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xmpraedicta

What tickle your fancy? A general introduction thread

xmpraedicta
13 years ago

Reading some of Nick's posts regarding trade and general interest on GW got me thinking about how we could bring back some energy to the orchid discussion side of things. Perhaps one reason we have fewer 'advanced' questions specific to certain genera or growing conditions is that we don't know who has experience in growing what. As a result, the majority of discussion focuses on things like whether or not to cut phal spikes. I am not debasing the new growers by saying this, because we have all been there at one point! However, this might be a way to broaden discussions to cover a wider range interest levels, as well as attract more participants.

If some of you more experienced growers (and of course everyone, experienced or not, is welcome to reply) will indulge me, shoot a reply to this thread with an introduction, what genera / type of plants (ie miniatures, terrestrials etc..) you enjoy growing or have experience growing, as well as your growing conditions. And if you enjoy growing everything, that's fine too! It'll be neat for new comers to 'meet' the active growers here and this may give rise to more specific/specialized discussion topics.

===

I'll start:

I live in a house in Toronto. Our weather is typically hot and moderately dry during the summers, and freezing cold in the winters. I grow almost entirely in the home environment, either on windowsills or inside humidity tanks with artificial lighting. This is primarily for the benefit of plants that are mounted. Occasionally I'll summer plants outside, but only the potted ones.

I am primarily interested in miniatures or semi-miniature orchids, with a focus on angraecoids such as angraecum, aeranthes and aerangis species. I have been working with this group for about 2.5 years now, with mixed success. I also enjoy nigro-hirsute dendrobiums from south east Asia. I have suppressed desires to explore species phalaenopsis, cool-growing coelogynes, oxyglossum dendrobiums and bulbophyllums. Unfortunately, I currently lack the space to realize these interests.

Your turn!

Comments (31)

  • orchidnick
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good idea, I'll bite. I have been growing orchids for 14 years in Southern California. With a greenhouse until 5 years ago, then without and now again with a cold and warm greenhouse. Since my significant others at this time are 2 dogs, I have successfully turned over all the rest of the property into a lath-house growing area. The dogs are not pushing for lawns and flowers so I have a huge growing area.

    My interest goes in spurts. 2 years ago I decided to develop the AU Dendrobium collection and for about a year collected numerous types of D speciosums and other AU hybrids. Most are reaching blooming size and the tables with them were interesting this spring.

    Next my daughters got on me for more 'fluffy' Cattleyas so for about 1/2 a year or more I collected the Blc and Lc hybrids, many from Kawamoto.

    7 to 8 month ago I started building the green houses and therefore was finally in a position to again seriously collect species. The main plants of interest now are all of the cool growing Rain Forest plants, Bulbophyllums, non AU species Dendrobiums for the warm side and virtually any and all interesting species.

    I'm a sucker for the unusual, have bought a large Grammatophyllum speciosum which at last count is working on 17 (SEVENTEEN!!) flower spikes. I found a Bulbo beccarii which should arrive next week. Hopefully it will bloom, the smell of a herd of dead elephants is an acquired taste I'm working on. This plant is a good example of what a forum should offer it's members. It's expensive, a little difficult to find and touchy. Even good growers report a 10% mortality rate until it gets established. Some real expert advice on this one would be appreciated.

    Hate paying full retail, have found many bargains on EBay, love to trade and have found several growers receptive to making sweet deals. Am active in a society and love to convert people to growing orchids bare-root. There is no bark in my backyard, potted plants only appear to be potted, if the media is 2" rock, there is so much air space that the plants are really growing bare-root. This of course does not apply to the Rain Forest plants.

    If anybody goes to SOCAL for a vacation, contact me, I would love to have you stop by.

    Nick

  • highjack
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OK I've got a few minutes so I'll play.

    I got my first orchid in '01 and when I didn't kill it and it rebloomed, I got a few more. Originally I grew on a windowsill, added more orchids and had to move to growing under lights. I had grown seeds and tropical bonsai under lights and the orchids kept incroaching on that space. Presto, a g/h magically appeared on the property.

