Questions for Youngish Orchid Growers

[Afid]

How old are you? I'm 18
How long have you been growing orchids? Around 4 years I think
Are you in school or working? In School
Are you a member of your LOS? Yes

If your nearest LOS...

had a monthly e-Newsletter would you subscribe to it? Yes
had orchid how-to videos on youtube would you watch them? Probably, but it would depend on the subject matter
had a facebook page/flickr group/twitter account would you follow them? probably, but I don't use social media much/at all so...
had their own forum would you participate on it? Yes
had an RSS feed of orchid articles would you subscribe to it? Yes
sold orchids on craigslist would you buy them? Probably

Would you be more inclined to join/rejoin your nearest LOS if they...

offered free membership for students?
offered free membership for anyone under 30?
received a 10% discount at local orchid nurseries?
received a 20% discount at local orchid nurseries?
received a 30% discount at local orchid nurseries?
offered tours of their members' greenhouses/gardens? I'm already a member but yes to all of the above.

On a scale of 1 (least important) to 10 (most important) how would you rate the following items...

a good selection of reasonably priced orchids for sale at every meeting 7
a good selection of raffle orchids 6
weekend meetings 9
more young members 10
knowledgeable members 10
friendly members 10 (everyone I know is really nice, but you can't have too many nice people)
interesting presentations 10
an extensive orchid library 10

[hitchjunkie]

How old are you? 24
How long have you been growing orchids? 8 years ish
Are you in school or working? Working
Are you a member of your LOS? No, Meetings don't fall when I can make them, not much online content.
If your nearest LOS...
had a monthly e-Newsletter would you subscribe to it? Yes
had orchid how-to videos on youtube would you watch them? Yes
had a facebook page would you become a fan of it? Don't have FB, Flickr, Twitter etc
had a flickr group would you join it?
had a twitter account would you follow them?
had their own forum would you participate on it? Yes
had an RSS feed of orchid articles would you subscribe to it?
sold orchids on craigslist would you buy them? No Craigslist in NZ, but I buy from some of the members on Trademe, the NZ version.
Would you be more inclined to join/rejoin your nearest LOS if they...
offered free membership for students? No
offered free membership for anyone under 30? Sure
received a 10% discount at local orchid nurseries? Yup
received a 20% discount at local orchid nurseries?Yeah
received a 30% discount at local orchid nurseries?Absolutely
offered tours of their members' greenhouses/gardens? Already happens, but never when I'm not working.
On a scale of 1 (least important) to 10 (most important) how would you rate the following items...
a good selection of reasonably priced orchids for sale at every meeting - 7
a good selection of raffle orchids - 2
weekend meetings - 10
more young members - 7
knowledgeable members - 8
friendly members - 10
interesting presentations - 8
an extensive orchid library - 10
Please feel free to offer any specific reasons why you haven't joined your LOS or why you continue to be a member of your LOS.

[DirtyCoconuts]

How old are you? I'm 37
How long have you been growing orchids? I've had and tended orchids for 20 odd years, collecting seriously for 3-4
Are you in school or working? working
Are you a member of your LOS? NO

If your nearest LOS...

had a monthly e-Newsletter would you subscribe to it? Yes
had orchid how-to videos on youtube would you watch them? I prefer written instructions w pictures to videos...i am old school
had a facebook page/flickr group/twitter account would you follow them? Unlikely to influence me as i don't like social media
had their own forum would you participate on it? maybe
had an RSS feed of orchid articles would you subscribe to it? Yes
sold orchids on craigslist would you buy them? Probably

Would you be more inclined to join/rejoin your nearest LOS if they...

offered free membership for students? N/A
offered free membership for anyone under 30? N/A
received a 10% discount at local orchid nurseries? yes
received a 20% discount at local orchid nurseries? yes
received a 30% discount at local orchid nurseries? yes
offered tours of their members' greenhouses/gardens? depends on how cool they were lol
I'm already a member but yes to all of the above.

