Hey Phal pal--
I've been thinking of doing the same. My idea was to use individual index cards for each plant, and track them from purchase on, including spike and bloom, length of bloom time, etc.
I know some people do this on a computer spread sheet, but I like index card, and maybe a rollodex (do they still make those?)
nick

Yeah, index cards for each plant, why didn't I think of that???? Great idea! Anyone else have any ideas? Or, why you don't bother?

Hi Phal Pal and all,

My tracking system has been evolving since last April. It has two parts:

PART ONE consists of a grow list, alphabetical by genus, and kept on the computer, so that notes can be added each quarter as needed.
After each name I try to note the following, where known:

*Whatever I know about plant's origin (in brief).
*Where purchased/from whom; Date and Price paid.
*Pot, medium, or mount at purchase; repot history.
*Spike and Bloom history w/dates
*Color and Scent.
*Notes

Here is the entry for my Neofinetia falcata:

Neofinetia falcata: clone (not mericlone) sib cross ~from seed; Scott, of White Oak Orchids at Sac.Orchid Society (SOS) show 4/19/2008 $22.00. 1.5" terracotta; media is Sphag & pearlite. Already had 5 tiny lower axillary spike tufts. Bloomed 5/19 - 7/4/08. 2 spikes had 6 blooms ea.; 2 had 5, & 1 had 4. Beautiful crystalline white, long "tailed"; vanilla cookies scent wafts two rooms away at night. 1 day more freq. water when blooming.

PART TWO consists of a water/fert/flush (W, w/f, flsh, etc.) grid for day to day care. My collection is still small (13 plants) so that I can make an abbreviated list of orchids across the top and number each day of the month down the side. I can add the lines by computer, but don't know how to make vertical lines, so I mark them in with a ruler, after printing the page. This gives each plant a small box for care symbols.

I use a fine lead mechanical pencil for marks and notes (easier to read) and keep the sheet in the room from which I work to water the plants. Ample space is left at the bottom of each monthly sheet for Notes. Here's an abbreviated sample. Maybe you can imagine the column lines and notations:
.........
OCT 2008 ~ "All" refers to other plants. Docs are P591 Flask babies; BB is seedling.

Ph1 BigP Baby Slipr Neo Cym Milt Morm Jewl BB651 Doc1 Doc2 Doc3 Onc All
1_______________________________________________________________________
2_______________________________________________________________________
3_______________________________________________________________________
4_______________________________________________________________________
.........
This draft I save on the computer, so that I can make any changes and print a new sheet for the next month. I make the left margin only wide enough to accommodate the numbers and use the extra space in the right and bottom margins to make brief notes. I use pencilled asterisks within a box to show that there is a note corresponding to that plant in the margin or at the bottom of the sheet.

(Come to think of it, this probably could be done just as well on the kind of graph paper we used in chemistry lab. I may do that...just thinking out loud here :) As said, the system is evolving.)

Anyway, I save these monthly sheets, so that every few months I can incorporate any significant notes into the PART ONE grow list on the computer. Monthly sheets definitely work better for me than my memory!

Sweetcicely

Mine is completely on the computer, but I keep a clipboard with blank paper in the work area and the digital camera nearby. I have about 500 plants and I aspire to having a web page for each with a plant and flower picture.

I don't keep individual care records, but need to be able to separate out the plants needing dry winter rest, so I am including that information. I make an effort to have the medium of a plant adjusted so that they can all have the same watering within one of my 3 watering zones (wet, medium, dry).

I added the clipboard because my memory is not good enough. I have often thought about doing something or getting a picture, then never coming back to do it. I have missed more than one opportunity to get a flower picture and had to wait a year for the next shot at it. At least with the blank paper I can write enough to jog my memory later.

One benefit of an up-to-date computer record is that I can print a species list. I take it with me to all shopping opportunities. Save me from buying duplicates.

