Hi from a newbie in Ohio - Orchid Board

RonCo · #1 10-05-2008, 09:49 PM

Hi

I'm Ron in Columbus Ohio. I've been browsing the forum for a few weeks and thought I would join up and enjoy the fun.

A little background. Actually I'm not all that new to orchids but its been a while....would you believe about 47 years.

Back in 1960 my mom bought me three orchids for Christmas and I built a small basement window greenhouse to winter them over. In the summer of '61 my dad and I built a 12 x 14 greenhouse attached to the garage and it didn't take too long to fill it with orchids. I had almost 200 plants which were mostly "foundlings" and "hand-me-downs". Back then, I was in high school, the greenhouse was a nice "cash cow" for pocket money. I used to sell lavender cattleyas for $2.50 and white ones for $5.00 to the local florist. I was home every Friday afternoon waiting for the phone to ring.

My dad made me a deal, he would provide the water and electricity for free, but I had to pay the gas bill.

It usually ran about $10/month.

I really enjoyed the orchids and greenhouse till my parents moved in 1967 and I went in the Army. After that it was get a job, get married and buy a house and and all the other stuff that makes life fun.

I recently retired after 35 years in the science and engineering field and the "itch" to grow orchids is starting to return. I have one blooming in the sunroom right now and hope to expand the collection. Maybe even a greenhouse. Maybe......

jkofferdahl · #2 10-05-2008, 10:53 PM

Welcome back, Ron. There are wonderful folks here, with a load of knowledge and experience, and it sounds like you can add to that group. I look forward to your posts.

kiki-do · #3 10-05-2008, 11:00 PM

What a perfect story at bedtime! To have a greenhouse full of catts and able to enjoy them and sell them to buy more. It doesn't get any better than that!
Welcome to OB Ron!!!! This is the place to be, and we are happy to have you be a part of this group.
It's amazing that you managed all those years without buying more orchids until now.

We can help you get caught up in no time!

RonCo · #4 10-05-2008, 11:09 PM

Thanks for the welcome.

I confess to having had a few chids over the years but just never had the time to get serious about them till now.

Somewhere lurking in my archive of old slides I have some pictures of the greenhouse. I'll have to dig through them and post a few.

Ron

tuvoc · #5 10-06-2008, 10:48 AM

Welcome aboard, Ron. I would love to see some of those old pics. I'll bet they'll get you all hot to start your new collection, too. Have fun.

Kim

RonCo · #6 10-06-2008, 10:35 PM

Took a little digging to find my old slides from the early '60s but I found them. My slide collection numbers over 5000.

Anyway... The first picture shows the little greenhouse I built in the fall of 1960 in anticipation of Santa delivering my first orchids. It enclosed a basement window on the south side of the house. The sides were made from pine boards and the front and top were covered with two layers of poly film.......this was in the days before I knew how to cut glass.

The second picture shows the big greenhouse my dad and I built the summer of 1961. It was 14 wide by 12 long, all framed from premium grade redwood. The side glass was wood framed storm windows from my grandmother's house and the end wall was real glass. The first winter the roof was poly sheet and then changed to glass the next summer. The total cost of the greenhouse in 1961 was $200 plus some freebies like the door and eventually all the glass for the roof was donated by a hardware store going out of business.

Inside you can see the old space heater I picked up for $10 and then had to buy a new gas valve for $25 and weld up a crack in the combustion chamber.

Next is a picture inside that first winter, not many orchids but a lot of other stuff. The bird of paradise eventually grew to gigantic size and was in constant bloom, it was potted in a 30 gallon garbage can and every time I went in the greenhouse I watered it and gave it a shot of Rapid Grow.

Lastly, one of my first orchids, from Neil Greenhouse in Carmel Indiana.

Lots of fun back then and a lot of work too.

RonCo · #7 10-06-2008, 10:43 PM

Oops, forgot to post the picture of the inside.

kiki-do · #8 10-07-2008, 12:23 AM

Very cool, Ron! I bet it leaves you with many fond memories. Thanks for sharing!

tuvoc · #9 10-07-2008, 05:06 PM

Man, that brought back some memories of the first greenhouse I tried to build. Not entirely successful, but what was a 15 year old kid to expect? Thanks for sharing some of your memories!

Kim

RonCo · #10 10-07-2008, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuvoc

Man, that brought back some memories of the first greenhouse I tried to build. Not entirely successful, but what was a 15 year old kid to expect? Thanks for sharing some of your memories!

Kim

Kim

That's interesting that you were 15, I was the same age. My dad was the superintendent of the job and I was the worker bee that summer. He would leave me a list of things to do before he went to work and it was up to me to do the slave labor.

I even had to draw a full set of plans and apply for the building permit. My dad wanted it all done by the book plus it was a good learning experience for me.

Ron