Why did you join the OB?

[flhiker]

Why are you a OB member? We have a lot of new members since I joined and I thought it would be nice to hear your stories on why you decided to become a member.
As some of you know I love to hike and explore our wonderful planet. One of my overnight hikes in the Everglades, I set up camp in area that is normally underwater threw out the year. This particular year we were experiencing a drought and my buddy notice this plant attached to a tree. Not knowing anything about orchids I had know idea what it was, but my buddy said he thought it might be a orchid. Well a few years went by and we found our self's back in that same area, so we decided to check it out. To our amazement if was in full flower. Now I had to know what we found so I went online and found this great website. I joined so I could have someone ID it for me. I had such a great response that it became an addiction. The plant we found was a Cyrtopodium punctatum (cigar orchid).

Soooo thanks to the OB I now own over 200 orchids.

[greenbean]

Wow, the orchid that started it all, eh? That is so cool! And a beauty too!

I don't have a story like that. I'm just obsessed with plants in general and orchids are pretty much the ultimate flowering plants. I had already filled the house with other plants, and had been actively looking at orchids for several years. I didn't get my first one until I was 15 because I thought orchids were really expensive and my dad discouraged me a bit (he had grown an orchid previously that got worse and worse and finally died. I think it was a vandaceous type. The pictures aren't very good so it's hard to tell.) So I finally got my first orchid, a 50%-off NOID phal. It was underwatered and I had no idea what color the flowers would be. After 2 years and a couple family members accidentally breaking the spike it produced huge, elegant white flowers and the addiction quickly grew from there.

After a few years of relying on my two orchid books I was starting to get a few plants with problems or requirements that I needed special help with. I looked online and found the OB. It was love at first site, but I didn't actually join for another couple weeks.

Due to space and money restrictions, I only have 26 orchids after 5 years of growing, but my collection has really started increasing in the last year and I don't think I will be able to return to my previous slow rate of acquisition.

[trdyl]

Dave, nice thread.

For a few years I had been lurking the shadows just reading threads from time to time. It has been a good resource for me. So why did I join? Mainly so the newbies, might loose fewer plants than I did in the begining. I do enjoy sharing my ideas and what I've learned over the past 34 years. It has been a lot of trial and error. And yes from time to time I do still loose plants but not everyone like in the beginning.

[camille1585]

I got my first orchid back in 2006 (a cym) and didn't get it because it was an orchid, but just because it was a plant I liked since I was really into houseplants then. A year later I got my first phal, and since a friends was scaring me with stories about how hard orchids are to grow (she would kill every single phal she bought) I panicked and started looking for information online, and ended up on OB. My intention was to get the info I needed and then never come back. But I realized that I didn't even know the difference between an Oncidium and a Catt for example, let alone what they were! So I stayed to learn more.
And in the 2 years since joining OB, I now have 60 orchids! I would probably have many more if I wasn't a student, short on cash, and constantly moving around.

[Dorothy]

I came to love orchids long ago without even realizing it. In the early 90's I purchased a Dendrobium phalaenopsis silver charm in Australia not knowing it was an orchid but just a beautiful flower native to Oz.
In realizing my love of orchids had been deep seated and imprinted in me for such a long time, I finally decided to give it a go and purchased my first one in the Spring of 2007 with inspiration from Paul, my dear eternal friend and confidante who also has a love of all living things including orchids. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was in for until I found the OB ... after a year, I had the honor of being made moderator ... the rest is history!
I am so glad I found this forum and have been able to communicate with so many people from around the world on something I am so passionate about.
Thank you all for all your knowledge, information and experience ...
You make the OB what it is today and hopefully will continue to do so in years to come.
Kudos to Marty for creating this site ... Thanks, Chief

[Swamper]

Hey Dave, great thread.
Like you I was out in the everglades with my friend Miguel which you guys know well, and as we were kayaking through places like Hell's Bay and other tight creeks I started seeing more and more air plants. I figured if there are so many air plants around, then there might be some orchids too.
I came in here after doing a search for orchids and the Ghost Orchid in particular.. I found this "flhiker" guy and read all his threads on the subject, when I wanted to ask him questions I had to sign up.
After that everyone was so warm and welcoming that I just stayed.

[Royal]

I did a search for home-made glove boxes for flasking at home on a small scale and the OB popped up. This place seemed like a good venue for info exchange and was free to join so I figured I'd check it out. The members' kindness and generousity with info kept me coming back. So far, I've learned a ton made some great friends here -- and I'm just getting started.

[cb977]

Great thread Dave!

I bought my first orchid (a purple NOID vanda) in March '05 and went to my first orchid show a week later...and so it began

I love reading and learning so I decided I needed to research how to care for my little collection which now totaled 4

Orchidboard was the first site I found
There were WAY less names on the membership roster at that point
Every once in a while, a Google search for a specific plant would bring me to a link within different orchid forums and the more reading I did on those boards, the more aI realized I really disliked the way some people spoke to each other. Those rude posts made my decision for me...OB was home It's why I'm so fanatical about keeping the drama out of our forums...we're all here to learn and treating each other rudely just gets in the way of that goal

Tindo was the first friend I made here, we got the chat room started and I found myself totally immersed in OB and in buying more orchids. We also put together the first OB Project which drew a grand total of FIVE people!

Since then, I've met some wonderful people here and consider a good many of them to be true friends.

Marty asked if I would consider being a moderator and the rest is history :

[Becca]

My addiction started when my half sister (we didn't meet until 2003) who lives in Oregon had given me an orchid. She would buy NBS or seedling orchids and grow them in a green house and then sell them. She had to do away with the green house and new I had a love for plants and had offered to send me one the summer 2006. I was still in college then. I didn't do much with it....tried to give it good lighting and water it once a week like she said to. It was an Dgmra. Winter Wonderland "White Fairy". My sister said she was unable to get that one to bloom for her. It bloomed for me! But then in 2007 something when wrong and the roots started rotting. I went in search for help and that's how I found the orchid board. I've been addicted ever since and since I graduated in Dec. 2006 I bought a ton of seedlings off line to start my collection out and it just grew from there!

[shadytrake]

Well back in November, my Phal that was an anniversary gift started to die. After a quick google search, I found the OB.

Unfortunately the Phal was beyond saving but I discovered a whole world of friends and orchids.

I now have a GH, over 200 orchids, a few seed pods cooking, and I have learned how to compot flasklings. I joined my local OS and sent a couple of chids to a show.

This is the best site ever.