    My main interests are Catts, Phals, Phrags, Lycaste, Maxillaria, Bulbos and Masdies. Of course I have odds and ends of many other genera. Last time I counted I had over 700 so I quit counting.

    My tastes have certainly changed since my first Phal. I prefer species and primary hybrids to the very hybridized cultivars. As my tastes have changed, I've made a lot of people happy in my orchid club as I donate my plants to boost their treasury. I've also discovered the fun of having my orchids judged to compete for awards.

    Brooke

  • littlem_2007
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    this looks like a fun game so i decided to join in. i started with a rescue oncidium from home depot in 2004. i became intrigued when it flourished and bloomed. I started searching for sources of different orchids.. could not find any vendors locally but discovered ebay where i soon got burnt. luckily by then, i found the local orchid society: my orchid world really opened up. in the summer, most of my orchids are outside. in the winter they all in every room of the house. every room offers a different growing condition which suits me fine because i like most orchids -- i stay away from those whose fragrance require an acquired sense of smell or sophisticated nose. so, i have mostly cymbidiums (not the chinese ones - I kill those although i am trying another one), mini catts & compact catts, oncidiums, dendrobiums (which won't flower for me but i have them because i read somewhere that they are "clean air" plants), vandas, phals, and then one of two of paph., phrags, neofinetias, lycaste, catasetums, sobralias, phaius, stanhopea and masdevallias. I have a sunroom but it is more my room than the orchids'.
    all together, i have approx. 300.
    i have learned alot from the people on this forum - , if it were not for you, guys, i would have much fewer orchids!!

    sue

  • littlem_2007
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    i forgot the Angraecums!! i can't believe i forgot the Angraecums!!

    sue

  • xmpraedicta
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for sharing, everyone! Keep 'em coming.

    Nick: I'm planning a SoCal trip next March - would love a tour! Also, you may be aware of this already, but Dale Borders and Jon Wagner (who operates bulbophyllum.com) are experienced bulbo growers and might be able to help you. They are active on OI.

    Brooke - you reminded me of something I was going to ask you. What is your experience with bigleaf orchids?

    Sue: Shame!! :)

  • littlem_2007
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Calvin, I know!!! i feel the shame.
    when you visit socal next march, i hope you take your camera with you and take lots of pictures.
    TIA
    sue

  • orchidnick
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Calvin, you are more than welcome. My e-mail address is there for use, use it and invite your self when the time is right.

    Nick

  • orchidcrzy
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I mostly grow indoors. I have been growing for about 20 yrs. and am no expert. I caught the bug when I seen my 1st Orchid at the Orange County Swapmeet. An older asian gentlemen was selling orchids and shared his knowledge and enthusiasm with me. I then checked out all the books from the library that I could find and joined a local society and enjoyed it immensely. Around 2001 I moved to a small town in Central California that only has a tropical plant society. I currently grow around 80 plants. I grow mostly indoors. My favorite are the fragrant ones. I grow a variety, Phalenopsis, Paphs, Dendrobiums, Oncidiums and a few others. Outside a few cymbidiums & Catts. I used to grow around 300 so I have downsized. I purchase from Hawaii, Thanh Nguyen's private listings (used to buy from him on ebay) he's out of Florida. I also buy from Trader Joe's and have found some great plants there.
    1st time browsing this forum in a long time. Renewing some interest in growing.

  • highjack
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Calvin I've gotten some really good plants from him. I like the fact you can see the plant you are getting on his website so no surprises. Communication with him is excellent.

    Are you going to smuggle illicit plant material into Canada :>)

    Brooke

  • westoh Z6
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'll bite too.

    Started growing in January 2002 after I quit smoking and my wife bought me a small light cart to start indoor annuals and keep me sane :-) Purchased an orchid at a big box store and put it on the cart, have never looked back. I live in western Ohio without a GH so I have to be able to bring 'em into a spare bedroom which has lots and lots of lights in the fall/winter/spring. At one point I had @150 mixed genera, but am now down to @50-60 mostly phal and paph species. I grow a few others, mini-vandaceous and such and even a few hybrid phals and paphs, but am pretty happy so far with sticking mainly to the species phals and paphs. BTW: This is my first year to put most of my warm growers outside and they have responded tremendously. Why did I wait so long!!! Will have to build a more substantial structure for next summer so I can get 'em all out.

