When should wild orchids be collected to save them?

[claypot]

Short answer to the original question........never.

[Fairorchids]

Originally Posted by Russell 99

Thanks Roberta, yes I agree, they need their own specific growing conditions in order proper, I've never revealed their location to anyone, in the case of nursery grown species I can tell that none of those species are grown in nurseries, and recently(2020) there was a huge demand for rhynchostylis retusa and many plants were removed from their habitat, mostly the people who removed them wanted to make a quick buck from them, so they didn't care about the plants(plants were twisted most had there roots ripped off, broken plants, most of them could have taken 5/10 or even 20 years to grow) , most of the plants were bound to die in the hands or beginners, you might be wondering why weren't there why weren't there nursery grow plants there was but not local, all imported plants that marketed at almost 10 times the price of that, this made it really hard for a common person to buy a few plants. (even wild alba varieties were for sale.) but majority of local species aren't propagated.

Russell,

You have not told us where you are located. From your Rhy retusa example, I assume somewhere in the ASEAN region.

That species is available from Thai nurseries for US$4-6 each (in the US it retails for US$40-65 each, a bit more for the alba form). That price level should not drive wild collection.

[Russell 99]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Russell,

You have not told us where you are located. From your Rhy retusa example, I assume somewhere in the ASEAN region.

That species is available from Thai nurseries for US$4-6 each (in the US it retails for US$40-65 each, a bit more for the alba form). That price level should not drive wild collection.

Sorry, I'm from Sri Lanka/Sot Asia by the way, yes, that may be the price in Thailand, but when they are imported the price normally goes up(its affordable but not for everyone) , also the plant is very attractive, and is a national flower in one province, so it attracted a lot of people people, so some people found a way to make a quick buck and by selling habitat plants, these plants are normally sell at about 500rs and the imported one at 10 times the price of that(it recently dropped to half of that 2500/3000)as I know this was mostly online(due to covid) driven through social media sites like Facebook(lots of pics and sellers there). This isn't the only plant this happened to though!

[tmoney]

well, i think it’s worth acknowledging that we who buy nursery orchids may in some way be indirectly responsible for illegal collection. like, sure, the cites stuff helps to oversee the market, but come on, we r humans. we r kidding ourselves if we think that some of the people the nurseries deal with in other places may not always do everything above board. and in those places im sure the competition is fierce and they will do whatever it takes to gain an advantage. we all know how the world works.

it’s unfortunate, but that’s humans for ya....

[AnonYMouse]

Originally Posted by tmoney

well, i think it’s worth acknowledging that we who buy nursery orchids may in some way be indirectly responsible for illegal collection. like, sure, the cites stuff helps to oversee the market, but come on, we r humans. we r kidding ourselves if we think that some of the people the nurseries deal with in other places may not always do everything above board. and in those places im sure the competition is fierce and they will do whatever it takes to gain an advantage. we all know how the world works.

it’s unfortunate, but that’s humans for ya....

Do your due diligence! Ask questions, check reputations, do what you can from your sofa to protect wild species. Some vendors (ebay and the like) give themselves away (more regarding fraud than source) with descriptions. If it is too good to be true, it probably is. If you want something special, be prepared to pay for it or walk away.