Orchid Patience

[pavel]

Usually I buy in bloom. I don't want to wait for "years" only to find out that the bloom is not what I had hoped for -- especially when one is talking about hybrids. And as Julie mentioned, NBS can vary widely from grower to grower as well as differences in growing conditions. Also I don't have the room for a bunch of seedlings.

I want blooms and I want them NOW!

[Ron-NY]

It all depends for me. Some things I rather see in bloom and know the quality. I buy seedlings if I don't have a choice or if funds are low or I just can't pass up a cool species for $7. I have enough patience to wait but " larger is better" when it comes to orchids, especially slow growing ones like Paph rothschildianum. I have even made my own crosses and sent them out knowing it would be quite a few years before I ever see them bloom. (BTW, my first cross L. anceps X C. walkeriana var. alba 'Pendentive' has just been deflasked. I am having them grown out in Hawaii, so I am guessing 2 more years to blooming) Some species are hard to come by and I will take whatever I can but still prefer BS.

[KC C]

Most of the time I prefer to buy NBS. I do have about 75 seedlings right now; for the most part these are orchids I couldn't obtain anyotherway. Once in a rare while I buy 'in bud,' but since I do most of my buying over the internet a lot of times they arrive at the blossoms' last gasp or with the blossoms dried out (both of which really gripe me out).

[Tmai]

I like NBS or PB (previously bloomed). Lots of vendors give good buys on plants that they failed to sell in bud/bloom so you get a good price and you know the plant should produce next cycle. I've raised my share of seedlings in the past, but don't buy them now. No room for that - Perform or YOU ARE COMPOST!!!

Ditto. You usually get good plants that have just finished blooming that some have or produce new buds right after purchase.

[SEASIDEJOHN]

I love finding the near dead ones and bringing them back..most are old varieties and are very robust once they get going.More like a gift than a chore.

[Jmoney]

started off buying a mix, but with a lot of seedlings...once I realized that the windowsill is NOT a good place to grow seedlings it's been almost all mature plants. since I grow paphs, I prefer large bona fide blooming-size or in bud...those already open are by definition pre-screened and not award-quality, and don't last as long. still occasionally get seedlings though, i.e. kovachii or peruvianum as it should be called. imho you get so much more bang for the buck for a vigorous blooming size plant since these tend to adapt much more easily to different conditions and bloom without skipping a beat.

[JonYoung]

I like to get unbloomed seedlings, unless I know that it is a division from someone you can trust. You can get alot of culls if you buy from someone looking to get rid of small plants from compots or inferior plants.
Jon

[LJA]

Honestly, the plastic ones are where it's at. No muss, no fuss, and for that true-to-life appearance, you can even make like the flowers have scale and mealybugs on them by misting them with oil and then throwing baby powder down so that it clumps on the oil droplets, or you can melt holes in the petals with a soldering iron to simulate snail damage, or all kinds of other fun stuff.

Really. The cheapo plastic ones are the best. I'm with Hoa.

[valb561]

When I first started my Orchid addiction, I bought seedlings because they were cheap & I didn't know any better. Now, 3 yrs. later, most are dead, a couple finally bloomed & the rest ......I'm still waiting. I find the the ones NBS, in bud or already bloomed are better for me, they're harder to kill

[sadie]

There wasn't really an -- it depends on the orchid option. I have lots of orchids that I purchased in bloom or bud for the instant or near instant gratification of something blooming or because it was a good deal at a show etc. It the same time, I have lots of plants on the opposite end of the spectrum--flasks or compots or just tiny little seedlings. So, maybe the answer is my patience is mercurial -- changes with the wind.

I did have a friend tell me, in all seriousness, that what I should do when one of my phals stops blooming is get some plastic flowers and attach them to the plant stake so they looked like it was still blooming. She couldn't understand why I'd want just the plant around.