Where to Buy?
 

Evening, everyone! :)

I am pretty new to the hobby, and I was just wondering where people buy their orchids online? I have only acquired my guys from big box stores, as it were, and I'd like to see what else is out there.

So, naturally, I've spent this evening putting off a very important paper to surf Google and other forums and search through this board for lots of orchids to try and buy at some point.

I have seen a lot from Hausermann's and have read that they are reputable, but I was wondering who else is out there that is reputable and fair with cost? How can you tell? How do you value what an orchid should even cost or is worth (if you can do that, I guess)? How do you know who is any good? Do you test the plants as soon as you receive them?

And how do you recognize what places/dealers to stay away from, other than the obvious crap looking plants? What do you do if you receive one?

I am going to try to contact the MD Orchid club here at some point when my life slows down, and I plan on searching out some local nurseries after my move...but since not everyone in Maryland is going to have everything I'll ever eventually want, I wanted to ask for some advice. :)

Advice? Stories?

Thanks in advance!! :bowing

Carter & Holmes,pay attention to size, some are years away from blooming
Sunset Valley Orchids
First Ray's
Hausermann's

I do not recommend Logees in CT
Look through the vendor feedback forum. It will give you good and bad reviews. Google and research vendors before you buy. Some have sickly or virused plants and lousy customer service

Oh no whyyyyyyy did you have to show me Al's!? Leesburg isn't that far. <__________< I may have to go on a road trip in the near future...

Like SJF said, pay attention to the plant size. Many online vendors sell very small seedlings that take years to bloom and will probably die before they ever bloom. Look for blooming size or mature size plants.

Aside from Hausermann's, that you already mentioned, I've had good results with Norman's Orchids at Orchids.com, Carter and Holmes, Carmela Orchids, Gold Country Orchids (especially for compact and mini-cattleyas), Kawamoto on Ebay, Odom's Orchids and there are many more.

Marilyn Ledoux at Windy Hill Orchids has wonderful plants, although the website isn't glitzy. She also seems to have quite a bit that doesn't show up on her web list, so you can call or email if you're looking for something in particular. She's very responsive.

For Phals, Peter Lin's Big Leaf Orchids is my favorite for novelties, species and primary hybrids. He also has a discussion board with a lot of good Phal breeding discussion.

Orchidzone in California if you like paphs.
I also bought from Kawamoto both on and off line, and I don't have any complaints.

Komoda orchids in Hawaii.
I bought miltoniopsis and dendrobiums from them.
Very nice.

Tom Kalina at Fox Valley Orchids- Has many paph and phrag species and hybrids from flasks, compots, seedlings, to big blooming sized plants. The prices are very fair and he is very helpful.
Leo Schordje at schordje.com- A smaller seller with many hard to find orchids for the best prices. He has more than what's listed on his website, just contact him. He has 2 growth Paph. sanderianums for only $125! May seem like a lot but most other people sell ones that are 2 years from blooming for the same price.
Randy Tajima at Mid-Pacific Orchids- they have lots of great phals, catts, and dendrobiums. Also has a good selection of other orchids. Specimen plants available.
Sam Tsui at Orchid Inn- He has just about every paph species and loads of hybrids from flasks to blooming sized. Also has lots of phrags. Some of the best slipper orchid breeding, prices are a little higher but the plants always have excellent bloom quality.
Ray at Great Lakes Orchids- Has great cypripediums (hardy slipper orchids). He is very helpful and has a great selection and fair prices. He makes growing cyps easy.
eBay- Has good orchids for great prices. Make sure you see or ask to see a recent picture of the actual plant.
Piping Rock Orchids- They have really good slipper orchids and masdevallias for good prices.