When I had a small number of plants I had a card system. When the number expanded I had trouble keeping it up and eventually abandoned it. I tried to rely on my memory and that worked up to a point, but then I ran out of brain cells and had to do better. I started with a spreadsheet and now I have a database with species information and individual plant information that gets merged into the web pages. I am constantly refining what I think is important to know. One big one is the link to the specific page on OrchidSpecies.com so I can easily refer to their information too.

sweetcicely--
your notes on neofinetia falcata are exactly what I had in mind! Maybe I'll get started on this project tonight! It's soo easy to forget this type of information, especially as the collection expands.
I'm not sure I see a need for notes on day to day care, though...
Maybe I'll have a combination of written and computerized records...
Nick

What great ideas! Does anyone make a computer software program for this yet? Pictures, I guess if I had a picture of the blooms it would help me through the green times...

richardol-500 plants? You must be single....

...or retired

I kept track of EVERYTHING in a spiral notebook from June 04 to May 08 when I got smart and put it all in my computer. It was taking up 5 full pages each month in the spiral ! I quit the daily recording of watering/feeding because I found myself doing it according to the log and also missing recording sometimes when I was getting caught up into the hands on part ! So . . . I voted for the hands on and like to think that they all have approved and IMproved as a result !! I DO listen and watch more closely than when I was caught up into the daily log thing !!!

I keep an updated landscape Word log alphabetically by location. It reads across = Name, Date (acquired), Repot (date), Cost, Where Acquired, Spike (X or nothing), Bloom (date), Notes.
for example;
Bc. Little Marmaid 'Janet' BM/JOGA 3/05 5/06 $25 MOS show (Seagrove) X 10/8
this one was just highlited in yellow because it opened this morning !
I still have the full page for each one in a spiral that was before June 08 and thinking of keeping up that part of the spiral log thing.

C-

I keep records on five x seven index cards. Across the top I write the name of the plant, color, parents, size of the plant (how many bulbs or canes) and where I bought it.
On columns going down I record when I repotted it, what media, and any treatment, such as Superthrive or cinnamon. In columns going across I write the date of a new lead, the date it blooms, how many blooms, and the duration of the blooms.

I also have a calendar which I've done up in the computer and can print out. In each month I have what treatment the plants get in that month. For example, in April I might have: Increase fertilizer to one teaspoon to a gallon. Give liquid seaweed once a month. Start increasing water. Repot phals. Put hardier plants outdoors as soon as nighttime temps warm up, etc.

In August I might have: Start decreasing fertilizer for dendrobiums. Back off slightly on watering. Give phals a dose of epsom salts and start using bloom booster fertilizer.

I usually mention every type of plant I have in each month and what that type of plants need at that time. I keep refining the calendar as I learn more about the plants. I found it invaluable.

I only have about 20 orchids, but I keep track of all my mistakes( and occasional successes) on the computer. Each orchid has its own pages, with a photo, date when acquired and from whom, and culture notes, so that I can replicate successful growing procedures in subsequent seasons. A separate page has a table (I once did a course in Excel, then promptly forgot everything I learnt, but the Word table works very well). In it I enter the dates of each new growing phase - this way I know at a glance how long it takes from emergence of spike/sheath to bloom and how long the blooming period lasts. So far, these tables are pretty empty, but hopefully I'll be able to fill them up as my gardening skills improve.
Judy

Judy-
I like how each orchid has its own page--how do you do that--in 'Word'?
I tried Excel, and it was a nightmare...
nick

Nick,
It's all done on a Word file (which I have called "my orchids"). After the picture and culture notes, I make a "page break" before setting up the table. That way, I can continue adding to the culture notes and the table will always be on a separate page at the end. I have organised the orchids in alphabetical order - first by family, then by genus and last by species- this way I have plants with more or less similar conditions grouped together. The first page lists all the plants. You can find each plant by typing in its name (or the page no.) in the "search" window.
If you send me an email (through administration??) I can send you one entry by attachment, so you can see exactly how it looks.
Try it. It really is a big help.
Judy