How did your orchid addiction begin?

[PaphLover]

This is fascinating! Thanks everyone so far for the stories.

[rbarata]

Now, my turn... It began when I was around 10. I always made the association between orchids and the jungle. When I was that age I wanted to be an explorer and the jungle was something fascinating to me, and orchids were a kind of a symbol of all the mysteries and misticism hidden in those unexplored places.
I also had a relative that was an orchid addict. He was an airline pilot and traveled frequently to south america and new orchids were always part of his luggage. His flat had orchids everywhere and looked like a jungle, literally.

Later on, when I was around 16, my brother went to a field trip with his school clasd and brought so literature from the National Park he visited. It mentioned the genera Ophrys, which only could be found there. I started my investigations and noticed that I have seen already that plant in the woods near my home. I made several "field trips" and found more than 16 species oh Ophrys growing in the wild. I knew all the places where the different species could be found and began my monitoring of their population.
home.At that time, to me growing orchids was something out of my possibilities.

A few years later, in 2012, my soulmate gave me a phal and, surprisingly, it bloomed twice. Right from that moment I knew it was possible to grow orchids at home.

[Trollsvans]

I've always had green fingers and lots of plants around.
Can't remember what I was looking for, either way I went to the local garden center looking for "common stuff". Unfortunately they had an orchid exhibition going on, and that was the end of my life as an uninitiated muggle; this was in -98-99 something, and through ups and downs, I'm still stuck like a gnat on duct tape.

I've heard of people breaking free from heroin, cocaine, booze and other drugs, I've quit tobacco myself, but so far I've never heard anyone manage to wean themselves off orchids... :P

[pipsxlch]

Originally Posted by estación seca

1 Lots of relatives who were farmers and gardeners (but no orchid growers) taught me how to grow vegetables and flowers;

2 A grandfather who indulged my many requests to visit the Mitchell Gardens dome greenhouses in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - one temperate, one tropical, one desert;

3 A visit to Orchid Jungle in Florida when about 9 years old while visiting family friends who retired to Miami. I went nuts. I still clearly remember the scent of Aerangis flos-aeris. My parents (wisely) said I wouldn't be able to grow an orchid in Milwaukee.

My dad was very disconcerted; he didn't approve of boys playing with plants. So it was quite a while before I had an actual orchid plant, after it became clear I was a very headstrong boy.

Hah, you have Orchid Jungle to blame also!

I always loved plants, grew things around our apartment, and then for my 8th birthday my grandfather took me to the mall for my birthday to let me pick out a present. We went into the garden section that Sears had back then, and there was a big alba cattleya- lost the plant long ago and can't remember that it had a name, but think Bob Betts like. That was my choice. A couple months later, going down the Florida Turnpike after visiting some relatives in central Fla. (I'm from the south and would like to return), I looked through the attraction brochures kiosk at a service plaza and there was one for Orchid Jungle. I took it and begged Grandpa to take me, and as he spoiled me he did. The Fennels were super sweet and supportive of a silly child and befuddled if enabling grandfather, and here I still am. (he really enjoyed the trips too, getting to talk with Mr. Fennel Sr., but he liked the tampensis I started scrounging from deadfall in the woods best).

[PaphLover]

Trollsvans, I agree. Haven't yet heard of someone staying away from orchids. Even if someone gets away for awhile, orchids find a way to lure 'em back in. Sneaky buggers!

estación seca, pipsxlch…you're so lucky to have had the opportunity to go to Orchid Jungle. I'm terribly envious.

[Fairorchids]

My dad had a retail orchid nursery. The summer I was 15, my highschool hosted a US highschool band, and organized a return trip the following year. We hosted one student, so I wanted to go on the trip the following year. My parents did not have the money, so I was told that I would have to earn the cost of the trip. I did, at $0.60 per hour, working in the nursery.


That included going to meetings in the Danish Orchid Society to sell plants at their meetings. So I was soon hooked.

