What got you hooked growing orchids?

[Martinofswan]

Hi what got me hooked was when I tried everything to keep an orchid alive after a death in the family, and ended up going 100% water and been keeping it going for nearly two years.

[Mountaineer370]

I see this is a very old thread that was recently resurrected, but the topic is still relevant, and I've never posted in it, so here goes.

In the summer of 2015, I had to go in for surgery. While I was in the hospital, my yoga instructor, a wonderful and kind person, had an orchid delivered to my room. I thought it was lovely and of course took it home with me, not sure I could keep it alive.

I started doing a little research on orchids and realized many people grew them in their homes, that greenhouses weren't necessarily required. When this orchid (which I had learned was a NoID Phalaenopsis) rebloomed for me the following winter, I was pleasantly surprised and thought I might try to get a couple more. There was an orchid show coming up soon, and I got my second orchid in the spring of 2016.

That was it, I was hooked. I added a new orchid or two with every show after that and bought some mail-order. Along the way, I learned some types do better in my home than others, so I rehomed some of them and kept the ones that seemed happiest here. I have around twenty now, and that's about the most I have room for, but I love keeping orchids, caring for them, and watching them bloom (hopefully).

[Keysguy]

Sounds like you're ready for a greenhouse Cheri.

[Leareu]

I came across a picture of the famous fdk. after dark and that's when I discovered Catasetums and that's what got me hooked haha.

Catasetums are just so gorgeous to me

[TZ-Someplace]

1) Pink Phal. impulse buy at Home Depot followed by a couple more and then their slow decline and death.

2) Pretty pictures on the internet.

3) Semihydro and some Oncidiums from FirstRays. Things grew, but too late for the first three Phals.

4) A local Home Depot sold big bags of hydroponics pellets cheap.

5) I got a big box of dried up Cattleyas from a greenhouse rescue and learned a lot about unhealthy orchids from working with them.

[Relemitty]

I'm new to OB and reading old threads and had to respond.
My mom had an amazing green thumb. She had African Violets she bought in early 70s and orchids she bought in Hawaii in late 70s that were still alive and blooming in 2008.

My adventure in orchids started in 2019 when a friend told me she bought noid phals to decorate her house and then tossed them. I have 18 of her orchids now and they are growing and blooming, though I think some of that is just plain luck. I do repot them and remove all sphagnum moss and replace with a commercial bark mix.

I bought a baby Catt in Feb 2021 that is growing but still probably a year or more from blooming.

I was in Houston about a month ago and walked into Orchid Express and bought a Odontobrassia and a dendrobium that I an now learning about the light and water they need.
I am early in my addiction and looking for my next orchid.

[PuiPuiMolcar]

It all started from me trying to rescue my parent's close to death door cattleya, then it started slow balling into an obsession from there. I am now not just an orchid grower, but trying to be a full-fledged gardener.

[tmoney]

guess i didn't read this far when i joined! so, what got me into this hobby was that my new then (2018) girlfriend had an orchid that her mom bought her and we started researching on how to care for them. then, in 2019 she got me one of my own - another noid phal. that was it, about a year later i joined ob and have been addicted ever since.

so, i mostly blame my girlfriend and the orchid board for my regrettable state. both of you are nasty enablers