best places to pick up super cheap orchids (clearance and bargain hunting!)

[fishmom]

Southern California covers a lot of ground. Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Home Page would be a good source if it is within reach; they will have a lot of small dendrobiums available at most times of the year.


If you do a search for Sourthern California orchid growers, you will get several names that might be closer to you.

[imgliniel]

Originally Posted by fishmom

Southern California covers a lot of ground. Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Home Page would be a good source if it is within reach; they will have a lot of small dendrobiums available at most times of the year.


If you do a search for Sourthern California orchid growers, you will get several names that might be closer to you.

so I actually just realized/saw this place. I think looking at another thread? And promptly almost passed out on my keyboard. Santa Barbara is totally day trip distance for me. Even better, there is a general aviation airport in Santa Barbara and it's a beautiful coastal flight from Van Nuys where the BF hangers his small plane up to the Santa Barbara airport.

Orchid shopping is perfectly acceptable weekend date... right?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by imgliniel

so I actually just realized/saw this place. I think looking at another thread? And promptly almost passed out on my keyboard. Santa Barbara is totally day trip distance for me. Even better, there is a general aviation airport in Santa Barbara and it's a beautiful coastal flight from Van Nuys where the BF hangers his small plane up to the Santa Barbara airport.

Orchid shopping is perfectly acceptable weekend date... right?

Totally. When you go to Santa Barbara Orchid Estate, also walk down the street to Cal Orchid... lots of really nice things for reasonable prices. Both are having Open House the weekend of Nov 3-4.

As for dangers to one's bank account, when I go down to Andy's, I am followed by a vortex pulling dollars from my bank account to his.

[Joseia]

I haven’t checked in years, but I bought a lot of cheap orchids at Lowe’s hardware, the bag babies.

[chickazilla]

Hiya,
I'm a relative beginner in the orchid hobby, going on 3 years not, so this may be a big no no according to the veterans, but I found the orchid prices at Trader Joe's just can't be beat! You're always getting an orchid in bloom, and it's a great way to learn, make mistakes yet avoid a meltdown because you lost a $50+ orchid. I've picked up mini Phals, even fragrant ones, for $7-8 bucks at TJs, no shipping costs -- good for your pocket and minimal footprint on the environment. Plus, in Southern California, there seems to be a TJs around every corner. In the past few years, TJs has expanded its varieties beyond Phals to include Den. Nobiles, Oncidiums and Miltoniopsis and Cymbidium plants. Yes they are No IDs, but there are loads of resources online, photos, videos, etc... and I managed to find at least the genera and species names in order to find out about the orchids' culture and care requirements.

All of the online vendors mentioned are good, but in my humble opinion, TJs should be nicknamed the "Beginner's Orchid Shop." Before anybody jumps in with how TJs orchids are poor quality, I've gotten bum orchids from the aforementioned online vendors, dead root system and severely dessicated pseudobulbs, and I've been pleasantly surprised most of the time when repotting TJs orchids that the root systems are decent if not great. Apologies for sounding like a TJs ad, but it's true. I've mucked up several Phals and many more Miltoniopsis plants - I'm not proud of it but having only spent $12 per plant versus $20+ plus the shipping cost I would have spent online, it's been an invaluable resource to help me gain the experience I needed to become a better grower, collector and hobbyist. Good luck on your orchid adventures!!!

Peace

[redcoats36]

+1 on Trader Joe's orchids! Some of my favorite orchids are noids from TJs including a peloric zygo and a very fragrant sunset-colored mini phal. I also just got a huge gorgeous dendrobium nobile. The one i live by has a great selection - I see a lot of zygos, zygonisias, dens, milts, oncidiums, etc.

A lot of the orchids i get from there are potted in soil so I need to repot immediately. I also found a mealy bug once. However, i've also bought $40+ orchids from well-known nurseries that came to me on death's door with rotted out roots.

[Merita]

I bought good cattleyas from Akatsuka Orchid in Hawaii and now they have a good offer until Monday, at $ 17.50 the flowering size plant, they can be seen online. Shipping is not cheap but if you buy several, you get a good price.

[Paul]

If you attend an orchid show, you may find some very inexpensive seedling sized orchids or sometimes a bit older plants that are still several years from blooming.

As has been noted, buying death row plants does carry the risk of buying a plant that may be too far gone.

[aliceinwl]

When Santa Barbara Orchid estate has their open houses they typically have tons of seedlings and bare root divisions for $7.50, this is a great way to try out new plants without breaking the pocket book.

The Santa Barbara orchid show is also going on this weekend. There are lots of very reasonably priced plants available that you don’t typically see in box stores.

I haven’t found box store discounts too appealing. Lowe’s for example will drop the price 50% when the orchids go out of bloom but they put them outside in the sun and cold so you’re still paying $6-$10+ for a plant that may be beyond saving (I might be tempted at $1, but not at $6+).

By me, Trader Joe’s has the best box store prices, quality, and selection. I’ve picked up most of my Phals, Zygos, Miltoniopsis, Oncidium intergenerics, Dendrobium nobile, and even my first Paphs from Trader Joe’s (I wish they still got in Paphs). Their prices also tend to run much lower than other stores: I got a nice Oncidium type from them for $14 that was $31 at Albertsons.

[Roberta]

Just to show what is possible with those SBOE $7.50 specials...Here is Dendrobium speciousum x gracilicaule (A huge beast crossed with a little species) that I obtained that way. (OK, I have had plenty of $7,50 specials that didn't perform like this, or at all, but have gotten some very nice and interesting things over the years) Some of these to take patience... got it in 2005, it first bloomed in 2010, but look at it now!