what got you hooked

[theanalyst]

My collection started with a phal, but once I started discovering other species, I was hooked. My favorite has been the gastrochilus japonicus.

[Yazz]

Hubby was going to have an operation and the business he worked for sent him a beautiful orchid arrangement. They added happiness to the room. Called the florist for care tips and he said 'Put five ice cubes in each week.'

Needless to say, they died. I learned from my mistake, and that's when the insanity started...

[Helene]

Always liked the flower, but I didn't have any skills (lazy, didn't care that much) and my hubby was the one taking "care" of them. He's a person that thinks 'a flower is a flower' and same goes for all of them; fill pot with water, wait maybe two weeks, and then fill it again- repeat…

Needless to say, but yeah- he killed his share of orchids. I think my house is kinda like a place plants come to die 😜

But then something happened- the ones that survived, had really adapted well. Because they had never been repotted, the mix was all broken down, and because my hubby drowned them they really had to adapt really well in order to survive. Roots, and then I really mean Roots with a big 'R' 😎 and they started growing sideways, trying to survive the bad conditions. Got bad burns from sun, but they kept adapting. One day I noticed these 'survivors' in my windows- oldest from 2008. And I just fell in love- I noticed their weirdness, the crazy in nature adapting. Then they bloomed, and I noticed their beauty. I started caring for them, trying to let them be wild, and crazy- but in better condition. But still like nature made them- I let them grow the way they want, trying to not support them- I think they can show me how to grow them. And I started to "listen" to them, and I actually do have skills. I never knew- but I do have some skills, and its called 'love' or maybe 'passion'. I just really, really love orchids💕

When my orchids outgrew my kid😂 And welcome to 'keiki village', a surviver.


And even being abused like this for years, they bloomed for me


One guy decided to panic, and flowered on a keiki- poor thing, was in really bad shape when the keiki started growing. But I started caring, and they started 'shining'. What's there _not_ to love about that?



That kinda got me hooked😎😜

And 27.07 I visited my first orchid nursery (or whatever you call those places that just makes you speechless and all "woooooow" star-struck and confused seeing all those beautiful plants).

(Lol, I kinda took some home- couldnt resist)

Yeah, and now I'm working on setups, and started repotting some.




Sorry, I'm one of those chatty ones, but I guess you've already noticed that

What I really love about the plant? How unique they are. So precious, and if you let them show you their own way of shining- then they reward you with the most beautiful flowers in the world. And all so different, but still beautiful in their unique way of growing.

But if you try to treat them all the same, try to force them to fit what fits most plants- then they might not shine that much. And they soon just sit there in all its misery, looking like a misfit. Once you learn it require a slightly different environment, its worth the little extra effort. They bloom like nobody else can, if you just give them a chance to show you. Lovely plants, huh? 💕😊

Yeah, btw- kinda like people😉

[wintergirl]

Nice plants. Love that picture with your daughter and that monster phal.

[Helene]

Its the one in the green bucket- its actually the same spike I cut the other day. So it had been blooming for awhile.
Picture with my daughter is from 2014, and this is from 2013 with my son, I started taking care of them in 2013/2014. This year I have expanded my collection a tiny bit😜😎



(I may delete the pictures later because of my kids- so please dont quote with pics, thanks )

[Skycat]

Well, basically one time I found a Phal at Kroger that was marked down to $7 because the blooms were done, but it still looked very healthy as far as I could tell, and I decided it had a small enough footprint to make some room for. And hey, orchids are expensive; of course I was going to start with a cheap one!

That was like two years ago, and it hasn't rebloomed, but I'm too busy collecting even more orchids to really care that much.

[ThePinkCucumber]

phalnoob - the bargain bin attacked again! We went to our friends' nursery, planning to get a carnivorous plant, we ended up with extra large white phal (2 Eur) - it has some sort of mite damage, so hopefully it'll recover, then a Polystachya and oh, shame on me, another Zygo.....