    Interesting thread,

    Bob

  • smwboxer
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Started growing when I was sixteen and saw my first dendrobium growing on a tree in Guam. Was facinated by the the structure of the plant and the wandering roots. Now I'm 44, have about 100 plant, mostly species that I grown in two areas in a NYC apartment. One small area receives light from four 4' T5's and has mostly small dendrobium and cattleya species. The other area is in front of a window and also receives light from an eight bulb T5 fixture. I have a wide range of Angs, Catts, Epi,Encyclia, Zygo, phal species and even a couple masd growing there. Mostly everything is potted with the exception of 6 mounts.

  • jamcm
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great idea for a post, Calvin!

    I started back in 2000, with two Phals. One died a couple of weeks later (I might have left it standing in water to bring the flowers back) and the other lived a long time without ever reblooming. Other plants joined the survivor and eventually a couple rebloomed. This was always a surprise to me. I joined this forum and, thanks to Howard_A, who remains a god to me, I figured out it was all about light. Or mostly about light. After all, in the Ottawa area, our summers are hot and muggy, our winters cold and dark. One December, I counted only 5 days with a little bit of sun. So I added some T8s and T5s, a few timers, and voil blooms! I grow my plants inside year round, in a spare southeast by south facing spare bedroom, which is now known to all as "The Orchid Room".

    Since I first started "growing" orchids, IÂve let myself be taken in by many a pretty face  from Phals (easy), to Oncidiums (I accidentally found out leaving the window open late into Fall is a really good thing), then Masdevallias (oh the horror of dragging jugs of RO water from the drugstore), Dendrobiums (we didnÂt last long, since I really donÂt have the right conditions), Cattleyas (size, and so light requirement, does matter), species (anything went and I might have spread myself a little thin here), miniatures (who knew a "compact" Dendrobium from Hawaii could be more than a foot tall) and finally, PaphÂs (they bloom with very little effort on my part, so weÂre still going strong together after almost four years). My collection peaked at 400 plants, but IÂm now down to a more reasonable 100 plants, the majority of which are PaphÂs, but IÂve still kept a few favourite plants from each of my phases (even Dendrobiums - why do I do this to myself?). I have mostly learned by trial and error, lots and lots of error, but IÂm now at a place where I know what I can grow, though a pretty face still gets me sometimes and I find myself going through hoops to give it what it needs. But hey, a girl needs plants to donate to the raffle table at orchid society meetings, where IÂm the program chair (aka the person who picks the speakers for our monthly meetings, mwa ha ha).

    Julie

  • stitzelweller
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    deal me in!

    I'm not certain when I began growing orchids. My first AOS membership was 1978. I was "talked into" the AOS by Merritt Huntington, the mentor for thousands at his Kensington (Maryland) Orchids business which just happened to be a 5 minute drive on early Saturday mornings. Currently, I maintain AOS membership as well as membership in three different local orchid club/societies which are all within easy driving distance. It's the best! Plus, an annual trek to Longwood Gardens for the SEPOS Show ... keeps me busy !

    My collection currently numbers ~ 100 plants, down from ~ 150 by choice. The three genera with the most plants include Lycaste/Sudamerlycaste, Zygopetalum and Cattleya/Brasilian Laelia. In recent years, a few miniatures have appeared. Fragrance used to be an absolute requirement. I'm not as picky anymore.

    I have never owned a Zygo hybrid. Most of the rest of my plants are species. A hybrid slips in on rare occasion and it's always with a very good reason.

