Your orchid collecting habits question...

[Rosiefuture]

Originally Posted by Lady Tottington

I totally get these... for one, I'm not as proficient as others may be, and would feel horrible if I killed a $150 plant as opposed to a $10. I recently had a crown rot on a walmart special, and felt no remorse about having to send it to the garbage... BUT, if it was something that I had paid a fortune for, that could be VERY UN-THERAPEUTIC for me... and in the end, I would feel very very bad.

I tend to take things to the other extreme, I don't even like throwing out old back bulbs when I repot orchids. I have numerous pots of back bulbs scattered under my ficus and mulberry trees. I have a reasonable success rate in getting them to throw a new shoot. Depending what they are I'll either keep them or pass them on to friends.

Marion

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Lady Tottington

Excellent point... I like the idea of growing them from small, but the instant gratification part of me thinks that I'd miss out on a lot of blooming while waiting for them to mature to that point. There are some things that are worth the wait, but in my seasonal depression in the dead of winter, I know the blooms are the best anti-depressants my money can buy. Will a compot give me that same reward? Well... it may have it's own sort of medicinal quality, but like you pointed out... do I really want 5 of the same plant (provided I haven't already killed the other 4)

Part of me thinks to get the ones I really want, but on the side, have a couple "projects" that I could then "gift" out when they reach a size worthy to gift.

I'm hoping my orchid fancy is not a passing fancy... sometimes my hobbies are like that, and being that brutally honest is painful , but it's good to challenge myself with that question. In all honesty, some of my houseplants (plain jane house plants mind you) I have had for 20 years, so I suspect this is not a passing fancy, but more a "hobby" that I can grow with as I watch my plants hopefully grow.

In the end, I'd like specimen size plants that seem to always bloom, ones that I could pluck off a start from to make as a gift to someone else. I really want plants in every room, including the bathroom, I want to see them everywhere I look. Afterall, my outside yard is now fully landscaped and I keep going out to fine tune that, move this plant here, and that over there to maximize space and sun. I feel like I am doing that in the house now, and can do that in the dead of winter when there is three feet of snow outside and it's -17 degrees and I want to cry because winter feels like it will never end.

Whoa... sorry for the long ramble. See??? Orchids are good therapy!

oh definitely! it is fun to share with others! I did buy a few 'plugs' last year with the intent to share some of them - I knew with my limited space that most had to go before it was too cold for them to stay outside.

I do now have every windowsill in my house full of orchids lol. You should make a project of finding orchids that bloom in different seasons, so that you'll hopefully have something blooming most of the time

[quiltergal]

Like many others here my first orchid was a NOID Phal. It went the way of most people's 1st orchid..... A few years later I decided to try again with a Potinara. I didn't kill it but it wouldn't bloom either. When I finally found OB things began turning around. I found I was successful with a pretty far flung variety of genera. I bought several AOS awarded clones and slowly began moving away from NOIDs. I gifted many to friends and neighbors. Since I grow in the house space is always an issue. I still have a couple of my NOIDs that I just can't bear to part with because they're too beautiful. I have also donated named plants to the society sale table. I've been growing for about 6 years now and I'd say probably 50% of my collection is comprised of species. Of the hybrids I own most are Paphs and Phrags.

I think Royal's point about AOS clones was a very good one. If you want to show your plants, and perhaps win an AOS award yourself, then you're better off with a plant that hasn't been awarded yet. Judges really don't like to award a clone that has previously been awarded unless it's significantly better than the original awarded plant. I have this great Phal. that I show every year. Every year it gets nominated for an award, and every year it doesn't get awarded. There is only 1 award for this clone. The flower count was something ridiculous like 39 flowers on a single inflorescence. My plant will NEVER surpass that, and will never be awarded. It's become something of a joke in my society. I nicknamed it the Bridesmaid (never the bride).

[jeffg]

Lady T, you said "I'm hoping my orchid fancy is not a passing fancy... sometimes my hobbies are like that, and being that brutally honest is painful , but it's good to challenge myself with that question."

I think your being willing to face this aspect of yourself is very cool. I, too, have this pattern of deep immersion , where, historically, some things have turned from awesome projects to nightmarish chores. I have felt burdened by the watering a few times here and there - mostly when I am busy with work. Yet, overall I have remained engaged for what I fancy is a relationship with another living being. The other component that keeps it fresh for me is the nature of orchid people. We "get" each other and relate within the scope of the passion. Ultimately, for me, its all about relationships.

[cb977]

A round of applause for Lady Tottington

This is exactly the kind of conversation our hobby incites and I just love it!

Thank you for getting this one started

As everybody knows, I lost my mind rather quickly and have a v-e-r-y diverse collection as a result

When I started, a little over 5 years ago, I bought some blooming plants...some seedlings...some NOIDS...some potted...some mounted...you see where this is going? NO self-control whatsoever!

Now, I consider myself to be more of a species snob...but I still buy some blooming plants...some seedlings...some NOIDS...some potted...some mounted...you see where this is going? NO self-control whatsoever!

Life's too short to do anything that doesn't make you happy...if a plant makes you smile, then it's valuable

[natasha]

i guess i miss the bus and this interesting conversation... anyway, my reply would be, i collect noids, named hybrids and species. in short, i buy anything that caught my mind or spend the next few days cursing myself
as for value, i think its on the eyes of the seer. every plant can have a value, but a collection's value is actually an emotional investment - at least for myself.
i started collecting about 2 years ago, after being hospitalized. i passed out after an asthma attack and spend a few days warded. i spent my time adoring an orchid book especially on the catts section. i guess i realized time is too short not to try and then decided to start, after some persuasion from nursery staff too!
i started on noid vandas and dendrobiums. then moving towards species and named hybrids. i still buy the noids that i fancy though to avoid sleepless nights i tend to buy orchid that i like at the moment, now i am looking for more terrestrial types and coelogyne, last month my fave was species phals, who know what going to be next month?

