Source of 18" - 24" stakes and those little clips?

[RosieC]

You know I've never actually had to buy them. I take them out orchids that have finished flowering, wash them, keep them, then just pick the closest in size to what I need when another flowers. I guess I've bought plenty in flower over the years rather than buying them out of flower.

I would guess the places that sell potting material will sell them, I've seen them for sale at shows in the UK alongside the potting material.

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by RosieC

You know I've never actually had to buy them. I take them out orchids that have finished flowering, wash them, keep them, then just pick the closest in size to what I need when another flowers. I guess I've bought plenty in flower over the years rather than buying them out of flower......

Rosie,

I have to ask "would you consider sharing a needle with an Aids patient?" because this is what you may be doing when you take a stake from one plant and use it on another. From all our discussions here on OB, water does not sterilize anything and you must properly sterilize a stake in order to safely reuse it on another orchid as it is carrying the sap from the roots of the original plant. Wood will not sterilize properly. That is why I say to throw out the wood (actually bamboo) stakes after use. Metal can be sterilized.



Cym Ladye

[RosieC]

Very good point Cym Ladye! I never thought of it

[orchid-eric]

I make supports for spikes out of heavy wire or those green stakes you can get almost anywhere that has gardening stuff. I buy mini hair clips at the Dollar Tree. I think around 30 for $1.00.

[littlefrog]

I have a large box full of green daisy clips. Might be a few thousand in there. I'd be happy to send anybody a nice sized baggie for the price of postage...

For stakes, I still have lots of plastic coated metal stakes I bought from Chula Vista years ago. I bought way too many, since they are coated metal I clean them and re-use them so I never run out! Bamboo is cheap too, but I don't like the green ones. The dye gets all over the place.

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by littlefrog

......... Bamboo is cheap too, but I don't like the green ones. The dye gets all over the place.

I can relate to the dye getting all over the place (let alone the splinters) and that is why I have taken to disposable gloves. The serious advantage to green stakes, plastic covered or bamboo, is the "blended" appearance they give to the plant.

As a fellow judge, I am sure you consider the importance of not letting anything distract from the flower itself in judging and in the potential award photo. Ask your region's photographer what he/she thinks of natural bamboo stakes. In a photograph they stand out like a sore thumb if they get in the frame. Our award photographer here always asked me if it was OK to disconnect the inflorescence or move the tie so the stake would be out of the frame of the flower he was photographing.

Just one of the finer points in staking an inflorescence.

Cym Ladye

[littlefrog]

The distraction factor is precisely why I use green (or brown, I don't have as many of those) daisy clips rather than the butterflies or bees or whatever other gaudy monstrosity you find out there.

One reason I have a huge box (I might have two huge boxes) of the green clips is that a wholesaler I work with always removes the green clips and replaces them with butterflies. I always remove the butterflies and replace them with green clips. Last time we were out there they just gave us a huge pile of green clips they were throwing away. Sheesh.