Erm... How do you control your spending?

[Wathepleela]

It's been a while since I last posted on this board. My problem is not with the spending given the part of the world where I live, but I finally got the message that orchids in general could not survive on my smallish apartment balcony which offers zero shade against the withering, searing Bangkok sun.

After the final dispatch (in the heart-wrenching Sophie's Choice fashion I should add) of all but one of them to the "yonder" I began to look around my everyday world and noticed that very few places in my working class (read shophouse) neighborhood keep orchids.

When they do, mostly the dens types usually left to fend for themselves. They are lucky as, believe it or not, Bangkok does have a lot of green space...Otherwise, every household manages a little garden corner where the plants huddle together for (moral) support. So I began to cultivate my own garden corner, with plants that are hypbrid of the St Tropez type (ie they worship sun) and Lawrence of Arabia type (ie can go long stretch without watering).

My last orchid survivor is also my last purchase: a chocolaty (sorry I don't know the name) mokara. It is doing very well, takes languorous dunking in its own tub (my paper waste basket), at the same time doesn't mind a bit of sun now and then, keeps growing new (steely) leaves and roots like crazy. It has yet to rebloom though - I'm chomping at the bit for it to sprout a spike (or two?) any day now.

I'm taking a home leave next week and go back to the states for a couple of months so I'll need to find an orchid sitter. Hopefully from a "healthy" distance I can re-calibrate my passion for orchids somehow. As you can tell, I still lurk on this board to get my fix every SOOOOO often!

[u bada]

wathepleela, the idea you can't grow orchids in bangkok is a bit surprising although I hear how intense light and heat can be... and in truth many of the best orchid growers are higher eleveation or north but still... i think you should just set up some sort of shade cloth and you'd be fine with soooo many hot growers... vandas for sure would do well there...

How to control the spending... I really don't know, been trying to figure that out all year...

Having an SO constantly make comments is one way to keep things minimal, running out of space is another, and of course running out of money.... but then again, not really working for me, so more to figure out... lol

[kcbugs]

CONTROL SPENDING!!! HAHAHA!!!!!

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[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by Wathepleela

After the final dispatch (in the heart-wrenching Sophie's Choice fashion I should add) of all but one of them to the "yonder" I began to look around my everyday world and noticed that very few places in my working class (read shophouse) neighborhood keep orchids.

When they do, mostly the dens types usually left to fend for themselves. They are lucky as, believe it or not, Bangkok does have a lot of green space...Otherwise, every household manages a little garden corner where the plants huddle together for (moral) support. So I began to cultivate my own garden corner, with plants that are hypbrid of the St Tropez type (ie they worship sun) and Lawrence of Arabia type (ie can go long stretch without watering).

Too funny. Great thread too.

How did I control spending (note past tense). I went birding. But then I ended up spending a lot of money on binoculars, cameras and lenses. But those were once every two years or so. Birding nearly everyday and work kept me from looking at what orchids I didn't have. Then all of a sudden I stopped birding in July of this year and didn't bird in August. By mid August I was buying orchids again. And other plants too. I need to bird some more. I wonder if I can find any owls or nighthawks at this time of the night.......



---------- Post added at 01:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:07 AM ----------

Oh, maybe you want to try opening a CD account, and you keep putting extra money in it every time you have extra money. Certainly feels nice to watch your interest payments increase as you add more money. You can't withdraw the money anytime you feel like it, so it keeps you from spending the money. And you are saving...saving...saving... for the $10,000 dollar orchi.... Uhh, I mean purchase. Yea, that's it. Responsible grown-up purchase.

[Wathepleela]

densindewild.jpg


Here's a pic of a den "in the wild." It's on the university campus located across the street from my apartment building. Of note is the flora surrounding each building (or department). Each has its own landscape gardener and each gardener has his own style (or budget depending on how you look at it.) This one, of the Computer Science Dept, tends to go heavy on bright colors, so we have a lot of loud, big-mouthed hibiccus on a palette of primary red orange yellow plus some delicious looking burgundy-centered white.

In addition a couple of humble dens, this one tucked up on a tree, knowing its lot it blooms without fuss all year round, I think the moisture from the pond below also helps out quite a bit.

Originally Posted by u bada

wathepleela, the idea you can't grow orchids in bangkok is a bit surprising although I hear how intense light and heat can be... lol

Yeah I agree, but the reality is you need space for your orchids. Balconies here have double duty as clothes drying area and if you have a small one, then it's a constant hassle to have both orchids and damp clothes fighting for space (so the chances of snapped spikes, broken roots and own hair-pulling are often great).

I think my next "controlled"-spending would be to move to a big house with a veranda on the top floor where I and my forever-expanding, all-compassing orchids collection chill out in bliss listening to a US-imported industrial sized dryer humming away happily on the ground floor....