a beautiful picture (if they had one...) Must be a tricky plant.

Is the fragrance nicer than Ang. didieri?

J

Right CJ, buy the rare ones from Tom, *if* you can see them in person and can possitively ID it first, unless you don't care if the label is right.

I can't get my @#$%& didieri to bloom, I think its a dud. grrr But I can tell you fastuosa has one of the nicest fragrances I ever did smelt.

Fastuosa, like hyaloides, is one of those Aerangis that is often potted rather than mounted. Why? Cuz the roots are tiny and thus don't have a water holding capacity. Those kinds of roots prefer (require) a uniformly moist media, such as live moss and lichen on a branch in a damp and misty jungle in say...Madagascar. Very difficult to duplicate that on a windowsill or even in an orchidarium. So, they are usually potted to allow for the roots to stay moist longer. The problem is when the media breaks down and leads to rot. I've killed both those plants. My current fastuosa actually *is* mounted and if someone is familiar with growing thin rooted orchids on mounts, go for it! My hyaloides is in the double clay pot as described above. Most of the other Aerangis species have thicker roots and thus are more mount-friendly for people (like me) who have borderline conditions. HTH
-MB