    My conditions are outdoors as much as possible. In Maryland, that means at least a few orchids are outside from March and occasionally as late as December. Indoors is essentially window sill culture with a "sun room" devoted to my pc and orchids. Routine winter temps drop into the low 50s, sometimes into the 40s. Rarely does the temp exceed 68 during winter. A few lucky orchids have space reserved upstairs where the winter temps are more moderate with 60F being the lower limit.

    I also dabble a bit with bromeliads, specifically Vriesea, Billbergia, Hohenbergia and Aechmea. One of my greatest thrills was to finally flower a Vriesea hieroglyphica last year after nearly 30 years of trying to keep 'em alive! No, not the same one after 30 yrs....

    That's all folks! Keep it coming!!

    --Stitz--

  • terpguy
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm in.

    I got my first orchid in 2001 as a gift for my mom, Dendrobium Jaquelin Thomas. Her mother is an orchid grower and I thought she might like one. She ignored it and it fell to me to care for it. One became two, adding a phal. Those sat for two months in her bathtub just ignored after I lost interest. Seeing that they survived for that long got me interested, so I bought a few more.

    At the moment my collection is at 37, down from an all-time high of about 75. This will be culled down even farther as I just bought a house and am really only relegated to one average window for decent growing space. I've tended towards cattleyas and all those hybrids, as well as phals and angraecoids over the years. I'm going to purge myself of most of these larger plants and will start focusing on compact and miniature potted orchids (I'm so over mounted plants!) and dammit if I'm determined as all get out to get a phrag and paph to survive for me. Not part of any DC societies or anything. Its just little ole me.

    I also have a nice assortment of other tropicals: plumosus fern, a few of those starter bonsais (not preformed), serrisas (killled my weight in them), ming aralias. That stuff.

    Chris

  • ginnibug
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok I'll play along too!

    One of my pet grooming clients and I became really good friends. We took our Master Gardening course through Purdue U. together. We had a grand old time with regular plants then SHE discovered Hoosier Orchid Co. was by her house. She got me a Zygo. for a present and OMGosh, that was it!!! That was over 10 years ago, that doesn't mean I'm good at growing orchids; but I really like it!!!

    I grow a good number of paphs and phrags. Plus some catts(which as we speak are hanging in the tree on their summer vacation). Two Sedirea japonica, one Neofinetia(I'll get more later). A couple of phals sprinkled in for good measure,finally one Restrapia and Onc. Twinkle.

    Oh and a Dend. "Aggravatem" (bane of my existence, but I will win)

    It's a small number, only about 47 or so,down from the 70 some I had before. I think I'm just addicted to plants in general. They definitely have helped me through times of stress. It's nice to just mess with the plants and forget about everything else. ginnibug

    P.S. I grow in lots of other things other than bark.

  • stitzelweller
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Calvin, thank you for initiating this thread. It helps!

    Bob, I "amused" myself with orchids 'til 1982 when I stopped smoking cigarettes. Within a year, my "collection" more than doubled! I haven't smoked a cigarette since. I make very rare exceptions re: tobacco. I admit it; I "sample" a GOOD quality, Cuban cigar about every 5-10 years, mainly to spite the USGovt!

    One thing that I noticed in these posts is that MOST of us have reached a peak level and then we back off to a lower number of orchids, often a significant reduction.

    This might be a good topic for a future discussion on a new, different thread?

    --Stitz--

  • orchidnick
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I make a point of growing them so that minimal or no effort is required to keep them in the long run. Lazy? Maybe, maybe not. I had a peak interest in D speciosums and collected a significant number of them. Knowing how big they get I either mounted them on fairly large logs or potted them in rock in fairly large pots. In both cases they will require no attention for a number of years, possibly as many as 10. Watering and fertilizing is all that will be necessary allowing me to shift my attention to other plant groups. In the meantime, they are allowed to grow as their heart desires.

    All my Catts are either bare-root mounted or are growing bare-root in a pot-in-a pot-in-a-pot situation. As long as you don't mind the rambling growth which can be all over the place, they are just beautiful in their natural way of growing.

