Question for teenage growers

[MrHungx]

If you haven't already seen my previous posts, here's a little background info about me:

I'm 17 years old (turning 18 in a few days!) and I will be going to UC Davis this fall. I currently live in San Diego and have a moderately sized orchid collection (originally 39 plants, now down to 26).

I have a question for those teenage orchid growers out there:

What will you do with your orchid collection once you go to college?

My parents are not a big fan of orchids, so I really can't rely on them to take care of my orchids for me. I applied for a single bedroom, and I secretly hope that I will be able to take my collection along with me Has anyone given this much consideration?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I am not a teenager, but I am attempting to work towards a bachelor's degree. Even though, I plan to stay somewhat local, I still have to consider this issue as well, and I do have a similar problem as you, where none of my family members are able to take care of my orchids for various reasons.

The difference between me and you is that now that I'm an adult, I no longer have to worry about what my parents think or say when it comes down to dealing with the financial aid papers. I can choose to live in housing around the campus if I wanted or needed to and hope that financial aid will cover enough of the costs should that ever be an option.

So...yeah, the only thing I gotta say to you is, 29 orchids is a fairly good sized collection, but it shouldn't be too large of a burden as long as they are orchids that are not high maintenance or need lots of water, and that living off campus is probably a better bet rather than on campus if that is an option for you.

If I were you, if within your 29 orchids there were more than 5 orchids that need lots of water, that is already way too much. I'd keep those kinds of orchids down to no more than 5 individuals.

Btw, if your collection is mostly hybrids, you may want to consider trying to re-home most if not all your NOIDs.

Schoolwork is going to take up a lot of your time.

[Pilot]

I'm not a teen nor am i going to school but you have possibilities.

1. Give your collection away to the local society or others who will like to have your plants and you kept a handful you truly cannot be without.

2. Research green houses. You can either rent space or ping your schools science dept about keeping your plants there. When I was in college I kept a few plants in the school greenhouse. I used them in experiments too but that was a front for keeping the plants I liked. .

I've culled my heard of orchids from 75 to 40 and it will go lower still mostly because I have developed specific tastes in orchids.

Another option is to give to friends or post on the local Craig's list.

So you have a few options but sadly none involve you keeping every orchid.

What's in you collection?

[MrHungx]

Originally Posted by Pilot

I'm not a teen nor am i going to school but you have possibilities.

1. Give your collection away to the local society or others who will like to have your plants and you kept a handful you truly cannot be without.

2. Research green houses. You can either rent space or ping your schools science dept about keeping your plants there. When I was in college I kept a few plants in the school greenhouse. I used them in experiments too but that was a front for keeping the plants I liked. .

I've culled my heard of orchids from 75 to 40 and it will go lower still mostly because I have developed specific tastes in orchids.

Another option is to give to friends or post on the local Craig's list.

So you have a few options but sadly none involve you keeping every orchid.

What's in you collection?

Here's my entire collection:

Blc. Ju Shen "Pink Empress"
Pot. Shinfong Beauty "Tzu Wen Rainbow"
Blc. Mem. Anna Balmores
Blc. Shinfong Luohyang "Golden Tree"
Cattleya NOID (green?)
Blc. Hwa Yuan Grace "Cat King"
Lc. Purple Cascade "Fragrant Beauty"
Lc. Hsinying Excell "NN"
Blc. Pamela Finney "Bigger Ox"
Phalaenopsis NOID (red or pink)
Lc. Taida Swan "Taida"
Big white NOID cattleya
White NOID Dendrobium
White NOID Dendrobium
Purple Encyclia
Pink NOID Phalaenopsis
Pink Mini NOID Phalaenopsis
Purple Dendrobium Species
Oncidium Sharry Baby
Miltonidium Bartley Schwarz "Highlander"
Angraecum Veitchii "M"
Oncidium Wildcat(?)
Lady Slipper Orchid Yellow Species
Oncidium Lanceanum Species

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I forgot, you may want to keep the smaller orchids in your apartment.

The larger ones you may either have to give away or have them in the science department's greenhouse, if that's an option for you.

[MrHungx]

I don't have any "small" plants. Here are a few pics of my collection. The only small ones I have are a few NOID phals.

[Pilot]

I see. Lol. Maybe you need to get into Neofinetia instead of monster plants. Lol. Well good luck with whatever you decide. Good thing is orchids will exist outside of college.

[Skayc1]

having a single bedroom might give you enough room for your orchid collection. you'll need to also consider if all the tables will fit, or if the spare desk will be enough room for your plants to sit on. most college dorm rooms have furniture for two. I had a private room most the time years ago when I was in college, they never bothered to remove the extra furniture when only 1 person was staying in it. I don't know if a single bedroom is different than a private bedroom though. so if you have room then take your orchids with you, if not find a friend to care for the ones you feel you can part with.

[HighSeas]

Wow! Memories!

Some 30+ years ago, I had the SAME issue! I was in Nursing school. I had some 40+ orchids at that time and wondered too about their fate. Keep in mind too that Nursing or Medicine isn't like any other college degree....it's total commitment. I'm sure you probably know someone in that situation. Back then, there was no internet either. I spent at least until 7:00pm in the library before going home to write papers, learn drugs and do care plans for the next day. I was up at 4:30am to be in clinicals by 6:30am...followed by class. That said...

I kept my orchids. I couldn't stand the thought of giving them away and it didn't take me long to realize that they were the only ray of sunshine I had left in life! To add insult to injury...I HAD to make A's because I HAD to have scholarship money or I was out.

So this is what I did. I picked a room that had great sunshine. The brightest I could get. I set up my small desk and had a TV tray for a side desk. I had a bed in that room and other than that....I had boards with cendar blocks as plant stands. My books were piled in a corner. During the day, I had a plastic shower curtain that I threw over the bed and some of my orchids were even on my bed until the sun went down. It looked like a jungle in that room....Wish I had a picture of it!

I watered them on weekends, hauling them to the sink in a radio wagon, that also sufficed as a plant stand. That was my weekend Joy. And I really mean that. I inspected them...fed them....marveled.

During long study sessions....I used my "break" to repot, organize, clean up. Sounds so stupid...but it was, like I said, my retreat from all those other school related responsibilities. Since there was no time to "go out", go to movies, and no money to spend....they brought me through.

[Nanook 2010]

Not sure how many replies you'll get from teenagers going away to college worrying about what to do with their plants.

You're the same guy going on a month long vacation too...right?

Rent space from a local greenhouse, give away or sell...in my dorm room, I had a roommate who probably wouldn't have appreciated 10, 20, or 30 plants in the room