Who are you, and what do you grow?

[Marty]

Hi I'm Marty, I've been a dendroholic for the last 15+ years. I have many side addictions, one being growing orchids, another insect collecting, another being IT/Computers, cooking. I no longer have time for any more hobbies to add to my life. By dendroholism I mean full time addiction to a family of dendrobatidae frogs, not dendrobiums, although I dig those too. I"ve been sucked into insect collecting by my buddy, who was actually my Bio/Chem teacher in HS. I've done few amazing insect trips to the Amazon, namely in French Guyana, Brazil, Northern Peru, also did a couple trips to Costa Rica, some stuff in Asia and Australia. Every time I was in South or Latin America, I'd be like a kid in a candy store... Catching bugs, looking down every bromeliad looking for frogs and eying those amazing wild Orchids that seemed to bloom and thrive in the crappiest of places. Orchids grew out of the other two hobbies, sort of by association... Going through the rain forest and climbing trees I came across some unbelievable plants. Since my frogs are tropical and I tend to re-create their natural habitats as closely as possible, Orchids fit very well into my frog hobby. I grow my plants pesticide and fertilizer free under compact fluorescent lights in terrariums. The only fert they get is frog crap, which works great

Oh, ya I also fly RC planes, but no longer have any time for going to the field and having fun that way. Oh well, something has to give.

Other then that, married to a 7mt pregnant wife... My hobbies and travels are about to take a massive hit, but a little re-prioritization 'never hurt nobody' . I know once the little guy grows up a little we will be all over the Amazon flying RC planes with frogs, bugs and orchids strapped to them... hehe

I also run this joint, which is a great hobby in its own

[Neofalcata]

Originally Posted by Marty

I know once the little guy grows up a little we will be all over the Amazon flying RC planes with frogs, bugs and orchids strapped to them... hehe

So, are you saying you are going to have a private army of mini-planes piloted by cockroaches and dart frogs? Now that's what I call a goal!

Thanks for building such a great forum. I hope you have time to enjoy it once the little one comes. No sleep for you. Are you having a boy or girl?

[Oscarman]

It is all in Marty's master plan of world domination......the BEST orchid forum, the most OUTSTANDING dart rack, and his own army of Kamikaze RC planes with poison dart frog pilots.

Don't even deny it - I have seen through your deception!

[Tindomul]

Marty,
I thats a great idea of the planes with frogs and bugs. Maybe you can fly them all the way to Canada from Peru. Just kidding/ .

Peru huh, whats it like, there is a slight, possible, tiny tiny tiny chance, that maybe, if all the planets align correctly with the sun and their respective moons that I might take a class trip in January to Peru (the Amazons) or Easter Island. Anyway, I heard it was muddy, but worth it.

Oh and all you need is a good case of Dendrophobia to complete the dendro trio. Though that one is not a hobby. At least not usually.

[beezermommy]

Hi Heather - My name is Cheryl and I live in sunny Sunrise, FL. today it's 81 degrees. I grow mostly dendrobium, cattleya and vanda orchids. I won a beautiful Phaius at an orchid show last weekend. It's Krptonite and has the most extraordinary maroon flowers. I grow all of my orchids in a screen enclosure around my pool. I am blessed that myorchids love the weather. I have a small problem with scale that I got when a friend gave me an orchid and I did not separate it from my other orchids. Any hints on scale removal?

[pixieStar]

My name is Danielle and I started growing orchids 2.5 to 3 years ago. I'm 27 years old, live in the San Francisco bay area and now have a wide orchid variety of over sixty and luckily a very loving, supportive and tolerant boyfriend. Many of my orchids are phals, some are oncidiums, 6 or so are cymb., a couple of them are cat's, some are brassio-laelia-cattleya mixes, a couple are laelias, a few are dendrobiums, one sedirea japonica, one ciswana rostrata, a gastrocillus caleolaris, a harella ordorata, a couple of paphs, one sophrontis catttleya mix, a neofineta falcata, a couple of zygopetalums, a newly added brassia nodosa, a coel. mix of cristata and flaccida, a bl. sea urchin and blc. greenwich and a few others sprinkled in I'm sure I'm forgetting. I love orchids, I love reading about them, watching them grow and seeing them bloom. I think they are amazing complex little plants with big personalities that take alot of patience but when you find their "sweet spot" they suddenly become very rewarding and relatively easy to grow and maintain. I'm sure I misspelled many of these proper names so please excuse. The orchid board has been very helpful in my orchid research and success. Thanks to all!

