How long do you keep your orchids?

[Eyebabe]

I was just checking my list of plants and noticed that all but a handful have been acquired within the last two years.
Now I have logged every plant so evidently there are roughly 100 orchids that I have either killed(that would be the phals), trashed, or given away since 2005.

Now granted, with the greenhouse project started last year my ordering of plants went from about 10-20 per year upward.
In 2005 I purchased less than 10 orchids and they are all dead now
So much for learning; but they were all mericlones and fairly inexpensive.

In 2009 I committed to virus testing plants and keeping only plants that screen negative. I lost around 40 plants if I recall correctly but it could be more. Some I had been nursing along and it became clear why I was having such issues. I have also had to throw away a handful of virus positive new plants that nurseries would not accept returned.
Yes I count those too

And when I decided to go with mostly large flowering cattleya I moved out the other stuff that I wasn't in love with anymore. Those healthy guys are either at the office or owned by friends now.
This is the point where I morphed from "hobbyist" to "collector". In looking at prices of plants, clearly the average cost of the plants I am purchasing over the last two years is 5 to 10 times what I spent in previous years per plant

So I estimate over the past 7 years that I have killed about 30+ plants from poor culture, had to dispose of about 50 due to virus positive status, and given away maybe 15-20 plants that I grew "tired of"...

The point is that I saw myself as being a bit more "loyal" to my plants than evidently I am
And as much as I love the plants I have, it feels like I have owned them much longer! I have 210 plants total and only 20 of them are more than two years old in my possession. That is about 1/4 of what I had after the virus testing purge! I feel like a cheap date

I do admit, the ones on my list that I still own from 2006-2009 are like a favorite pair of shoes though

So how many years do you on average enjoy your orchids before you pass them on to make space for something newer and more interesting?

I would be interested in hearing some other hobbyist/collectors history of their orchid plants as well.

[vandagirl]

Wow. You already have a long history with orchids.
I'm fairly new with orchids. I did have Vanda's before and also some phals. Only I could not seem to keep them alive. At least not the Vanda's. Now I have Vanda's again since last year and they do great. I have even one in spike now.

[Otis226]

I'm also relatively new to orchids as a hobby, but through the years I've given away or traded a fair share of plants, as most gardeners are apt to do. I'm sure it'll be the same once the 'chid collection grows. Usually its offsets, keikis, plants that don't do well in my conditions, or that I'm just not loving anymore. I think its a natural part of a hobby with plants.
Oh, if you get to where you're not feeling it for any of yours, I'll be glad to send you my address

Good Growing,
Tony

[tucker85]

My experience has been much the same as yours, Eyebabe. Many of my older plants either died or I got tired of them and gave them away. Like you said, I have a few old favorites that have performed so well and are so nice when they are in bloom that I would never want to lose them. Every couple of years I get interested in a different species. I just recently started keeping vandas even though I've had other orchids for 10 years. I seldom lose a plant anymore but, with limited space, I give an orchid 2 to 3 years and then only keep it if it's really a special plant.

[NIVENJ]

iv'e only been growing orchids for about roughly 5 years now, and i'm sure iv'e still got my first ever orchid somewhere in the shade house....

Cant seem to part with my plants, but do however send out keikies and divisions to various friends and family members pretty often, just to make that one little space available for something new

planning to grow old with some of the plants in my collection....

[Oscarman]

I tend to keep my plants until they move on to the great cloud forest in the sky - OK, kinda corny. Only buying what grows in your conditions helps a lot, although I have made some exceptions to experiment. Sometimes a plants just isn't for you - then its off to the raffle table!

Of course as seedlings mature, plants will have to be given away or sold.

[camille1585]

I started with orchids in 2006 and my collection grew slowly since I was just a poor student up until last year. I have about 55 orchids now, and probably lost 25-30 others. Some were orchids that simply weren't adapted to my growing environment, others got diseased and died, and 15 died in a lost package fiasco.

When I went to the USA last year for 4 months I sent some of my favorite orchids to Rosie in the UK so she could take care of them (instead of leaving them to my mother). Long story short, the package got lost, got returned to my address, but being gone it was left in my dorm corridor. Despite a friend putting up a note asking for the box if it showed up, no one did a thing and the poor orchids sat in the common room in their box until my return. All dead! Lost my Neos and half of my Phal equestris collection, as well as some other favorites.

So anyway, I started rebuilding the collection after that, but I realized that I went from buying a bit of everything to focusing mainly on Phals, which grow very well for me. I'm happy to say that I still have my very first orchids, a pink Cym and a Phal hybrid.

[OrchidThief79]

Considering it takes several years for Cattleya types to attain flowering size it seems rather wasteful to get rid of a plant after only a couple years. I suppose if you don't care for the plant there's no sense in doing all the work it takes to maintain it, but that's why I try to only buy plants that I like. I suppose I look at orchids as long-term investments. Otherwise I would just buy cut flowers. And to me there's nothing more impressive than a large specimen plant with blooms all over, and it take years to grow a plant like that.

[Wrebbitrocks]

i keep them til they die. all of them. sometimes of they die waaaay faster than i think they shouldve died, i return them to home depot because they mustve been diseased to begin with since no plants die THAT fast. i feel like a horrible person for letting them die such a slow painful death :/ lol ive lost maybe a couple hundred plants so far and i have none of my first plants but im just waiting for tax season to creap back around so i can splurge

[RJSquirrel]

only been doing this orchid thing for 2 years almost to the date. I don't feel obligated to a plant anymore if it doesn't do well for me. I have 2 left from when I started here, 2 noid paphs from Ikea. The phals are all dead bec they were dead when I bought them and didnt know any better.

I dont buy anything else from the hardware stores grocery stores etc etc etc bec IMHO they are all just a waster of your money and time. Plus most them plants they sell dont have any tags but say "Orchid".

I killed most of what I had last year leaving it outside in the sun un august as again I didn't know any better. Most of my stuff is less than a year old in my possession. From what I can tell and I have decided to let it ride at this point, my catts that I got into bec of my jealous nature and joining the orchid society are being hammered by 108 temps. Little new shoots dead here. Bud blasted there. Whole plants turned to rot overnight. I'm not buying anymore plants until I figure out what I'm going to do. Ive hit the wall again. No where to grow and no where to go. Plants rotting in the heat and no where to put them. They will die.

I dont know how much longer I can deny reality and accept the fact I cant do much from a porch and 1 east window. I need to stay away from the Orchid Society also. I see people grow so many wonderful plants and I try and I cant bec I dont have the facilities to do these things. It was fun until I begun to realize my situation horribly sucks for growing anything but mold and mildew.

Indoors my stuff does fine. Paphs and masdys and a handfull of Miltonia do okey. They wont win any awards or prizes but they look good with no blooms. Im very unhappy with my outdoor growing. I just want to go home and start tossing crap in the trash until theres nothing left.. Im sick sick sick of the heat and Im sick sick sick of orchids dying all around me. Im sick of it all can you tell? Its killing my spirit