Hey Guys! I was wondering if you know of any reliable online shops for miniature orchids that don't cost an arm and a leg? I would like to start collecting some mounted mini's since they take up less room than the monstrous Cymbidiums I have......

There isnt a vendor that specializes in mini-orchids that I am aware of.
A vendor that specializes in mounted orchids is Andy's Orchids in California. Exactly where he is, my old brain forgets!

If you have access to old books or an orchid book specialist, you should get your hands on a book by Rebecca Northern. She wrote a book on 'Miniature Orchids' maybe 40 years ago. It is excellent! It would provide you with a fantastic starting point.
This is exactly why I attend orchid meetings. Old volumes often turn up on sales tables as members move or pass away.
Good luck in your search!!

Hi Jayce, Welcome to our little slice of Paradise !
Look at Diamond Orchids website. Peter Lin has many small plants that might be perfect for you! Don't forget to post what you get into one of our threads...
'Orchid Shows and Shopping' or our monthly 'What's in bloom' that's were most of our conversations occur. Have fun!

Andy's Orchids and J&L come to my mind.
https://andysorchids.com/
https://jlorchids.com/

Thank you all so much! I will definitely be on the lookout for that book Bill! We have an amazing used bookshop on Mainstreet, where the entire building is just winding pathways of used books! They have a pretty good-sized garden section too!

The thread "Miniature Orchids 3" in Orchids forum
The thread "Miniature Orchids 2" in Orchids forum

We used to have a a couple of threads about Miniature Orchids.
There is has to be a Miniature 1 thread, I haven't found it yet. It was at the time from switchover from Cubits.org to garden.org. 10 years ago!!

Here it is thread 1
The thread "Miniature Orchids" in Orchids forum

Jayce; Here's another link for Mini's :)
https://www.orchidsbyhauserman...

Glenn, shall I add the ' back into Minis?

...did....🤔

Ursula said:Glenn, shall I add the ' back into Minis?

...did....🤔

If we want to be really pedantic about it , it should be "minis" as "mini" is the abbreviation for "miniature" and the plural of an abbreviation or acronym almost always just adds "s" (no apostrophe).

Well, this pedantic German school girl in me always looks at something like this and asks immediately wessen/whose = Genitive or possessive, if not = plural.
I corrected it and then asked myself if perhaps the question was meant to be "whose". So I restored it.
...just a silly aside on my part.....

Anyway, miniature Orchids are a lot of fun on a small scale. One thing to consider is the water quality when trying to keep many of the species happy.

If there is one thing I truly dislike about Florida it is the water. We recently installed an RO system (Yay, no more toting bottled water home) and I have noticed that my orchids are much happier as are Phil and I. I seem to grow orchids only for the foliage, rarely seeing flowers, but all of a sudden some PBs are swelling - maybe, just maybe I might see a flower one day. The plants get RO or rain water and I am sure it has made a difference.

We have an RO system that we use for the house. It has made us not have to spend money on dechlorinator for my fishtanks, so that's nice!!!

We collect the rain water off the greenhouse roof! Our water is very hard and leaves a residue on everything! Surely in the long run it would clog the stomata on leaves and roots, not a good thing for Orchids originating from areas watered by clean mountain water. Besides, the glass panels in the greenhouse would be salt- covered within a season.

Jayce, perfect!