On a scale of 1 (least important) to 10 (most important) how would you rate the following items...

a good selection of reasonably priced orchids for sale at every meeting 7
a good selection of raffle orchids 6
weekend meetings 9
more young members 3
knowledgeable members 10
friendly members 10
interesting presentations 10
an extensive orchid library 10

[mofms1]

1. How old are you? Just turned 40 at the end of Oct
2. How long have you been growing orchids? I guess I've had store-bought orchids for a couple of years, but I'm just now becoming interested in more exotic orchids
3. Are you in school or working? I'm a full-time college student, retired from the Air Force in Jul 2017
4. Are you a member of your LOS? No, but I'm considering signing up

If your nearest LOS...

1. had a monthly e-Newsletter would you subscribe to it? yes
2. had orchid how-to videos on youtube would you watch them? probably
3. had a facebook page would you become a fan of it? I already am
4. had a flickr group would you join it? Probably
5. had a twitter account would you follow them? Yes, although I'm not on Twitter very often
6. had their own forum would you participate on it? Yes
7. had an RSS feed of orchid articles would you subscribe to it? Probably
8. sold orchids on craigslist would you buy them? Probably, but I don't use Craigslist much. I'm more of a FB Marketplace person

Would you be more inclined to join/rejoin your nearest LOS if they...

1. offered free membership for students? It wouldn't be a deciding factor, but yes
2. offered free membership for anyone under 30? N/A
3. received a 10% discount at local orchid nurseries? yes
4. received a 20% discount at local orchid nurseries? yes
5. received a 30% discount at local orchid nurseries? yes
6. offered tours of their members' greenhouses/gardens? yes

On a scale of 1 (least important) to 10 (most important) how would you rate the following items...

1. a good selection of reasonably priced orchids for sale at every meeting 4
2. a good selection of raffle orchids 4
3. weekend meetings 5
4. more young members 1
5. knowledgeable members 10
6. friendly members 9
7. interesting presentations 8
8. an extensive orchid library

Please feel free to offer any specific reasons why you haven't joined your LOS or why you continue to be a member of your LOS. I've just come to know about them in the past few months. I recently went to an orchid show and it was amazing, but the LOS isn't really close. It's around a 40+ minute drive one way.

[OrcishOrchids]

Section 1
A1: Age 28
A2: one year
A3: Both.
A4: NO, and probably never will be. (rude, disinterested members.)

Section 2
A1: no
A2: yes
A3: yes
A4: no
A5: no
A6: only if it was active. (responses within 48 hours)
A7: no
A8: yes.

Section 3
A1: yes
A2: yes
A3: no
A4: no
A5: maybe, but only if I had nurseries within a 2 hour drive. It would be better to get discounts on online nurseries.
A6: no.

Section 4 (rated in descending order of importance)
10. More young members (or at least more members who were enthusiastic to be there and not asleep.)
9. A good selection of reasonably priced orchids for sale at every meeting.
8. friendly members.
7. knowledgeable members.
6. interesting presentations
5. an extensive orchid library
2. a good selection of raffle orchids
1. weekend meetings

[katsucats]

1. How old are you? 34
2. How long have you been growing orchids? I've had a few plants for the past 10ish years, but never really been active.
3. Are you in school or working? Right now, neither, unfortunately.
4. Are you a member of your LOS? No.

If your nearest LOS...

1. had a monthly e-Newsletter would you subscribe to it? No, I can't imagine what would be on it that would make me interested. I'm not a huge history buff. I don't like scrolling through pictures, and Facebook has plenty of that anyway. Cultural information is all over the internet, and since I grow S/H, most of it never applies to me.
2. had orchid how-to videos on youtube would you watch them? Only if it beats all the competition of videos that already exist. The problem is most of the conventional stuff is quite common sense, in my opinion. I'd be interested in, for example, inventive ways to create new mounts, such as using spacer meshes to simulate Hygrolon. I just doubt that the LOS of all places would step outside of the box.
3. had a facebook page would you become a fan of it? If they're doing something positive in the community, sure.
4. had a flickr group would you join it?
5. had a twitter account would you follow them? I'm not active on Flickr or Twitter.
6. had their own forum would you participate on it? Maybe.
7. had an RSS feed of orchid articles would you subscribe to it? No, I'd rather not get any more spam.
8. sold orchids on craigslist would you buy them? No. How do I hold anyone on craigslist accountable if the plant was, for example, virused or mislabeled? I would never buy an orchid from craigslist.

