Carmela Orchids

[quiltergal]

I just returned yesterday from a 2 week vacation in Hawaii. While there I had the opportunity to visit and leave money at two orchid greenhouses one of which was Welcome to Carmela Orchids. It is located on the Hilo side of the Big Island of Hawaii, and looks like a family business. There are probably about 8 very large greenhouses and they are in the process of building another. It doesn't really have a storefront. You just go into the work room and ask if you can look around and pick out plants to ship home. When we arrived they were in the middle of deflasking seedlings and setting them in seedling trays. We wandered around for at least an hour in the suffocating heat. It had to be 90+ and about the same humidity. There were lots of very young plants, very few mature blooming size that I could see. I found two I had to have. C. Summer Spot 'Carmela', and Brassia Eternal Wind 'Summer's Dream'. Summer Spot was small (2.5" pot) and only $7, while the Eternal Wind was large (5" pot) and a mere $10. I took them back up to the work room and they wrote up my order. Shipping by FedEx to the west coast was only $15. When I called my son the next week to see if they had arrived he said they had and the packing was phenomenal.

My only criticisim would be that as I was walking around looking at plants there appeared to be quite a few that had gone a long time without water. The Pbulbs were wrinkled and as flat as a pancake. My mom also saw a rather large pile of throw aways. Since I hand picked my plants I got very healthy ones with lots of new growth and fat Pbulbs. I've not ordered from them online, but they have some very nice hybrids which makes it very tempting since their prices are so good.

Given the amount of care that went into the packing I feel certain they would pick out healthy plants to ship and not send the dregs of the greenhouse. They told me they had been doing this longer than anyone else in the state.

I would say for the price I would try ordering from them. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

[LILROCORCHIDS]

I have purchased from Carmela's yearly over internet and never have been disappointed. I have purchased large orders for orchid club sales and also smaller orders for my own collection. Their plants have always been healthy and bug free . From in-spike cases to 100's of their small pots at a time , I can say they have a great selection and always send their best plants packed well . Every year I look forward to getting plants from them at NY show and one day I also hope to visit their place in Hawaii .

Rocco

[steiconi]

I've ordered from Carmela's several times, usually 4-10 orchids. They alway send excellent plants, and almost always include one in spike, even though I order the smallest plants available!

I visited their greenhouses once and was so overwhelmed by the heat that I didn't buy anything, just went home and ordered. Now that I live on the Big Island, I'm waiting until we buy a house; then I'll go over there on a nice cool day and go crazy!

Lee

[cb977]

Terri, hope you had a wonderful vacation!

i have a number of plants from Carmela's and have never been disappointed by any aspect of the process. They have great stuff.

[GreggC]

from them. One of the guys from the society takes care of ordering. Never been disappointed yet. Always have nice stuff.

[isurus79]

Terri,
What was the other greenhouse that you visited?

[quiltergal]

Steve, Atkatsuka.....where the tour bus stops every 15 minutes! I enjoyed Carmela's much more. There was more to look at and it felt more like a real greenhouse. The breeding house was the only place that was off limits. We had access to everything else. Not so at Atkatsuka. You can look through the window.....

Sue the vacation was interesting. Took my 80+ parents along... . That was last summer!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

Steve, Atkatsuka.....where the tour bus stops every 15 minutes! I enjoyed Carmela's much more. There was more to look at and it felt more like a real greenhouse. The breeding house was the only place that was off limits. We had access to everything else. Not so at Atkatsuka. You can look through the window.....

Sue the vacation was interesting. Took my 80+ parents along... . That was last summer!

lol Akatsuka was my first guess! I have to hardest time flowering anything from Akatsuka. I never made it to Carmela, but Ill have to check it out when I move back to the BI. Any pics of the Carmela trip?

[quiltergal]

No, no pics. Sorry. It was so danged hot in there it was all I could do to pick out two plants and get out. There wasn't much blooming in the middle of summer. Besides the 80 somethings were getting cranky.