    The Cymbidiums are over-potted in rock and should be good for the next 5 to 10 years. And so it goes with most of my collection. None of them require anything other than water and food, I have no re-potting bench, you'll not find mountains of old bark on my property. If I had them growing in the conventional ways, I would be going crazy and no doubt talk about cutting back.

    The current interest is cold growing Rain Forest plants and warm loving Bulbos. Both of these are in moss which does not last forever so re-potting will be necessary, probably once a year. These are the only plants I have which will require work in the future, oh well.

    A friend of mine has a similar sized collection in bark. Some of his plants grow better than mine, some of mine grow better than his. The main difference is that he spends 2 to 3 month out of every year re-potting, using mountains of bark and creating mountains of old bark. He is making noises of cutting back, he has obviously reached the limits of what he is willing to do. Since my main effort is watering and fertilizing and tinkering with gadgets, I don't feel that pressure at all.

    The amount of space, the amount of time and the amount of energy one is willing to devote to the hobby determines the limits of the collection. As I concentrate on new plants, the old ones don't put pressure on me. This latest group of new ones will, when they get old, create pressure. We'll see how I deal with that when the time comes.

    There are 2 main principles that guide me. One, if it feels good, do it, if it doesn't leave it alone. Two, when I feel like working, I lie down until the feeling passes. Building a greenhouse is not work, that's called play. This hobby is, after all, supposed to make us happy and give us joy and that's what it's all about.

    Nick

  • ttkidd
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Interesting thread. Can I join in? I've been around here for a number of years mostly lurking, though sometimes posting - long enough to see some of the great posters disappear. There used to be a lot of passionate discussion and it would be great if more interest would develop in this forum again.

    I've been growing orchids since '03, with a two year hiatus somewhere in the middle. I started growing mostly hybrid Dendrobiums and Paphs that I bought from e-bay, and had some luck blooming them, but ended up moving downtown into a one bedroom apartment with little natural light. It was two years before I clued in and bought a light fixture, but by then most of my collection had either perished or been given away. I've since moved into a condo with some amazing natural light, so my collection has been growing steadily for the past couple years.

    Currently I have about 50 orchids, with my interest mainly in species Phals and Dens. I also have a number of mounted Angs in my terrarium and a few species Paphs. Recently I have found a renewed interest in what many of you (not so) affectionately call 'floofy' hybrid Catts :)

    I still consider myself a novice, and I have my doubts that I'll ever be an expert. It's great to have places like this to come for advice.

    Tyler

  • cjwatson
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was given my first orchid in NYC by a relative when I was kid. She was into growing orchids big-time. Of course I killed it, an Epi cochleatum. Years later, when my husband was transferred to Miami, same relative -- now retired -- came by and loaded me up with orchid plants to grow in my yard. That started my real interest in growing orchids.

    Through the years, I have grown many different genera; and under different conditions. The only ones that pop into mind that I never grew are Bulbos, and various cool-growers since I never lived where it was cool enough to grow them. I grew outdoors in Miami, in an atrium in my house in Costa Rica, and now I am growing in a small greenhouse in N. Florida because of cold winter temps, and space now becomes an issue I didn't have before -- so less and less choices now that are big plants. For the most part, I grow 2/3rds species, 1/3rd hybrids. It's with the hybrids that I have most of the space hogs.

