orchid funerals :(
 

I just finished sorting all the dead loss from over the winter. It wasn't too terrible BUT there were some favorites as well as some that are nearly impossible to replace. :( I'm curious what has been your worst plant to lose....was it because of value, sentiment? Also, do you try to replace things that die or not?

Im sorry to hear of your losses :(. When one of my orchids even think about sending me a smoke signal that they are suffering i cringe! My worst plant to lose would be not one but three of my orchids. For starters i have a NOID phal that is yellow with orange splotching. it was my very first orchid that i was able to keep alive. I have had it for around three years now. My second one is also a noid. Its coloring is white with dark red spots and pink blush. I had spent a lot of money on an orchid to get one that looked like it but was dissapointed. Come winter I walked into walmart and there was my dream orchid just sitting there staring at me :). It is currently blooming. My third one is a paph that is a veni hybrid that is now a noid because i lost the tag (oops). it is about 4 inches across, and has never bloomed, but it was only something like 6 dollars from hausermann orchids. It is a source of enjoyment for me because it is very cute and I love it for what it is. I honestly don't care if it blooms or not. As for replacing these plants, never in a million years would i be able to replace them. They are sentimental items. I may buy a plant that looks like them, but there wouldn't be the connection.

we all deal with loss differently. I like tossing them in the trash myself when they commit suicide to escape my clutches. I toss em in the air and try to kick them into the trash can :biggrin:

Ive had so much loss I dont even see it as loss anymore. I see it as room for some more :).

Lossing certain ones has had a sentimental impact. Some I have been trying to save a long time have more impact sometimes then if they died suddenly, other's it's because it was one that was hard to get in the first place then hard to replace.

Some of them I don't worry about so much, but I don't like loosing any of them. It depends what it was whether I try to replace it. Some yes, most no.

This is where divisions of favourite plants come in handy - keep a "backup" of your plants with a friend (perhaps of the same orchid society) some distance away. :)

I don't think I've killed any plants/had them die except for a keiki of a phal hybrid that I put in a pot that I didn't realize had no drainage. Not a big deal though, I still have the mother plant

I've lost more than I care to count. I keep the tags and I keep a photo journal of their blooms in case I want to replace a lost one. I really like trying new things.

Recently I went back through the tags of the dearly departed and picked two that I want to replace. One is Epc Kyoguchi "M. Sano" because it smelled wonderful; the other is Cochleanthes amazonica because I really love the flower and the way it grew. If I never find them, I won't be disappointed. There are so many new things to try.

My most heart wrenching loss....
A NOID brassia.
Mainly because it just up and died for no apparent reason. It was rather traumatic.

I've killed a fair number of orchids but that was the one that still bothers me to this day.

The one I'm most paranoid about losing...
My NOID blue phal. One if my cheapest orchids, but also one of the prettiest colours.

Thankfully it's growing happily, though the leaves are smaller this growth season which bothers me.

It's always those NOIDS that get to me.

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I just replaced my Angraecum sesquipidale because our little poodle-mix decided it was a chew toy. It was a great excuse to get one that was blooming sized. :)
I was very fond of my vanda coerulescens that she also destroyed but it was sentimental only so not going to bother to replace it. Sigh.
I grow many plants and rarely lose one but if it is a plant I enjoy, it gets replaced.

---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------

I have a doomed C. dowiana...from what I have read, it will, someday, commit suicide, because that is what they are known to do. The seedling was sent to me by mistake and I contemplate giving it away so I don't need to watch it die but, so far, it likes living with me. I am already fond of it even if I don't want to be. Sigh. :(

That is a good idea cbuchman. I have killed so many orchids that I had to stop my penchant for buying replacements when one died. I told myself that I would care for and nurture the orchids that I had, get to know what they needed to survive and what I could do to modify my environment to help them grow. If all the plants survive a year, I will allow myself to buy another one. Well that was three years ago. We have all survived Fort Wayne, Indiana's crazy hot summers and ridiculously cold winters. The orchids that have survived have grown really well, have produced plenty of leaves, roots, and blooms. I'm talking about ten phalaenopsis and eight Oncidiums and eight Praghmipedeliums.

And then I discovered this board...all the pictures and all the stories of member's experience with their orchids got me in the mood to buy some more orchids. In the past three months I have acquired 30 new orchids!

This time around I'm going to do what you suggest and keep track of all my orchids. Thank you.