Fun thread! I've had orchids for almost three years and like everyone else started with phal hybrids. Then I exhausted the offerings of phals, cattleyas, oncidiums, and dendrobiums at Trader Joe's and graduated to eBay purchases, then purchases direct from nurseries and other reputable places (Carter and Holmes, Seattle Orchids, The Orchid Gallery, Olympic Orchids, Sunset Valley Orchids, etc.). For a long time nothing bloomed for me and it was very discouraging because I'm extremely impatient. I even threw a few away (wouldn't do that now). Then things started happening after about a year or so, and this winter more than a third of my collection bloomed (out of almost 100 plants)!
My conditions haven't always been super optimal and last summer I found I was unexpectedly pregnant. I was physically exhausted and neglected my orchids and basically had an orchid apocalypse during which almost all of my oncidiums dried and withered away in the heat. The ones that survived - mainly dendrobiums, phals, and cattleyas, along with a very select few oncidiums - constituted the base for my new collection, which is mainly comprised of various dens, catasetums, catts, and phals (for phals, I've been focusing on species, which I adore). Recently I've been brave enough to buy a few oncidiums to replace some of the ones I lost and miss, since I'm in a new place that actually has air conditioning (woo!).
So now I'm caring for a newborn (not alone - with the help of my partner), a dog, and almost 100 orchids, while trying to finish a PhD. At times I've wanted to scale down the orchid collection, but when I try to figure out what to get rid of I can't pick even one plant! Even the cheapo phal hybrids from Trader Joe's have value to me because they were among my first orchids and I've put a lot of effort and time into them over the years. They're like pets, and this year they all bloomed, so it would be even harder to get rid of them. And unfortunately I can't stop myself from occasionally acquiring more (my partner doesn't help in this regard - he is a huge enabler). It's hard to keep up, but I absolutely love watching the orchids grow and change.
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