Well, you won't be going to the "dark side" alone. . .I can sure tell ya. There are so many people here going with you, we're gonna need a BUS.

We're gonna have to see pics of whatever you bring come home. :photo:

I'm so jealous! My nearest orchid greenhouse is a 3 hr drive one way. That may be a good thing for my wallet though!

I'll definitely take pics but I'm going to have to set a limit for myself BEFORE I go there, like ok Solana, you can only buy 2...or something along those lines. And after getting the chopped off spike from Norman's yesterday, then discovering how badly decomposed the potting mix was in one of my fairly good sized catts in the wee hours of the night, along with the blooming phal I have with crown rot that is probably NOT going to make it, I'm thinking I might be better buying seedlings from this point forward. That way if any damage has been done, I can try to correct it at an early stage, rather than spending $30-$40 on a pretty blooming plant that might croak on me as soon as the blooms die off. It's so tempting when you see the big pretty blooms though. :(

Solana

I was only going to buy ONE thing on my last trip to Fantasy Orchids in Denver. . .I came back with four.

In my defense, they were small seedling and near blooming sized and only one in bud. . . I am totally wicha on buying small ones.

My workmate, Diane, who went with me, was only going to buy mini's. . .she came back with two BIG bloomers.

G'Luck.

My take on seedlings is that you have a lot less room for mistakes. Once false move and they're toast. A mature plant has a lot more resources to draw from during a recovery period.

That's not a bad idea, Solana! I have purchased seedlings many times and, while blooming size is "instant gratification", watching the little 'chids mature is satisfying also. And when they bloom, you can take gratification in that YOU did it!.

Another point - when you go, try to keep in mind how much space you have! :evil:

That sounds overly harsh :biggrin: . I have been working with lotsa seedlings and the only negative (if it's that) is that blossoms are a ways off. I've found seedlings easy to get accustomed to their new home (as opposed to certain blooming size, which seem to sulk) and easy to manage. Guess we all get different mileage from our choices.

I think the trick is to not get ALL seedlings or what I really prefer to get, the near blooming size.

I, personally, like to get say, three NBS plants and one in bud. ROFLOLO

Yup! With you on that (and take credit for the bloom, right?:biggrin: )

Well, I'm pretty close to full capacity with 34 orchids already in my 1 bedroom condo. Near blooming size is fun. Or this catt that I just got last weekend that has like 20 buds on it, I can cheat and say I got it to bloom. LOL! I like to hit on the ones that are in a 2.5-3 inch pot but super big and ready to be repotted. It's like getting more value for your money, since they're charging by the pot size. I've been pretty lucky at finding those in my trips to Hausermann's. Wonder if it's the same at Oak Hill.