To get the thread back on track (
):
TL;DR
I limit myself by being naturally picky.
The entire orchid must appeal to me enough to buy it, if gifted to me and I don't like it, it'll most likely die, also it mustn't be too difficult to care for (cold, bright winter rest? No chance).
Wall of text:
I limit my collection by having a rather narrow range of genera I like, and within those genera, I have a rather narrow range of subgenera that I like. In other words, I'm quite picky, while I still manage not to be. This means that I tend to lack in self discipline if the orchids in question fulfil all of my requirements, which is unhealthy for my economy.
When it comes to my favourite genus, Paphiopedilum, I prefer species over hybrids, some Polyantha primary hybrids and primary hybrids crossed to species are fine, but no more complex than that. Oh, and no cross-genus hybrids either, except Parvisepalum/Polyantha. I also prefer mottled leafed Paphs over strap leafed ones, unless the flowers are
very appealing.
Second favourite genus is Phragmipedium, but here I prefer hybrids since they are easier, and they're generally gorgeous as well. I feel that with Paphs, the species tend to outshine the hybrids, while with Phrags, the hybrids often enhance the parent species traits (or at least in the crosses I like).
When I started being obsessed with orchids, Phalaenopsis was my favourite genus, but the Paphs took over. With Phals, pretty much anything goes, except preferably no more NoIDs and no novelty species or hybrids, and I love the mottled leafed ones (anyone noticed a trend yet?).
The latest genus that has managed to sneak a couple of plants into my home, is Dendrobium. I normally don't like neither species nor hybrids within this genus, or "don't like"; it's more a case of finding the flowers cute/pretty, but the plants themselves too unappealing to look at or too difficult to care for. Then I discovered that there are some that
don't need winter rest, a whole castle to themselves, and a sacrificial goat to flower, so I got my first Dendrobium, a little normanbyense. After that, someone uploaded pictures of a Den. laevifolium and somehow I ended up with one of those as well. Now I'm eyeing a Den. lamyaiae after seeing a picture of that one, too, but it might be too difficult for me.
There are several other genera I like the flowers of, but there's always something that I don't like, which makes it a no-go for me. As a matter of fact, I can't care properly for something that I don't like enough, so I'm very glad that no one has ever bought me an orchid as a gift.
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