[kinknstein]

My name is Nick, and like Dave W (Oscarman) am from Edmonton Alberta. Married but no kids. I grow all my chids under T5 fluorescent lights in my basement, but am expanding the garden this weekend to also include a 400W Metal Halide so I can accomodate some larger growing species which do not fit very well under the fluorescents. I have 75 chids now, everything from Paphs, phals, cyms, bulbo's, catts, laelias, dends, Stanhopea, Psychopsis, Zygos, Masd, Brassias, Brassavolas, Oncidium, Odontoglossum, Ada's, Prosthechea, and well it keeps going. I have been growing for about 6 years now with various degrees of success. Since I have moved to t5 fluorescents about 8 months ago I have noticed huge improvements in growth and flower production. Will take until next spring to really start to appreciate how much these new lights are helping.

[dravenxavier]

I'm Anthony, and I'm 25, hailing from Edison, NJ. I do mostly miniature orchids and carnivorous plants, but I have some other stuff thrown in there. Should I post my grow list? Sure! Why not!?

ORCHIDS:
Ascocentrum miniatum
Bulbophyllum brevistylidium
Cadetia taylori
Cirrhopetalum tingabarinum
Dendrobium dichaeoides
Dendrobium lanyaiae
Dendrobium lichenastrum
Dendrobium prenticeii
Dendrobium wassellii
Epidendrum longirepens
Lepanthes fiskei
Masdevallia "Copper Cherub"
Masdevallia minuta
Maxillaria arbuscula
Oncidium pumilum (needs some TLC)
Platystele ximenae
Pleurothallis grobyi
Pleurothallis microphylla
Pleurothallis stricta
Podochilus cultratus
Schoenorchis fragrans
Tolumnia velutina (just hanging on)
Trichosalpinx pergrata
Tristella cordeliae
Zootrophion serpentinum

CARNIVORES:
Cephalotus follicularis
Drosera aliciae
Heliamphora minor
Nepenthes ampullaria "speckled"
Nepenthes argentii
Nepenthes bellii
Nepenthes bicalcarata "orange"
Nepenthes bicalcarata "red"
Nepenthes ephippiata
Nepenthes eymae
Nepenthes lowii
Nepenthes rajah
Nepenthes sanguineae "orange"
Nepenthes villosa
Nepenthes (unknown)
Nepenthes (unknown hybrid)
Pinguicula cyclosecta

OTHERS:
Amorphophallus titanum
Biophytum sensitivum
Hydnophytum formicarum
Microsorum thailandicum
Microsorum sp. (unknown)
Stapelia gigantea

There's plenty miscellaneous things, especially bromeliads, I didn't list. All of the orchids and most of the carnivores are grown in a 75 gallon terrarium. In addition to plants, I have a ton of other hobbies, including drawing, fish (and other aquatic life), reptiles, insects, fossils, and minerals. I have several reptiles currently, and just set up my first personal fish tank in quite a while. I've worked in retail pet stores for the past several years, so I usually get my fill of fish there. I also have collections of fossils, minerals, and spread insects as well.

[kinknstein]

Wow Anthony, an Amorphophallus titanum!!! I am super envious! Has she bloomed yet?

[dravenxavier]

No way...still a little guy, only about 4 feet. I'm not fertilizing as heavily as I should with it, to try to keep it on the small side for a little while anyway. AND it hates the low ambient humidity in this place, so it came out of dormancy malformed. Now I'm just waiting for it to go back into dormancy so I can pick up a couple humidifiers for the living room, so it won't happen again.