  • andrew6484
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great subject Calvin.
    I started growing orchids in 2002 just before my baby boy was born. It was a phal. in S/H pot, don't remember where I got it. It lived until I bought a house, where it promptly died. Too little light with the same watering schedule. My wife at the time loves flowers, so I'd buy her cut flowers pretty often. Well, my co-worker/neighbor invited me to an orchid show in Hillsboro, OR and it was all downhill from there. I bought ~ 40 orchids the first day, and went back the second to buy about 20 more that I had been looking at. So here I am with 60 orchids, and either no light in the windows, or 2 windows with light all day long. I didn't like the idea of either, so I cleared off my 20` long electronics bench in the garage and parked them there. I had incandescent spot lights and a lot of them. There was no humidity or temperature control. I learned on this forum those bulbs don't do s&%$ so I invested in tons of CFL's and a couple of HID's from HD's clearance rack (security lights). Under the bench became the main cool growing area, then on the bench intermediate, with the hot growers on top. The whole thing was framed in and covered in plexiglass doors. I bought a light timer and two of those humidifiers that spit mist out. This fed into a shop vac hose then into smaller clear aquaruim hoses, going to the different areas. Some areas has a couple or three clear hoses and some had one. The orchids started growing well at this point, I was learning to water properly, and I was starting to mount plants. I was also still buying small orchids on ebay. I ended up with about 200 plants with the masdies and other pleuro's being my favourite. I grew a red D. cuthbertsonii and it tripled in size. I really loved that plant along with D. lichenastrum (sp?). When we sold that house, I gave away everything. Some lucky ones went to a local commercial grower. He killed my cutbertsonii but I had a really nice cultivar of D. victoriae-reginae that is still growing strong. He is using it in crosses as it is the "bluest" he has.
    I am now in St. Louis, Mo and have seven orchids in my care. Two oncidium hybrids in an E. window which I am baby-sitting while they grow new bulbs. The others are in a terrarium under 4 T-5's and are growing great. There is lava rock under waffle sheet which the pots sit on. I keep water in the bottom, with three small 12v fans blowing straight down onto the wet lava. The humidity stays between 74-90% and I am finding the light excessive for all but my Mom's SLC noid. I have two mini-phals that are shrinking due to the high light, and have turned a nice purple tan color. (the new leaves are half the size of the old ones)! I love it.
    In the future I plan on getting back into angraceum's and their relatives, I have a 55gal aquarium with a crack just begging to be used. From now on, every orchid I buy will be a miniature and a species.
    Thanks for listening!
    Andrew

  • carelyn
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi , I am new here... I am mostly into herb gardening as I love to cook. I have a green thumb of sorts and I am sure I got that from my mom. I have been playing with plant my whole 39 years of life it seems.
    As far as orchids:
    I have one... it is a Phal.A guy got it for me... I haven't killed it. I love plants but never had an orchid.
    It hangs out near my calla lillies.. i think the ambient humidity is fun for it.
    This one is easy, I would love to know of any other easy orchids to start with. I am all about symetery and balance. I cant imagine having more than 4 of these things, but I am considering a terrarium for a more exotic species.
    I would love one that smells good. that would be a treat...
    Every once in awhile I think mine has a faint smell coming right from the heart of the flower, but maybe I am kidding myself.

    I live in Chicago, in a vintage building on the third floor. There are no buldings around me to the east ,west or south, I get sun in the east in the morning and all day on the west side... I have sun in some window here all day , no shade.. what so ever.

    I live on a wide busy street unobstructed by buildings.. So I get some northern sun. I have my phal on my table in a huge 1880s north facing bay window... it gets cool in the winter. It gets very little direct sun there; only sunrise and sunset for a short time throught the side angle windows.

    Wondering if there are any others species i can grow so easily since that one is thriving.
    I have only had it a year. It had a flower spike in bloom when I got it...
    It died back , I snipped it and with in 2 months another one had shot up and bloomed. How fun!

    About 2 months after it bloomed, it bloomed 2 tiny new flowers on the same stem , in between the big ones. How interesting.

    I do art , and have a tendency to be compulsive with other things to avoid doing art... working etc. but everything seems to come out creative anyways.
    I have promised myself not to go crazy with the orchid(s) as i really enjoy this silly home depot phal... its colors looks just like the sunset only its all veiny. :)
    I really love this silly plant and I dont want another to detract too much from the inticacies of this one...... but was thinking of a creative potting situation where I can have two in the same medium eventually??? Do people do that with these?

    I do want to have a terrarium orchid with some pitcher plants an fly traps and such as friends. I heard this can be done.
    I really wanted just a carnivorous terrarium but , heard some orchids and bug eaters make great pals.So i am playing with the idea.