Try Orchid Map™ | Locator: Orchids and then google for reviews of the various finds :)

It's well worth joining an OS; try the one closest to you, and if you don't like it, try one slightly further afield. Local growers will tell you all the best places near you, give you advice, and often, spare plants. :)

Worth the drive :)
 

That would be great. I am too far to drive there. Look at his online pictures on his website. His greenhouse is so clean. He is a one man show and therefore, ensures quality. He is on Facebook too. He is a nice guy and answers all questions very promptly. He will even tell you if a plant doesn't look good enough to him to ship.:)

He has a lot more varieties and plants in the greenhouse than he says he can list on his website. I think buying plants in person is the best way to purchase them. If you go please take pictures to post.

The other place that you could buy orchids is local shows. That way again you can see them before buying. You can look at overall health, new leads and ask questions.

Do yourself a favor and just research online vendors really well prior to purchasing. I have had a couple of bad experiences that have wasted money, brought diseased, insect infested orchids into my home and caused aggravation. :((

I'll probably make a day trip over there someday, as long as I don't get stuck in DC/NOVA traffic it will make a really nice summer cruise :) And an excuse to hop the border for a little while. I'll definitely take pictures.

I rely on reviews for a lot of services, it would definitely be no different for my orchids. :) Thank you everyone!!

what kind of orchids are you looking for?

Maybe that can help narrow the playing field a bit.

At the moment I'd just like to have a look and learn what I can. I looooooooooved that Dtps. Tzu Chiang Sapphire I saw, and I am very interested, as you know, in Neofinetia falcata. I have also seen Onc. Twinkle around and think they're super pretty. And of course, numerous others I've seen in browsing.

At some point I'd like to try my hand at a Catt or two, I like that their flowers are reminiscent of daffodils, lol. And I looooooove Cattleya aurantiaca, I love the vibrance! I'm huge into color (unlike my poor fiance who is into brown and black :P Blurgh!).

Mostly, I know I don't have the proper lighting for Catts, and likely not the Onc. at least. And I am afraid to really get too much before I even know I won't kill it. I'd just like to learn and browse and see what's out there, learn what to look for, get a feel for how much stuff costs/why it is priced the way it is, etc. If that makes sense?

Try Oak Hill Gardens, their prices are affordable, but the trade-off is that the orchids are not always blooming sized adults.

Or you may see if J & L Orchids has something you like. Their orchids are not really "inexpensive", but they're not expensive either, and they have a good selection.

Mountain Orchid's list of availability is kinda low at the moment, but they occasionally have some cool stuff. In terms of price, their prices are not the lowest, but they might occasionally have stuff nobody else really offers here in the US.

Andy's Orchids has a huge selection, but the prices are not always cheap.

---------- Post added at 09:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 AM ----------

I'd also look into Exotic Orchids of Maui or Tropical Orchid Farm.

Thanks! :) Would you recommend maybe testing my other plants for viruses or whatever first? I've been watching a couple of other threads where people were going back and forth and I am now paranoid that the alcohol I applied to my scissors wasn't adequate and I've gone and done in all of my plants with some funky disease and don't know it yet, lol. I don't know that much about how stuff spreads, but if I'm going to get more than just generic Lowes guys, I definitely want to try to keep them as safe as possible.

If it makes you feel more comfortable, sure, go ahead and test for virus. It doesn't hurt.

Mostly I just don't want them to all croak on me. I wouldn't know what to do even if it did come up virused. All I've read is that some people throw them out and others don't. =\ It's very confusing.

If I were you, and some of your plants come up positive for virus; burn them.

That is so sad. :(

It's either burn the virused plants, or put them aside in a remote corner somewhere and still run the risk that a flying insect with piercing mouthparts will spread the virus from the plants in that remote corner to your prized collection.

I will start saving up for some test kits and some big girl orchids, lol. For now, I am good with my big box guys just so I can learn to grow them. I wish my degree was over with and I could focus on earning more $ to buy nicer 'chids. :P

One thing about the smaller plants is that they are easier to kill. Seedlings and plants 2-3 years to blooming size are touchy. The larger ones are more vigorous.

Al's has an Onc. Gold Dust for $12. You might like that one since you like Twinkles. I have been admiring it.

