I have about 80 plants and most of them are noid rescues and divisions of noid rescues. Out of my collection I can recall 2 losses...or almost 2. My Trichoglottis brachiata is still hanging in there but her future looks grim at best. Back to back winter freezes have taken their toll on her in spite of me wrapping her in several layers of insulation. My other loss was climate related too but this time it was just the opposite...too hot for a Den. 'Frosty Dawn'. I should have done my homework before purchasing a moderate to cool growing specimen.

Two losses doesn't sound bad, but there have also been a dozen or so near death experiences. A few of my early cattleya purchases were nearly killed by a severe case of scale, and it's taken them 3 years to regain their health. I almost lost a Den. aphyllum, Psychopsis, and a Paph. due to lack of cultural knowledge.

I would guess about 10%; have a bit over 200 plants. If they die, they do so within 6-12 months. I've been able to propagate more from cuttings and keikis, so in terms of biomass as well as number of plants I think I'm in the black/green. I still feel bad about every single death. But worse are those that I don't really want anymore (all four hybrids, as I really focus on species). Some are not in best shape, so not fit even for a give-away, but can't bring myself to tossing them either. Two Epidendrum hybrids are now setting flowers, so I can bring it to the raffle table :-).

I been doing this about a year so I not killed too many hmmmmm.. do Noids Count? :biggrin:

killed lots of them Noid Phals. They dont count as much when they dont have tags so lost track of them bec it became depressing to me that I was so ignorant.
OB Cured that :).I dont buy the Noids anymore. Not bec I kill them or dont like them but bec I have more of a need of plants with tags and an identity.

Killed 2 paphs out of 55.The 1st one I bought and one had accident in the car n broke his head off.

Most of the other plants I had last year got erwinia from a rotten one I brought home. Erwinia Didnt touch the Paphs, but Wiped me out of everything else. Sad day for me, but also turned me around from being haphazard and trusting of everything I bring home.
OB :)

Started over pretty much last September (yes my whine and cheese is here about that too ).Paid more attention to what I was doing and buying.

Only lost a ghost orchid recently..Fell apart in my hand. I wont play with them for a long time again. I dont even know what happened one day fine next day in 15 pieces.

Total around 25 or 30 death count.

The 184 living orchids I have now are more important bec they are for the most part doing well. Paphs arent growing as fast as I think they can after seeing some real paphs.

Slowly branching out :blushing:

welll...
 

since i'm still a newbie...started almost 2yrs ago & this past yr i've lost my mind (on plants in general)...

1 fire sale no id orchid
2 from overwatering
2 from learning

but now i'm up to 10 jewels, 1 phal, 1 dendro, 1 onci

I used to get upset when I lost some, always blaming myself. This board helped me to realize, that not always it is my fault, and even when it is, it happens for purpose, to learn and get better! This year it was some 4, Cattleya for over watering in our heavy rain season in July, Miltonia just because it is too hot here for this gorgeous orchid, and the last is Dendrobium bracteosum, it was not doing good this year, and I decided to repot it some 3 weeks ago, and it did the rest of the killing! It does not look good for this guy, so it will go to orchid heaven:-)