why do you grow orchids....?

[Ray]

I suppose that I got my interest in plants from my mother, who grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan. I spent many summers there as a child (went there one winter too; too damn cold!) And really got in tune with agriculture. We always had tons of houseplants, and I continued that when I went to college.

While at Georgia Tech, I volunteered my time at the public greenhouses in Piedmont Park (now the Atlanta Botanical Gardens), and after I had been there about a year was given a big, floofy cattleya. It took me about 2 1/2 years, but I finally killed it through traditional root rot/desiccation torture, and that got me determined to learn how to grow them properly. After that, it was an obsession.

Now, some 45+ years later, I have gone from a few dozen on a windowsill, to 500 in a greenhouse, to zero after heater failure, to over 1000 in my own collection plus plants I sold, and now am down to about 15 – 20 on windowsills again.

[tasha]

Im a fairly new orchid enthusiast, but I just like watching them grow! One of mine is budding on its own from an existing spike and it is very exciting!

[mook1178]

I got the gardening bug in me after visiting Longwood Gardens outside of Philly. The wife and I bought season passes and I always enjoyed the orchid room. Then they had an orchid themed month in the conservatory. I was hooked by then. I used to buy my wife orchids just as pretty flowers, but they always died. I said if I could get one to rebloom, then I would start getting more. Well I got that rebloom.

[Gil]

I started collecting house plants many, many years ago and slowly began accumulating orchids.
Since I am retired now, taking care of the orchids gives me the challenge of properly caring for them and getting them to bloom plus it's a enjoyable hobby.

[Reeses]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

"I am a grad student and the past six years have been the most stressful of my life."

I totally get this! (And you must be at Ball State?)It's much harder at 60!

Dollythehun, I am at Ball State! I can only imagine how much harder it must be. I'm not sure I would be able to do it if I hadn't gone straight through.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by Reeses

Dollythehun, I am at Ball State! I can only imagine how much harder it must be. I'm not sure I would be able to do it if I hadn't gone straight through.

Momentum helps. It became my 9-5 job. Godspeed.

[Mountaineer370]

I'm reading a couple of common themes here. It seems many of us enjoy our orchids and other plants as a peaceful escape from the stressors of everyday life and/or like a kind of therapy. And many of us seem to have picked up a love for plants from family members as we were growing up.

Both are true for me. My grandmother always had a variety of houseplants, though she never had orchids, as far as I remember. She's been gone since 1992, and I still have a couple of plants she gave me.

As far as orchids, I'm another one who never even thought of owning them, having heard how difficult and fussy they were. That changed in 2015, when I needed surgery, and my yoga instructor sent me a get-well gift of a Phalaenopsis orchid. I thought it was pretty and interesting, and even after the flowers fell off, I still liked the foliage. Much to my surprise, when it bloomed again, I thought, well, maybe I can grow orchids. So another one followed, and another one, and now I have a very modest collection that lives on my dining room table in front of a south-facing window that they share with a few African violets and various succulents.

Caring for them or even just admiring them makes me feel more calm and grounded and connected with nature. I've always had houseplants, but I wish I had discovered orchids many years sooner.

[plantzzzzz]

Grad school also

but orchids can cause me a lot of anxiety..

[Pattywack]

I have been growing house plants for years and years. I used to have a lot of assorted tropical plants as a teenager living at home in Missouri. My mother loved plants, I enjoyed helping her with them. There were always garden beds to fill each spring and house plants to move out to the patio.

One year for Valentine’s Day 1972, my Mother gave me this oddball looking little plant. It looked like a brown ball with tuffs of hair sticking out of the top. It was about 4” tall. The plant is a Beaucarnea recurvata or Ponytail palm. I still have that oddball today.

I have lived in several different states and moved a few plants as my husband has been transferred through the years. The Pony is the only survivor from all those years ago with the exception of a couple of cactus.

I was given my first orchid in 2014 as a gift from my husband, a nice Miltoniopsis with gorgeous burgundy flowers. The obsession soon followed. I added a Phal and an Oncidium to my small collection and then while exploring the internet I found Andy’s Orchids. Oh my!

Madness followed, I loved the tiny, little plants with the impossibly perfect flowers. I was fascinated at the size of these miniature orchids, I still am. I have many growing and flowering in terrariums and windowsills.

I soon discovered Neofinetia falcata and I’ve enjoyed learning about these amazing plants. Their history is amazing. I have several Neos in my collection as well.

Growing orchids has been an extension of my growing plants for years and years. My three children are grown and the time I spend caring for my plants is relaxing for the most part. It really is a hobby for me. Outdoor gardening has always been a part of our lives, we have extensive landscaping and I’ve enjoyed having it and watching plants and trees mature but orchids along with my other house plants are a joy throughout the year. I hate to admit it but I’m tired of pulling weeds and hauling mulch!

[Leafmite]

I have always been fascinated by plants and have always collected them. As a small child, I was already collecting plants and, when I could read, I loved reading about them. I am still as fascinated by them, still reading about them and still collecting them.

I buy many plants for the fragrant leaves (cinnamon, scented geraniums, allspice, herbs), others that produce fruit, and some just for the flowers. Phals, Cattleyas, and Phal-type Dends produce nice flowers so they are good choices to add to the collection.

I admit, I still haven't figured out why I collect some of the other orchids. I have a bit of an obsession with Den. lichenastrum/prenticei...I have multiple varieties....and then there are those Angraecums...with all the other plants that have white flowers, do I really need more white flowers? Yet, these are also valued members of my collection.

I do know why I ordered that red Phal last week from Hausermann's...I am checking it daily for flowers. All I have blooming at the moment is the Haraella, the tea camellia, and the jasmine so it will be nice to have some bold, red flowers....