You can try flaming your cutters to prevent transmitting virus or disease. I use my kitchen stove to flame in between plants or individual cuts on a diseased plant. The other option is going to Walmart or somewhere like that and buying disposable single edge blades. I got mine in their paint dept. You can wear single use gloves for repotting or wash your hands and under your nails between each plant too. HTH

Another safeguard is using paper on a surface while repotting. Change it in between each orchid you are repotting

Oak Hill Gardens doesn't sell dinky seedlings. Their seedlings are established and have been hardened off a long time ago.

I wasn't referring to them, just smaller plants as a new orchid grower

I agree.

I will start doing that, and I think I'm going to actually get a dedicated set of shears. For the moment I've just got one pair of all-purpose scissors I've been using. I always doused them with alcohol really well and I run them through the dishwasher frequently too, lol. I had no idea about viruses just 2 days ago, though, so now I'm totally scared! Especially if little bugs eat on them and spread it around, that's so freaky!

Up to this point, I've only repotted them one, maybe two, at a time and washed my hands and the scissors between each one. I use new containers and if not I clean the ones I am going to reuse in a dilution of bleach and water. And I never reuse media. I'm still all freaked out, though, lol.

If you have lava rock it can be heated to destroy viruses and diseases. Before you soak the pots in bleach/water make sure you clean them of all media residue and rinse them. That way when you soak them they are thoroughly disinfected.

I do, and I try to get as *much* media off of the rots of old plants as I possibly can. I do not have lava rock, I use bark/perlite/charcoal.

That is a good practice. For the bark mix you are correct in just throwing it away.

As someone who is brand new to the hobby, do you think I should pony up the cash to test my guys? Or should I just get a handle on how to even grow them first? They are all from big box stores, and after reading around, I guess those are the most commonly infected. Has anyone ever gotten any from stores that WEREN'T infected? Are all big box store orchids infected?

I don't think all big box store plants are infected. I think some are, but they can be from big growers too. I now never buy ones with spotty leaves or with weird markings. Carter & Holmes guarantees virus free plants, just watch size you are considering. I don't want to wait three years for my first bloom, but that is me. Plus, as I mentioned, they are touchier.

I treat all of my plants as if they are virused. I have tested a lot of my plants and dumped the virused ones. It was expensive to do. How many orchids do you have?

I've never had an infected orchid, even from Lowes and other big box stores. Before you get any more orchids (:)), get yourself some Physan 20. It is on ebay for good prices and free shipping. Here's a brief description: Here's a link to some for sale: Physan 20 Pint | eBay

I currently have nine orchids, all Phals, that I have modge podged over the last few months. There are a couple that I wouldn't feel bad about tossing but I have some that are special to me as well (like my very first one that got me into the hobby).

---------- Post added at 02:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 PM ----------

I almost bought some Physan 20 last week but I decided not to because it seemed as if it was more geared toward people with larger operations that use A LOT of water. I have a spray bottle and I water my orchids with the faucet. ^^; I only have 9 of them so I don't have a huge operation going.

First Rays sells Physan too and his prices and S&H rates are great.

For a smaller collection you could send samples to Critter Creek. It would be cheaper than buying a whole pack of testing strips.

Aren't the Physan proportions something like 1 tsp per like 5 gallons of water? It was something super crazy that made me change my mind. I can size down one tbls per gallon. I can't size down one tbls per 5 gallons.

2 tsp. per gallon for orchids

I don't recommend getting Physan 20 on the roots. All the other parts of the plant are ok. I am of the opinion that they shouldn't touch the roots at all.

Okay, I must have been looking at something larger, because I remember getting the impression that it was for larger operations.

In other news, how do you keep track of which sample you send in for testing is from which plant?

---------- Post added at 02:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------

How come? O_O there is still so much to learn!

'Cause they can potentially damage the roots. Not sure by which specific means. Physan 20 is a chemical, and I don't really know how this specifically affects root cells.

Critter Creek Laboratory

There is info on their site. The plants w/o labels you could label the pot with tape and a number or name and mark your samples with the same marking.