Quote Originally Posted by catttan View Post
For me, a rough estimate would be about 25 percent mortality rate overall - a breakdown by genera would be 70 percent Oncidinae and about 5 - 10 percent for other genera. And this is over a 50 year period. Certain years are worse than others and this reflects fluctuating levels of care and attention given to the orchids. I find cattleyas the most hardy except the mini cats especially those with the cooler Sophronitis in their ancestry.
This is the kind of answer I was looking for - a percentage (no one needs to tell how may they have/how many they lost, just a KILL RATE, AS A PERCENTAGE). I'd think this is not exorbitant AND GREATLY DEPENDENT UPON WHERE YOU LIVE. Certain localities will be lower (I THINK) simply by virtue of the fact that there is greater "stability" in the growing environment (like if one grew in Hawaii). Having the factors necessary for good orchid growth already present (hypothetically, like growing in Hawaii), already gives one a "leg upl" (like an acquaintance of mine who lives in Naples, Florida/brags how they grow their orchids on trees outside - sure, why not? As long as the temps don't drop to -10, like they sometimes do in places like Minnesita, Wisoonsin, Illinois, New York, Michigan, and Alaska). Gosh, I think I was an auditor for too long......I break everything down to NUMBERS, LOL.