    I have a reptile. I am used to controlling humidity and light.. so I think this would be fun.
    I'd like to do a 55 gallon terrarium. I have no idea what orchids would thrive in those conditions... this is all dependent on time of course.. I do have another post in this forum as I am getting ready to repot my phal, as i think it really needs it. It also may or may not have a keiki in between two tiny flowers on the stem.

    I have had alot of time off work due to a misfortune last spring,so I have had a ton of time to get acquainted with this crazy thing that was in bloom all spring and summer.. 7 months now and the flowers are just starting to dry up.
    I am getting ready to go back to work , full time, so the terrarium may be a winter project.
    Nice to meet you all. Thanks for your stories! I am learning alot.

  • orchidnick
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I did not mention how I got into orchids but had to chuckle at another posting which related a similar experience. In 1996, just divorced, I met a young lady who showed a positive response to yellow roses. At $30 to $40 a pop, then into the garbage 1 week later, a cost/benefit analysis was obviously in order. At the same time I accidentally wandered into an orchid nursery and bought a beautiful yellow BLC. Toshie Aokiue I believe. It had the same beneficial effect, lasted 3 weeks and I still had the plant afterward.

    A win-win situation, a new hobby was born and the rest is history.

    Nick

  • whitecat8
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Orchids had always been pure magic for me, but I thought you had to have a very expensive set up for them. When a book said if you could grow African Violets, you could grow orchids, my heart raced.

    Even though I *couldn't* grow African Violets, I bought a big Phal with purple flowers and put it on a shelf in E/SE light.

    It rebloomed!!! I was launched.

    My conditions inside are intermediate, except for low humidity.

    Early on, Phal hybrids and species became the mainstay of my collection. Other orchids have been species and hybrids that have caught my eye and supposedly needed intermediate conditions - Catasetae, lots of Dens, Encyclias, Neos, a Psychopsis, Paphs, Phrags, Onc Twinkles, leafless orchids, etc.

    My temps are too warm for most of the weird-looking Pleuros that captivate me.

    There were 120+ plants, and it wasn't fun. I cut down to 7o+ and kept not reaching the goal of 60. Because of a health condition - on the mend now - the orchids were mostly ignored for several months, and I'm down to 30+ and still losing the occasional plant from the earlier neglect.

    (Interestingly, Phals had the highest % of survival, followed by Dens. Thank goodness they were ignored over winter and not summer.)

    As for what will tickle my fancy in the future - who knows? It'll be fun to find out.

    Good thread, Calvin.

  • quinnfyre
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I succumbed to orchids when I went to a flower show and finally decided to try one. It was a paph. I stuck with one for about a year or so, moved to a new house with a new roommate. She bought herself an orchid, a phal from Ikea. It did alright. I kept eyeing phals at Whole Foods. It was inevitable. I got one. Then another. Then she got another one. Then I did. Then I started working 3 jobs, 6 days a week. Let's just say there were casualties. Since then, I've tried some oncidium hybrids, more paphs, then discovered species orchids. I got Phal equestris, Phal stuartiana, and Aerangis citrata. With Aerangis citrata, it all went downhill. I became an Angraecoid nut.

    Today, I primarily grow Angraecoids and Pleurothallids. I have three terrariums, and I do most of my orchid growing within them. I have tried growing seedlings from a flask, and it was great! Except for the part where I can't seem to part with any of the seedlings. Which is why I still have roughly 20 Aerangis modesta seedlings, whoops. Due to an infestation of bush snails and what I can only guess is immature bush snails, my original case is not quite as fun as it used to be, and will probably be cleaned out and rearranged if I ever find the time, but that is where the older angraecoids in my collection live. Two of my cases stay at about 75-80 degrees, 80-90% humidity, with air circulation via a computer fan in each. The last case I don't monitor too closely, and doesn't have a fan, as things seemed to dry out too quickly in there with one going. Most of my orchids grow under CFLs.

