What size orchids do you usually buy?

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Exactly. The same is happening to roses and even some other types of flowers. These flowers are only judged on appearance so the fragrance is often lost.

The people in the rose society here are surprised when I tell them I won't plant a rose without strong scent. They only care about winning ribbons in the spring show. Scent isn't even considered.

[Leafmite]

My dad's hobby, for over fifty years, has been tea/floribunda roses and, like you, he won't buy them unless they have a strong fragrance.

Buying young orchids (not clones but species), as fond of them as I am, is becoming a real gamble. I have gotten species orchids that should be strongly fragrant as seedlings, raised them for a few years until maturity, then three or four blooming seasons later, realized that there is just not going to be a fragrance. It is very frustrating. I have started over with a Angraecum magdalenae. My first, bought from the old Oak Hill Garden, bloomed twice a year and was very fragrant during the day and even more so at night...just as it should be. We shall see about this one.

It is to the point where, though I love raising the small seedlings, I almost feel I should do what many others do and buy the mature orchids, in bloom, so I can make certain that they are just what I want them to be.

[Optimist]

I'd rather buy one mature plant to 10 little juvenile plants any day. With a big one, it is well established, and I know what I am getting. I am not interested in having 100's of plants, just a few really good ones.

[dshallpost]

Have only been buying for a relatively short time, but as the array of orchids that I am interested in has exploded, my preferences are developing, and I have developed more rules for myself -- that keeps the buying process somewhat governed -- e.g. no more tiny 2" pots, warm growing preferred, smaller size at maturity, fragrant, morphologically interesting flowers rather than large/bright. Have gotten some good and not so good from eBay and and am tending toward the well know nurseries only (and shows) rather than eBay. As I read more about orchid genetics and propagation I am starting to see how likely it is that what you think you see is not what you will get (or smell).

[Orchidreamer]

I used to buy more seedlings than mature plants but that was many years ago. Now I only buy blooming size or at the most 1-2 years from blooming size plants. I learned that, at least for me, the time and effort needed to raise seedlings to adult size is not worth it for me. But back in the days when I did it, it was definitely a good learning experience for me.

[SouthPark]

I'm thinking that - if time is on our side, and we have plenty of time, then seedlings are ok. Otherwise, if we don't want to wait several years to get a flower..... then definitely go for mature or near-mature.

[Leafmite]

I do have a few cases where I really prefer to buy the smaller plants: Angraecums and the current Psychopsis. I think these adjust better from being potted in red lava rock when they are younger.

Most of my orchids are younger right now but, lately, I have been buying the mature ones when possible.