Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo Ann
Just curious how many of us here can afford to be “Orchid Snobs” ? I can’t… but I still enjoy growing what I can…I would love to get to the advanced stage beyond pot plants but unfortunately I have what is called a family and a mortgage so it’s a little hard to convince the bank that you would rather spend your money on a fancy species Orchid then to pay them…I haven’t been able to convince the family that food should be considered an option either not to mention gas prices and so on and so on…I guess I am a contributor to the hybrid chaos…
sorry Des if this got off your topic of naming hybrids…  |
Don't be so defensive. This isn't about money or economic standing. I'm a broke college student. I have rent and bills and books and tuition.
This is about learning the plants and learning what is and is not good (or at least what you do an do not like), horticulturally. There are plenty of vendors out there that sell wonderful things for low prices. Before I lost my old collection, I had slightly under 2000 plants, and most of those were purchased for 10-20 dollars. All named, most species, many very good examples of those species. You gotta learn to know what to look for. For me, I spend a lot of time researching awards. When you know award trends, you get to where you can see quality. Not just in a bloom, but you can predict, at least to a degree, the quality outcome of a well-bred seedling. I recently bloomed an AM/AOS quality C. walkeriana. I had high expectations for it because it is a tetraploid and about five generations line bred from very very good australian stock. Unbloomed seedlings of good breeding are a wonderful way to build a quality collection for relatively cheap.
Meanwhile, by continuing to buy pot-plant orchids, you are contributing to the problems that cause an increase in price of non-pot-plant orchids. Speaking as an occasional and aspiring breeder of orchids, it is *very* hard to compete with a breeding operation that takes up ACRES of space and produces nothing more than pretty mutts.
My snobbery is not based on economics, trust. I grew up in a friggin' trailer, for chrissakes. All I'm saying is, if you are going to spend $20 or $10 or whatever on a plant, why not do so with a reputable vendor who can actually give you real advice and insight into the plant? TO buy from Home Depot or Lowes or Walmart just gives your money to the big-box stores that are slowly but surely destroying all innovation, originality, and individuality in the American marketplace.
Daylillies were mentioned, earlier. My great aunt has been rather a local breeder of note in daylillies down in Houston for some time. The absurd effciency of cloning programs, these days, destroy her business and require her to raise prices on new cultivars because she's only gonna get one or two seasons to sell someting and try to make a profit off of it. If the thing is any good, it's liable to have the ever-lovin bejeezus cloned out of it in a few years and then she'll be seeing great sweeps of the thing in beds all over the place with no regard whatsoever to all the time, effort and bed space she spent blooming out a seed capsule (which, incidentally requires MUCH less time and space than orchids).
Mind you, I recognize that pot-plant orchids are how most people get into orchids. I think it is wonderful that orchids need no longer be a hobby only for the very well-off. However, at some point one has to move on from just pretty flowers and start getting below the surface.
-Cj
Hybrid Mode
