How do I present a plant for AOS judging?

[Polarizeme]

Well, I took my Pleurothallis cardiothallis down to the Judging. It didn't even make it to nomination! Oh well, I just wanted to see what happens at these things. It was all very interesting.
Next year that plant will be twice as big or more and be covered in blooms. I bet it will get a nomination!

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Polarizeme

Well, I took my Pleurothallis cardiothallis down to the Judging. It didn't even make it to nomination! Oh well, I just wanted to see what happens at these things. It was all very interesting.
Next year that plant will be twice as big or more and be covered in blooms. I bet it will get a nomination!

Good experience!

[AnonYMouse]

Having no knowledge of these things, do they offer a fair critique, suggestions?

[Polarizeme]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

Having no knowledge of these things, do they offer a fair critique, suggestions?

If you ask, they will look up previously awarded plants so you can see what you are up against. But this was a small group of judges and participants, so I may have gotten lucky when I asked to see the other awarded plants.
With Pleurothallids, the foliage needs to be pristine since the plant in bloom is mostly foliage!
It was a good learning experience. One of the plants there took an HCC. That was interesting to listen in on and watch the judges go about the business of writing up the description for it.

[Roly0217]

I have been going to the AOS judging down here in my area since I'll be starting the student judge program in May and when it comes to judging we look at a couple of different things. Overall flower and foliage presentation meaning a well groomed plant with no dead leaves or sick parts and a well presented inflorescence meaning that the flower spike has been property staked to give the flowers the best presentation and that the flowers look uniform in the inflorescence with no fallen or faded blooms. This of course varies by genera but first impressions count. After this we look at the AQ plus and OrchidWiz to look for the dimensions of previously awarded plants and particular clones. We take measurements of the flowers that can be measured, look at color and texture and then decide if we will award it or not.


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[WeirdGuySeattle]

Sitting in judgement sounds awful. I brought an old Restrepia Trichoglossom that I was selling at the society sale table for $4.

It had been through some level of erm... neglect I would say, but had many new growths, some old sunburned leaves I didn't take off, some crinkled old leaves from stages of growth during low humidity.

The guy buying it insisted he was 'rescuing' the plant. It just looked grizzled, but was a very healthy plant. It was my first meeting, and it sort of put distaste in my mouth for the whole thing...

I don't know how I could stand the judgement on a plant I thought was superb.

[Polarizeme]

I think we need to separate ourselves from the plant. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What looks amazing to me might look "grizzled" to another. I think the attitude of your buyer was repulsive and rude. I probably would have taken the plant off the table and said that it wasn't for sale anymore, only because of the arrogance of the buyer.

Now, that being said, I do my best with my plants but I don't take it personally if someone else doesn't find my superb plants the same. If they are interested in buying the plant they will, regardless of it's perceived "grizzled" appearance. Some people will talk down a plant in hopes of coercing a seller into lowering the price. It's a very common buyer tactic that's not particularly creative and is ignored completely by me.

Frankly I would never voice a negative opinion of someones plant, especially if they are standing or sitting there. I keep my opinions to myself and my husband. Perhaps your buyer would have done better to do the same.