My interest in orchids has been increasing since becoming a member of this board, but I decided to get some cheap orchids instead of going to the Pacific Orchid Expo like I originally intended. Next year I'll make sure to attend.
To add to my collection of 1 NOID Miltonia, I planned on checking out Trader Joe's first, but instead went to the local farmer's market a few blocks down to see if there was anything in my price range. The Yelp page for the local farmer's market did mention orchids being available, and to my surprise there were two vendors offering all sorts of hybrid phalaenopsis, oncidiums, miltoniopsis and cymbidiums. It was a good thing I brought my mom along because the first vendor we met was a friend of hers and a member of the same church. No wonder my aunt was able to always stalk her living room with large cymbidiums and phals all the time... I'm not sure if she gave us a discount or not, but she sold us this beautiful oncidium for $8. This is the first orchid I have ever bought, and is sounded like a good deal. It has 4 pseudobulbs with 2 more on the way I think, 3 fully bloomed spikes (maybe that's why the price was so low?), and a nice fragrance. Over 220 flowers at least. Upon first seeing the plant I did think it was Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance', but it didn't smell like chocolate and didn't look like the same plant when I compared it to internet pictures. Is this 'Ruby Doll'?
With direct on-camera flash.
Indirect bounced flash.
Time to repot?
The second vendor had more selection as well as higher prices.
If I had money I would have bought 4 or 5 more plants. Either way, I'm gonna go back for some large $10 NOID phals as soon as I get some money. I'm also proud to say that the woman responsible for growing these plants lives in my hometown and is from the same country as my parents, where phals grow in the wild.