The Dendrobium that hasn't bloomed in three years isn't failing — it's waiting for the right cue. The problem is that the specific cue varies by type: a nobile-type Dendrobium needs a dry cool rest to initiate spike development, while a phalaenopsis-type Dendrobium wants consistent warmth year-round and blooms from old canes. If the Type of Dendrobium field isn't populated and the cultural protocol isn't documented per plant, you're applying the same care regimen to two orchids that require opposite treatments.
Parentage and Identity
Hybrid or Species? with Parents and Awarded? with Award Information are the provenance fields that determine a plant's value and its place in the broader collection narrative. A first-generation hybrid between a Cattleya labiata and a Cattleya trianaei produces a different cultural profile than a complex hybrid with eight generations of breeding. The parents determine not just the expected flower appearance but the cultural requirements — altitude tolerance, temperature preference, water sensitivity — inherited from the species ancestors.
An AOS, RHS, or equivalent award recorded in Award Information with the judging date and score establishes the plant's judged quality. For breeding purposes, awarded plants carry a higher weight in cross selection. For sale or exhibition purposes, the award documentation is part of the plant's value proposition. An awarded Paphiopedilum rothschildianum with a documented multi-generation provenance in the collection record is a different asset than an unnamed seedling.
ID Code and Orchid Nickname solve the practical problem of referring to specific plants in a large collection. A collection of 200 orchids will inevitably include multiple examples of the same hybrid registered under different commercial names, plus unnamed seedlings, plus cultivars that look similar in vegetative growth but differ in flower form. The ID Code is the unambiguous identifier; the Orchid Nickname is the name the grower actually uses when talking about the plant.
The Culture Matrix
Temperature range, Winter Rest, and Type of rest together define the seasonal management protocol. A Cycnoches that needs a completely dry rest with temperatures dropping to 12°C to initiate blooming will die if treated like a Phalaenopsis hybrid maintained in warm, humid conditions year-round. Temperature (the general growing temperature category — warm, intermediate, cool) combined with the specific range gives both the general protocol and the plant's actual tolerance parameters.
Water requirements and Humidity with Potting Media and Pot type are the substrate and irrigation variables that interact. A mounted orchid in a bark slab drains completely between waterings by design; the same plant in a pot with fine bark mix may be overwatered on the same schedule. Date Repotted with Pot Size and Potting Media creates the substrate history — you can determine whether the current medium is still providing the right drainage characteristics or whether it's begun to break down into the fine particulate that causes root suffocation.
Conditions in the Wild, Distribution, and Elevation are the ecological reference fields. For species and first-generation hybrids, knowing that the species comes from cloud forest at 1,800m in the Colombian Andes tells you more about its cultural requirements than any generalized growing guide. Elevation correlates directly with temperature preference, humidity expectation, and seasonality. A grower who knows their Masdevallia is native to 2,500m elevation will understand why it collapses at summer temperatures above 25°C.
Sequential Blooms? and Inducing Blooms are the two fields that capture bloom management knowledge for that specific plant. Some Epidendrums bloom continuously on extending inflorescences; others require specific temperature differentials to initiate. Bloomed? with Bloom Season creates the historical record — if a plant hasn't bloomed in the three years you've owned it, that's data, and the Culture and Inducing Blooms fields are where you record what you've tried and what the literature suggests.