    I also grow about 65 African violets, and about 35 hoyas. I'm trying to cut back on the violets, but I'd like to get them to bloom at least once before I decide, and while growing from leaf cuttings is pretty satisfying in the end, it is also a little slow. Hoyas have been catching my attention a lot lately, because they like to grow! A lot! You can almost see some of them growing, when they get going. So I guess my growing niche is: Hoyas, African violets, and small growing mounted orchids in terrariums. I'm definitely interested in growing more from flask, but we'll see if I have the room.

  • hecatonchier
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! Amazing stories! Since I was little, I was interested in plants, and then one year while I was in school(which is a small private school) my teacher took me to a greenhouse to help her pick out some plants to put in her yard, and then I saw it, a phal. I was so captivated and intrigued I had to buy one. Eventually I bought a plain white phal, which bloomed and died, being I knew barely anything about orchids. A year or so later, I bought a HUGE phal, which had about twenty or so blooms on it! I also found a vendor in Calgary, Alberta, that sold TONS of orchids, and I ordered a Blc. We ended up moving in the middle of winter, which killed my orchids. :( Since I was disappointed, there was a gap in my interest in orchids. My interest conveniently rekindled right before my 15th birthday, just in time to get one for a present, and buy one my self! So currently I have a C. Loddiaca, and Lc. Jeweller's Gem, and I am hoping to buy a Phal Mini Mark 'Maria Theresa.' Seeing that I am only 15, I think that my orchid collection will grow substantially in the coming years, and also because I want to start my own orchid business to raise orchids to sell to the general public and start many others in their interest in orchids!

  • orchidnick
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I admire your enthusiasm and your noble intentions.

    'orchid business to raise orchids to sell to the general public' Good luck, the heating bill in Calgary will kill you. Nobody grows orchids anymore, they are mass produced by the hundreds of thousands in Asia and then brought to market as quickly as possible. There are notable exceptions but the days of Zuma Canyon hybridizing some of the finest Phaelanopsis are long gone.

    It is definitely possible to raise orchids but not to do so and sell them for a profit. At least not in North America.

    Nick

  • stitzelweller
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "the days of Zuma Canyon hybridizing some of the finest Phaelanopsis are long gone."

    Yes, a sad development.

  • hecatonchier
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    So Nick, your saying that every year, Paramount Orchids, which is Calgary, imports a whole new set of orchids? I am not sure about that, they have a ton of species available to buy, and I don't think that they would get new ones every spring, this being that they have many orchids in various sizes.

  • xmpraedicta
    Original Author
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @Hecatonchier: I think Nick may be exaggerating a bit, but what he says is more or less true, *especially* in Canada (may be a different story if we were somewhere a bit warmer..) It depends what you're aiming for:

    Option A: Hobby seller (like Paramount), probably mainly species with some hybrids, catering to the hobby grower. Demand in Canada is not high enough and green house heating costs will be ridiculous. Will be very tough, although clearly possible, given the scattering of nurseries we have up here. But incredibly difficult, IMO.

    Option B: Mass seller, largely phalaenopsis, oncidium and maybe some cattleya hybrids, catering to nurseries, big box stores etc...Basically impossible, given what Nick has said (mass production in asian countries, cheap labour etc...)

    Sorry to rain on the parade - but if it's your dream, go for it. I have a friend or two that have tried going down this path...it's a business that definitely needs to be 'fed' by side jobs and other part-time income!

    /End thread hijack!

  • hecatonchier
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I don't take your responses as trying to ruin my dreams, it is a good reality check. I actually thank you for your inputs!

  • ttkidd
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've ordered from Paramount a number of times... even got my sister-in-law a gift certificate from them with the ulterior motive that she would check out their greenhouse for me :).

    They have quite a wide selection of both species and hybrids (at least for up here in Canada). Their website caters mostly to hobby growers, but I believe they also have a wholesale option - much like Cloud's Orchids near Toronto.

    hecatonchier - Paramount does indeed import their plants. I can't say for certain that it's true for everything they have - I don't doubt that they've tried their own propagation/hybridization at some point - but from talking with them over the phone I know for a fact that they order seedlings from overseas. They definitely have their own greenhouse near Calgary though. Not sure how they afford to heat it.

    Tyler

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