Den. Red emperor "prince"

[PAorchidman]

Was sooooooooooooo pissed today. Went to a local nursery for some new orchid pots, and as i was walking thru one of their greenhouses, i aw a rack in the corner full of neglected, dying orchid plants. The only reason i even noticed it was for the 18" tall red emperor on the top shelf. When I went to the counter to ask about it, he said that they are "leftovers". they just threw them there, cuz they finished blooming, and have no use for them anymore. i offered him 20 bucks for the dendrobium, and am seeing how much I can muster up to take the rest off of his hands. Hopefully, when I talk to them tomorrow, i can talk them into giving me the rest and seeing if i can nurse them back to health. IT REALLY PISSES ME OFF. PEOPLE WHO GROW THEM LOE THEM WHEN THEY ARE NOT IN BLOOB TOO. THEY CHARGE 80 FOR THE DEN. I GOT WHEN IT WAS FLOWERING, THEN THEY THROW THEM AWAY. iT' JUST NOT RIGHT.

[allaKAZAAM]

Here! Here!!!!
I totally agree with you.
Was in a local greenhouse and asked if they had any orchids, was told "...yes but no longer flowering, not doing well at the moment...". These were the only ones the worker said they had.
WTH!!!!
I checked them out, they were generic Paphs...but all weren't watered and ALL were still priced at 0ver $30.
Started looking around, then found some Phals and a couple of Dens...same condition (maybe WORSE if thats possible!)...same FULL price for almost DEAD orchids.
Then I also found some Cymbidiums...
Blew me away that the Staff didn't even know about, and not a big greenhouse (less than an acre!)...and there was a lot of open spaces in the greenhouse..

Sickens me...

allaKAZAAM

[PAorchidman]

The worst is they had them in the greenhous with the succulants, so they were soaked. and covered with cobwebs and bugs. I' going there tomorrow to get the rest one way or another. I dont have any room at my place for more. If I need to I will get rid of my bed and sleep on the floor, just so I have room lol

[OrchidAngel]

I see 'abused' plants all of the time around here. I guess its just the difference between using something for money vs. loving it.

[PAorchidman]

I guess so. Appareently, these guys never saw a zygopetalum triple it's amount of leaves in a week and go from spike to full bllo overnight. or a phal popping up a tiny leaf from that looks like a litttle ear. I mean, cmon. It's a miricle in itself to see the way these amazingplants work. an anomily in itself. like the platypus in the animal kingdom. It's not a fungus, yet it can grow and thrive without producing chloriphylyou can pass it by in the woods and notise the twig of a plant growing on the side of a tree, and a month later walk by the same "twig" and see the mos angelic looking blossom staring you in the face.....What's not to love?

[allaKAZAAM]

Originally Posted by OrchidAngel

I see 'abused' plants all of the time around here. I guess its just the difference between using something for money vs. loving it.

Yup, exact reason for the abuse.
Instead of buying them all, if you can offer your services to "heal" them and teach the employees how they grow/thrive. Maybe they will be better understanding of the orchids. The greenhouse that I went to, the employees were (pretty sure) mostly students and young.
What made me shake my head was that they didn't know that there were at least twice as many other orchids and ALL were in NASTY condition. IF I lived a lot closer, I would have offered my services to be a caretaker of them.
The only orchid that was healthy...was a Cymbidium that the owners didn't want to sell. It was in a H-U-G-E pot, and the orchid filled a lot of it.

But the main reason greenhouses do what they do to the orchids...it is easier to "throw-away" an nonflowering orchid and bring in flowering others to fill the space. The $$ are more justifiable this way. But this greenhouse had SO much extra room/space.
Ah well, we can complain and think up was to avert orchicide >.< ...but will it help them!

allaKAZAAM

Was at Home Depot not long ago, they had named Dens. that were finished flowering about 2-3 months ago. Still selling for FULL price, they would not bring down the price...why?!..."...they will flower again soon...".

Not the way they take care of them!

[Sunset]

I found the same situation in Walmart, almost every week I go there with hope the price is down, no way and the plants are dead!!!

[allaKAZAAM]

Originally Posted by Sunset

I found the same situation in Walmart, almost every week I go there with hope the price is down, no way and the plants are dead!!!

Really!???

They brought in a HUGE selection of named Cym's about a month ago. Selling for $30 each...after after they finished flowering, Walmart dropped the prices to $10 each.
Strange!
Unfortunately I do not have a lot of growing space for an orchid as big as a Cym (my 2 largest orchids are a Cat and a Vanilla). Though some of my other orchids are getting very big for my growing space! The one I am keeping an eye on is my Phias Tankervillae, from what I have read and seen with this orchid...they can become MONSTERS!

allaKAZAAM

[Orchidophile]

I work at a wal mart and I asked the manager of lawn and garden if she could mark the neglected orchids 50% off like they did last time. I come in the next day and they were gone, thrown away, and there were two phals with seedpods (my doing)

[Sunset]

And Sam's Club have Cym's and after they finished flowering the price drop with $2 from 30 to 28 , I Have my Cym's from Kroger after reductions the price was $15. Goooooooood people!!!!! They have price reductions to $5 for Phals !!!!!