"Strategies" for "rescuing" orchids from grocery stores/big box stores - Page 4 - Orchid Board

Stray59 · #31 03-09-2013, 02:02 AM

You know this is what I hate about texting or posting - there is no way to infer affectation or emotions while you are "talking" like we can with a voice connection - I really don't get that offended over things that much and I hope others don't either. I guess i can read something, and if I thinkg the writer is upset, it can sound much different that the writer intended.
I think (hope) the Board is a good place for people to freely express themselves about a given topic, with no need to get testy or take offense - someone doesn't think like me, big deal! We will all live.
Too each his own - many have their own restrictions on their collections for various reasons - more power to everyone that has the collection THEY like, regardless of what others think they should have - Enjoy your collection because it is yours! Buy what you feel good about -
Just my two cents -
Steve

Wild Orchid · #32 03-09-2013, 03:15 AM

[/COLOR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

All the major stores here in NYC do not throw away orchids. They simply take them back to whoever they got them from. makes me wonder, but that's how it is.

If someone knocks off orchids and damage them badly, then they do throw away the pots.
and these pots are free. I saved quite a few.
I had to wash real good in a dilution of clorox before using them though, of course. just in case.

The local Safeway (Vancouver, BC) said they typically compost Phals.

Those never go on sale either. I'm just learning to be detached when I'm in Safeway and see wilting orchids. I have other sources, so tough on Safeway.

goodgollymissmolly · #33 03-09-2013, 06:37 AM

Slow down

Someone said that today's big box store orchids are just the newest cut flowers....exactly. They are intended for decoration. The mass producers mericlone them by the millions for the mass decoration market. Is that bad? Only if you think everyone has to "rescue" them just because they exist.Are they wasteful?...only if any other cheap, disposable product is wasteful. Do people need to go on a guilt trip because they buy gas for a vacation or go to a movie? I guess we could survive without those things, but it wouldn't be much fun.

Are these the things for collectors..absolutely not. Do they introduce people to orchids who go on to become advanced hobbyists? Not very often. More likely they have the opposite effect by drowning the market in cheap crap thus overexposing orchids and making them appear to be cheap crap.

I can't wait for the mass market to go elsewhere and I hope it happens in time to save the small operators who serve the hobbyist market and make the hobby possible. These are the people who know orchids, explain them to their customers and make the hobby possible.

Big box stores simply supply "flowers" from people who simply provide "flowers". Nobody in the chain cares about orchids or hobbyists, just revenue. They will move on. Quickly I hope.

Meanwhile you have no responsibility to support them just as they have no responsibility to you. It's a simple relationship...the exchange of a few dollars for a cheap product. It isn't about a wasteful society, a horrible producer, or dishonest retailers. It's about you and your desire for a classy product or a cheap piece of crap.

Wild Orchid · #34 03-09-2013, 01:12 PM

I agree with many of you and the points made.
However, this thread was started by someone who wanted to know how they can save their orchid.
Seriously, why such a patronizing tone? Some feel that it's worth to shell off $150 or more on a rare plant that is registered in AOS database and with the name noone can pronounce. Others enjoy simple pleasures. To each its own.
I find it really hurting when people start sounding like "I don't have room, time and energy for NOIDs and rescues" or go as far as calling a stor bought flower "a cheap piece of crap". Well, that's fine, some others do and draw on a great personal learning and even spiritual experience that nursing a sick plant to life offers.

I thought beatuiful things and hobbies, in general, would be an environment for like minded members to share, learn and inspire each other, not to throw stones at those who hold a different point of view or practice.

james mickelso · #35 03-09-2013, 01:36 PM

Don't worry rillia, most people are bad shots when throwing stones anyway. It only hurts if you let it. I for one learned to smile no matter what as it always feels good. This board is a place to express opinions, offer up personal experience even if that is different than someone elses, try and help new comers learn and hopefully come to love orchids as most of us do, and socialize. If we let our thin skin get between learning from one another than that is really too bad. For there is no one who can't learn something from someone else. Some are just a little more passionate about something than others and I for one think that is marvelous. But back to the big box stores. I feel that they are the leading reason so many are now learning about orchids and becoming interested in them. If anything they are responsible for the increase in sales at the local orchid nurseries who do grow better, more varied fare. In my experience few laypeople would stop by the local orchid nursery and pay $25-50 for an orchid they knew nothing about. Most wouldn't know an orchid from a chia pet if it bit them. But because there are a plethora of big box stores and the likes of Armstrong Nurseries that offer up pretty orchids cheap, it offers the layperson a means to buy cheap and become interested in them. Most of the folks I've met through the years that come to club meetings as newbies started and became interested in orchids becaues they got one for Easter or Valentines Day or Mothers Day, liked it but were so intriqued that they wanted more. And always remember that there is always a smile (or smirk) on my face when writing. And I always see the smile on everyone elses.

SlipperGirl · #36 03-09-2013, 01:38 PM

ok everyone with me deap breath in deap breath out.

We all have different opinions on things this is one of them we dont mean to dis America or say that you cant buy or rescue NoIDs some of us would rather put our time and money into different orchids and would rather help suport US growers then growers in other country's.

If you would rather have NoIDs thats fine but its like somone else already said if you change your mind and want to get different orchids they may not be here. The growers here in the US put alot of time into there orchids and I would rather see them stay then more cheap orchids come in.

james mickelso · #37 03-09-2013, 01:53 PM

And I concur to the point. But small, and large commercial growers have been in business here in the US long before orchids were as popular as they have become. They won't be driven out of business by the big box store/foreign growers association. The consuming public is just too large for that to happen. As in any business, if your business plan is a good one, you will survive. I've known many growers/hybridizers who started out as hobbyists and thought/hoped that they could make a living at it just to realize that it takes more than passion to run a business. I grew bonsai for over 40 years and thought the same just to find out that there was not enough profit in it to make a successful business out of it. But there are still bonsai growers who do and they have been in business for decades even though you can get bonsai at Wallmart/Lowes/Armstrong that are produced in Tiewan by the boatload. Those bonsai growers have benefitted from the big box stores selling those cheap pseudo-bonsai from overseas. Local orchid nurseries are benefitting from the big box stores.

Wild Orchid · #38 03-09-2013, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mothorchidgirl

ok everyone with me deap breath in deap breath out.

We all have different opinions on things this is one of them we dont mean to dis America or say that you cant buy or rescue NoIDs some of us would rather put our time and money into different orchids and would rather help suport US growers then growers in other country's.

It sounds to me almost like there's a hidden message of ethical nature - whom to buy from and not to buy from. Well, if we go this route, I might as well suggest that it might feel unethical to many Americans that some choose to sell/buy a plant for over $100 while in this economy many Americans have to choose between buying medication or food.
Famous vendors everyone is buying from are just as much for making a big buck and charge as much as you're willing to pay. I find this being in the same way unethical as buying from oversees mass producers..... in the end, as the saying goes, consumers vote with their wallet.