Would you be more inclined to join/rejoin your nearest LOS if they...

1. offered free membership for students? No, but they should do university and high school outreach and clubs for publicity. That would be a good idea.
2. offered free membership for anyone under 30? No.
3. received a 10% discount at local orchid nurseries? No.
4. received a 20% discount at local orchid nurseries? Yes, what's the catch?
5. received a 30% discount at local orchid nurseries? Yes, what's the catch?
6. offered tours of their members' greenhouses/gardens? No, I would be horrified for the hosts from people touching things and spreading diseases.

On a scale of 1 (least important) to 10 (most important) how would you rate the following items...

1. a good selection of reasonably priced orchids for sale at every meeting 10
2. a good selection of raffle orchids 1
3. weekend meetings 1
4. more young members 8
5. knowledgeable members 6 (Honestly, most "knowledge" that I need to know are readily online, and Agdia test strips are more reliable than 30 years of someone's experience in identifying streaks)
6. friendly members 10
7. interesting presentations 8
8. an extensive orchid library 3 (Can they offer any more than orchidspecies? AOS should make their orchid library public if they know what's good for them. Otherwise, they are just irrelevant to a broader audience. Most people want to look up a hybrid name that they see in the supermarket, and AOS should be that authority to go to.)

Please feel free to offer any specific reasons why you haven't joined your LOS or why you continue to be a member of your LOS. I'm more of a DIY'er. I don't have a green house. I don't have temperature monitors. When I read cultural sheets, I don't know how the information relates to me. Gone are the days when the orchid hobby was protected by wealthy men in hunt for the exotic. In-roads in plant science have shown that these plants are actually adaptable to many conditions, and so I don't need someone to tell me the climate conditions of New Guinea for me to mimic them. There's no indication to begin with that a species' natural environment is its "best" environment.

To me, the orchid industry has an image problem. Every official-looking source wants to tell me how difficult it is to grow these exotic plants, and how I must do this or that, and that's what I imagine of orchid seminars (disclosure: I've never been to one). It scares newcomers away, and it would seem to add to my problems rather than simplify them. A lot of the old advice just isn't true, and I think hydroponics (e.g. S/H) proves that.

So maybe I'm completely off base about what an orchid society entails, or what being an "orchid expert" entails, just a bunch of people telling me I don't need 16000 lux lighting, but 16001 lux lighting.

I guess at the end of the day I don't join the LOS for the same reason I don't join the LMS (local mint society) or the LBS (local basil society). I don't see what they offer me. They have no outreach presence in the truly local communities (e.g. Facebook groups, local neighborhood groups, town community activities, etc.). They seem to keep all their award information top secret, hidden in proprietary software behind a paywall. A lot of the older orchid growers don't seem open to new ideas. I think AOS and LOS need to demonstrate relevance before they attract interest. As it stands, I wouldn't want an AOS magazine even if they handed it out for free.

[DirtyCoconuts]

you make good points and i would only offer you one minor counter point to consider.

a well curated, crafted collection of information in a magazine is COMPLETELY absent from the internet, even by the magazine's themselves bc it was a part (small as it may be) that the magazine could come with you, to the garage, the lath house, the restroom, and you could write on it and ear mark pages.

the benefit of NOT needing to source and fact check or click 30 times to read all the instructions is HUGE and the fact that other knowledgeable people contributed and edited, there may often be articles you did not know you wanted to read that change your whole growing mentality or not but at least you are exposed to curated material and there is a bar or threshold that the information had to pass through plus the reputation of the author used to matter so they also cared about the content.


im only a hair older than you and i feel very similar to you (my thoughts have also changed no that COVID happened) but i just disagree about the magazine. I also don't know if the mag is worth a damn but from ska mags to skate rags to popular mechanics and others, i have found print media to be a really cool thing in the right places.