[Lady Tottington]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

Like many others here my first orchid was a NOID Phal. It went the way of most people's 1st orchid..... .....

I have this great Phal. that I show every year. Every year it gets nominated for an award, and every year it doesn't get awarded. There is only 1 award for this clone. The flower count was something ridiculous like 39 flowers on a single inflorescence. My plant will NEVER surpass that, and will never be awarded. It's become something of a joke in my society. I nicknamed it the Bridesmaid (never the bride).

love that, always a Bridesmaid, never a bride

speaking of your first orchid... well, I have a story to top yours. My first NOID was a dendrobium that I nearly killed, imagine this scenario: I knew NOTHING about orchids, so assumed they were like tulips! Good Lord... I can see your horror now over what I will next describe to you... imagine this beautiful dendrobium that finished blooming, and as the first two leaves dying back, so that it could continue growing it's cane, but me ignorantly thinking (which I am quite embarrassed to admit) that I needed to cut the whole cane back to the bottom, because if it was like a tulip, the bulb would come back next year. Dear Orchid Lord, please forgive my sins. In the end, the poor little plant was so confused, however I will tell you now that after 8 years, it is beginning to show signs of life and forgiveness and is sending up a new little cane, off of one that I had the nerve to cut back. I will also admit that one time I tried to just let it die, I ignored it, never watered it, and literally hoped it would die... but did it? NO. The thing hung on. Which in turn, made this little plant earn my respect and undying devotion, and now I am trying to salvage it and I have pledged the rest of my life to see it one day return to it's one time glory before I so brutally and ignorantly "cared for it". Thank the Orchid god's for me never throwing it out, and now I keep it as a sort of reminder of how a lack of education can cause one to do very very bad things.

All of this to say, I hope to right my wrongs.

[Lady Tottington]

Originally Posted by Rosiefuture

I tend to take things to the other extreme, I don't even like throwing out old back bulbs when I repot orchids. I have numerous pots of back bulbs scattered under my ficus and mulberry trees. I have a reasonable success rate in getting them to throw a new shoot. Depending what they are I'll either keep them or pass them on to friends.

Marion

This is should try, however I don't have a ficus, but I do have another potted big plant that could work? How do you do this? Are these inside or outside trees?

[Lady Tottington]

Originally Posted by jeffg

Lady T, you said "I'm hoping my orchid fancy is not a passing fancy... sometimes my hobbies are like that, and being that brutally honest is painful , but it's good to challenge myself with that question."

I think your being willing to face this aspect of yourself is very cool. I, too, have this pattern of deep immersion , where, historically, some things have turn from awesome projects to nightmarish chores. I have felt burdened by the watering a few times here and there - mostly when I am busy with work. Yet, overall I have remained engaged for what I fancy is a relationship with another living being. The other component that keeps it fresh for me is the nature of orchid people. We "get" each other and relate within the scope of the passion. Ultimately, for me, its all about relationships.

I love how you put it... it's a relationship!!!!

I can identify with the deep immersion... that is my pattern. I dive in full force as if I am looking for something, anything, to be good at, and then if I turn out to not be, or if on the other side I "tire" of it I "give up" or just let it go after I have become a professional of it.

But I like the way you see the nurturing of orchids as being a relationship... this is indeed very very true. They respond to how I care, and this is FEEDBACK! Which is tangible. While my hobby of cross stitching seemed to only respond when I was stitching, and when I ignored stitching, there was no other side of the relationship. Orchids show you their life! Their booms, or their pain. And that feedback loop does indeed make me feel like it's something I have the ability to affect.

I regularly see the watering as a peaceful thing that somehow waters my soul more than it waters theirs, but that in the end is the end or beginning of the loop. Checking the skewers, looking for new growth, inspecting for insects or scale, moving them here and there, changing the inclination of the west facing blinds for the right amount of light... all of those things too, enrich me, or maybe they just help to take me outside of me, and therefore I become less about me, and more about an other.... an outside force... a life beyond my own. My kids serve to do this too, my husband as well is an outside force, but orchids are peace... my kids and my husband are not always.... orchids are tranquil.... and so seemingly when I can retreat into the space of stepping outside of myself with them, it teaches me somehow, or instructs me somehow, how to do it with others.

they are a relationship. they teach. they are peace... and they reward with a visual display of color as if to say to you "you did a good job with me... keep up the good work..." I know I will have to guard myself so that any discouragement from them (if they do not thrive, etc. ) is not a reflection of me and my heart, but a teaching tool and feedback not failure.

[Lady Tottington]

Originally Posted by cb977

A round of applause for Lady Tottington

This is exactly the kind of conversation our hobby incites and I just love it!

Thank you for getting this one started

As everybody knows, I lost my mind rather quickly and have a v-e-r-y diverse collection as a result

When I started, a little over 5 years ago, I bought some blooming plants...some seedlings...some NOIDS...some potted...some mounted...you see where this is going? NO self-control whatsoever!

Now, I consider myself to be more of a species snob...but I still buy some blooming plants...some seedlings...some NOIDS...some potted...some mounted...you see where this is going? NO self-control whatsoever!

Life's too short to do anything that doesn't make you happy...if a plant makes you smile, then it's valuable

I love you!

I also love you saying that Life's too short to do anything that doesn't make you happy.... and if a plant makes you smile, then it's valuable....

TRUTH. Perfect and beautiful truth.