On Friday, I had a business meeting in Santa Barbara (followed by a weekend conference in LA). I decided to pay Santa Barbara Orchid Estate a visit, and spent the entire afternoon there. I was amazed how they grow their orchids: outdoors with rain protection and shading and in crushed granite, but only up to pots of the size 3". They never re-pot plants from then on, until a plant is divided. What they do instead is take a pot and place it with NO substrate into a pot of the next size, and so on, and so on. This has the advantage that plants are never disturbed. The staff was extremely friendly and we chatted for hours and they showed me fabulous plants. SBOE is a huge place and if you like Cattleyas and Cymbidiums it is a must-go place. They also have loads of Australian Dendrobiums including huge speciosum (not yet in flower)
Pictures from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate
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