Estimated cost of cattleya/orchid collection?

[MrHungx]

Just wondering about the general cost of acquiring a cattleya/orchid collection. I have 13 cattleyas that I paid $310 for. I paid $420 for my entire orchid collection.

[CR7cristiano]

Well that varies. Depends where you buy from, and what size you buy. If you can't wait for seedlings to grow and buy larger plants it may cost more if you buy from most American growers. At an average of $50 a plant thats $600 for 12 plants. My collection is worth in the hundreds of thousands now by American price standards. And that doesn't include any other genus i collect.
If you really want a collection and can't wait for smaller size plants to grow you can spend couple thousand easily.

[cbuchman]

I bought 12 catts from Carter & Holmes last summer for $90 including S&H. They were all outgrowing 2 inch pots and were C&H's selection.

I requested compact/minis and got a fair number of them, but not all. I also got several species. I was very happy. but it is a long wait for blooms. I also had to report everything right away, which is not a bad thing, of course. So far, 1 has died, one is sickly and the rest are thriving.

[MrHungx]

All my plants are blooming size. Most of my cattleyas are putting out new growths right now, so I'll be expecting flowers sometime during mid to late summer.

[orchidsarefun]

I picked up 5 paphs last year for about $40, all specimen sized. If I had to buy separately from vendors, the cost would have been at least $200. I have also purchased others on auction, won some too. The best tip I can give is for you to join a local orchid society and make friends.

[CR7cristiano]

That's a good suggestion indeed to join your local orchid society and make friends. Orchids are expensive when u buy from individual growers. I can buy 100 flowering size cattleyas from thailand for $400 and with air freight its still cheaper than u would buy them for from a lot of local growers.

[Oscarman]

That might be a hard question for any of us to answer. A general amount really depends on the size of the plant, what one grows, the size of grow area, ticket price tolerance.

If you buy mostly from seedling size, your costs will be much different that if you buy divisions or flowering sized plants.

I find $25.00-35.00 for a nbs or fs orchid to be reasonable. A higher price tag would require me to justify the added benefits like a larger size, more desirable characteristics, awarded clone.

Joining a local society IS one of the best ways to acquire plants at a better price. Your new friends can help share the costs (shipping, documentation import permits etc) through group orders and you benefit from many buying opportunities from your guest speakers. Plus there is the added benefit of other people knowing what plants you might be searching for and they might keep an eye out for you.

[MrHungx]

Originally Posted by Oscarman

That might be a hard question for any of us to answer. A general amount really depends on the size of the plant, what one grows, the size of grow area, ticket price tolerance.

If you buy mostly from seedling size, your costs will be much different that if you buy divisions or flowering sized plants.

I find $25.00-35.00 for a nbs or fs orchid to be reasonable. A higher price tag would require me to justify the added benefits like a larger size, more desirable characteristics, awarded clone.

Joining a local society IS one of the best ways to acquire plants at a better price. Your new friends can help share the costs (shipping, documentation import permits etc) through group orders and you benefit from many buying opportunities from your guest speakers. Plus there is the added benefit of other people knowing what plants you might be searching for and they might keep an eye out for you.

I'm actually just curious as to how much you spent on buying the orchids themselves. So how much would you estimate that you spent on your collection?

[fotofashion]

A "collection" is a varying entity. We don't just say "I want to collect XX number of plants and spent YY on them".
Many of us have to limit our collection due to space considerations, time restraints, and available money. Then there are those who are certified addicts and keep on collecting with absolutely no thought to the above considerations. So, how much space do you have? How much time, how much discretionary income available.
The cost of a plant can vary tremendously.
Did any of you see the auction for a Dend. anosmum hybrid from Kawamoto this last week? There was obviously a bidding war going on because the plant went for over $200. I just shook my head in amazement. I got the same plant, same size, same vendor for $70 last year.
So, your question really has no answer. Just "depends".
Beverly A.

[escualida]

Originally Posted by MrHungx

I'm actually just curious as to how much you spent on buying the orchids themselves. So how much would you estimate that you spent on your collection?

I don't even want to think about that LOL.