[Optimist]

My father was a huge plant lover. We never had much money, but he would take long walks and always seemed to come home with plants that had been tossed into the garbage. We had a huge adobe house and one side of the kitchen was a large corner with two windows, and the area was a total jungle, totally taken over with all the rescue plants. Every place I have ever lived suddenly there is a table in front of a window with a large amount of plants. Maybe it is genetic. I had never tried orchids, thinking how difficult they were. But one day, a friend dragged me to an orchid show and a I walked out with a brassidium Kenneth Bivens. I killed it eventually along with a dendrobium. It took many years before I got another. They were rescue phals, which I ended up killing. With enough practice and understanding and study, I finally knew enough not to kill my orchids. I went from phals, to oncidiums, to dendrobiums, and a few odd balls, and now I am doing minatures in terrariums. I still kill an occasional orchid. I am not as good taking care of oncidiums as I had thought, so I lose a perportion of oncidiums (I am starting to mount them, and the death rate is going down). But the fleshy leaved-sympodial orchids and I have a deal, and I am getting pretty good at caring for them. I am stumped by the "hot dry days of August." Next year I will get my plants in earlier, or shade them more. Right now, I am concentrating on Minis, Phaps, and bulbophylums. I have not attempted certain kinds yet. Maybe later-- when I have a greenhouse!!!!

[gngrhill]

Mine started about 3 years ago with a Home Depot Phal. I read everything I could and thought that Phals were the " easiest" to grow in a home. I bought quite a few that first year, all Phals, and finally decided why they called the Phals, because they "fail"
I killed off or severely maimed all those early Phals by killing the roots. The ones that survived taught me how to Pot and to not overwater.
Next I tried Oncids from Trader Joes. I found them much easier to grow. From there I branched out to Dens. I always got them in bloom, so the contest became "can I rebloom ANYTHING ??
I still don't have it all figured out, but I do get some to rebloom. Hubby helped last year by making our front porch into a grow space. I now have over 100 plants and find I still have much to learn. I enjoy the research, orchid board, new growth and really excited about a new "rebloom".
My next, new project will be a terrarium for minis.

[My Green Pets]

I tried to grow a couple of Phals as a teenager with very little luck, so that was it.

Twenty years later I was gifted a Phal and this time, I had the power of the orchid board on my side. Then I saw all the different kinds that were available and started making a list. I have gotten most of what was on that list and am working on getting all those plants to bloom.

I'm currently enjoying a sort of orchid equilibrium--i haven't bought any new ones for a few months and I've got some nice blooms coming on the plants I do have.

[Kevinator]

Alright, here it goes:

I started when I was six years old with a noid phal from the home depot near my area. My mother bought it actually. Somehow, the spotted patterning and the shape of the flower lip reminded me of a smiley face. I really liked that orchid

It wasn't until one year later that I really got hooked. I found a single orchid book called "orchid growing for wimps" at a nearby public library. After reading the book, I went to Norman's orchids (which is around 20 minutes away from where I live) to buy my second orchid, Oncidium Sherry Baby "Sweet Fragrance". I loved the scent of the flowers and the coloration was stunning.

Just a few months afterwards, my family went on a trip to the flower fields in carlsbad, famous for its ranunculus beds. Lucky for me, the annual orchid fair was going on and I looked around the greenhouse set up for the event. Cal-Orchid was one of the vendors, and one of the owners came up to me and asked "So, do you like orchids?". I obviously replied yes. He immediately put one of the "sold" stickers onto a brassavola nodosa and gave it to me. With this, I now had three plants and my orchid craving grew even more. It wasn't until I saw the albino version of Psychopsis Butterfly that I really got hooked and started hunting down the plants that I have today.

It has been ten long years. All four plants mentioned above (except the sherry baby) are in good condition. I posted a picture of the phal back in march. It is now leaning out of its pot (which probably means I should repot or mount it) and, for the first time, is developing double spikes! The oncidium shrunk in size as I gave a friend a division some time ago and needs to be repotted. The brassavola is currently blooming with four spikes. I recently posted a thread for it. The psychopsis lost a lot of roots due to overpotting but is now recovering.