Does size matter?
I have been growing orchids much of my life since imigrating to the States but have not ever entered one in a show, although I have attended multiple. My question is to the hardcore show veterans out there:
Some of my orchids have gotten very large with age and in most cases I have divided them to make them manageable as well as, in many cases, "more attractive". At most shows the top winning orchids are generally not 50-year old giants in a 20-inch pot with mostly old pseudobulbs, but rather "new", fresh plants. However, in the many jungle trips my wife and I have done, we have seen naturally growing orchid clusters of giant size...and were awed by this.
So for that reason (let them do what they do in the jungle) I have let a few of my plants grow unabated - see the attached Oncidium Sharry Baby - and I also have a huge Maxillariella ( I collect fragrant species) and some others. But some get really out of hand like Zigos that are beautifully fragrant but keep a huge number of back-bulbs make roots to fill a barrel and, as a plant, look like crap. Never seen a huge one at a show.
So - the question is: does the orchid community value old, giant plants of only particular species or is there respect, appreciation and (least importantly) value in NOT dividing plant specimens?
|
Threaded Mode