[katsucats]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

a well curated, crafted collection of information in a magazine is COMPLETELY absent from the internet

Yeah, I can see that. I guess until AOS shows me examples of what I'm missing, I really don't know what I'm missing, and that's part of the problem. I don't feel like there's anything related to orchids that I would need to fact check (that I haven't already). If this was an engineering or data science mag, then what you mentioned would be huge perk.

I will say that certain articles I've seen, such as this one, makes me want to fact check them as well (Virus Question):

First, the AOS has no position on virus. I guess the most important point that needs to be made is that orchid virus is widespread, and is easily transmitted from plant to plant, mostly by the hand of growers, carelessly. It is so easily spread that the only thing a virus test can really tell you about a plant is when the plant tests positive, it is virused. If the test comes back negative, it may mean the plant was clean at the time of testing, or the test simply failed to detect virus. Also, the plant may easily have become infected between the time of testing and the receipt of the result. And, if the plant tested clean at the time the tissue was taken for propagation, who is to say it or its propagules have not subsequently become virused.

[DirtyCoconuts]

For sure. And, as I said, I don’t know if the AOS mag is worth using as TP but a good magazine is awesome. Was more my point lol

[DiskDePhragmentor]

The following is a survey for youngish (<40 yrs old) orchid growers regarding their nearest Local Orchid Society (LOS). As the publicity person for my society I figure the answers might be helpful for the leaders of societies. Thanks in advance for your participation!

How old are you? 28
How long have you been growing orchids? 3 years
Are you in school or working? Working
Are you a member of your LOS? Not yeat

If your nearest LOS...

had a monthly e-Newsletter would you subscribe to it? Yes
had orchid how-to videos on youtube would you watch them? Yes. That said, there are many across the world who are doing great general videos. The videos by LOSs should be region specific for what can be grown outdoors if any as well as local native orchids
had a facebook page would you become a fan of it? Yes, or group.
had a flickr group would you join it? No. Instagram would be better
had a twitter account would you follow them? I don't use twitter
had their own forum would you participate on it? Yes
had an RSS feed of orchid articles would you subscribe to it? Yes, in general orchid-related podcasts would be good too
sold orchids on craigslist would you buy them? Yes, would love to see more local listings

Would you be more inclined to join/rejoin your nearest LOS if they...

offered free membership for students? Not applicable. Would help if I were a student for sure
offered free membership for anyone under 30? I don't mind paying dues but for others cost may be an issue for sure
received a 10% discount at local orchid nurseries? Yes
received a 20% discount at local orchid nurseries? Yes!
received a 30% discount at local orchid nurseries? YES!!
offered tours of their members' greenhouses/gardens? Yes!

On a scale of 1 (least important) to 10 (most important) how would you rate the following items...

a good selection of reasonably priced orchids for sale at every meeting 8
a good selection of raffle orchids 7
weekend meetings 1 (prefer weekday evenings, and better yet, have an option to use Zoom or to be in person after the pandemic is over)
more young members 10
knowledgeable members 10
friendly members 10
interesting presentations 9
an extensive orchid library 5

Please feel free to offer any specific reasons why you haven't joined your LOS or why you continue to be a member of your LOS.

I haven't joined mine because their social media pages haven't been updated in several years, suggesting the club isn't very active. Thinking of joining one from the next county over as there is more activity, but wasn't able to get into the zoom meeting due to technical problems.

In any case time is an issue, and being able to join meetings remotely when I can't make it in person would be really helpful. Many people my age work odd hours at low paying jobs so recordings could help too. Unfortunately, I don't want to be the only person in my age group at these meetings, it would make me really uncomfortable.

A change if venue would be helpful, the location of my LOS is rather age specific. I think if the venue were moved from a library to on or near a college campus it would help, provided parking is free.
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