What size orchids do you usually buy?

[Bulbopedilum]

What size orchids do you usually buy? Not miniature or big but in age. Do you usually buy flasks of seedlings or adult orchids or something else?

[Roberta]

Impossible to give one answer... the only size I usually don't buy is flasks... my success rate for the youngest babies is very poor. But I'll buy seedlings if I find something interesting that I think I can grow, lots of juveniles, and of course flowering size when I find something that I want for a price that I am willing to pay.

[Leafmite]

It depends on what is available. I actually have raised orchids just out of flask to maturity because the orchid was not available otherwise. I don't buy flasks due to limited space. Sometimes the only size available is blooming-size so I buy that. Most of the time, though, I buy orchids that have anywhere from one to four years until they will bloom. The Angraecum sesquipedale seedling could take much longer.

[jcec1]

I actually try and buy flowering plants so I can see what the bloom is like and since I like scented orchids to smell them. Unfortunately, I do have to rely on the internet for a lot of purchases so have been disappointed in either the bloom not matching the photo or sometimes getting a non scented clone.

[Leafmite]

As a fellow collector of scented orchids, that is definitely the problem with buying seedling crosses that 'should' be fragrant, young clones, and species on the internet. I have raised many an orchid only to give it away because it has no fragrance at all. I only have this problem with orchids. Other plants that are said to be fragrant actually always are. :|

[jcec1]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

... I only have this problem with orchids. Other plants that are said to be fragrant actually always are. :|

I never thought of that before, but it's true. I wonder if it's because scent is not a criterion in judging so can be easily lost? It would be nice to get scent when it's meant to be there.

[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by jcec1

I never thought of that before, but it's true. I wonder if it's because scent is not a criterion in judging so can be easily lost? It would be nice to get scent when it's meant to be there.

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.

[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.

[rbarata]

I buy anything except seedlings in flasks.
I tend to think that buying a young plant gives it more chances to acclimatize.