Eric,

I can agree with you partially, in that I agree that people who develop no
interest whatsoever in growing orchids once they have them, surely will not
be successful in keeping them alive in the long run. However, looking at my
own case: Before I was given my first orchid, I had no interest in growing
orchids and I would probably have been among those in your group of people
who said "I'm sorry, I will never do ANY of that", but once I got the first
orchid, something happened -- not immediately mind you, but soon enough, and
I actually started caring enough about it and for it. Even after getting
into orchids I keep killing other plants though, and in my own experience
cacti are among the most difficult for me to keep alive, so I disagree that
someone needs to have a green thumb, interest or skill in other plants in
order to be into orchids. I think part of it is that orchids are so
beautiful and exceptional it is easier for me to care about them than about
a cactus or a dumbcane.

Another part of it is instructions: when buying an orchid it generally comes
with basic instructions, many other plants do not. There are so many
"culture sheets" and resources out there for getting information about what
to do with one's Phal orchid, but I don't see the same amount of information
for how to keep an ivy alive, and even if these instructions are out there
they may be more general like "how to keep perennials alive" as opposed to
how to keep a specific one alive. Of course, I would be less likely to go
looking for these instructions because sorry to say I just don't care enough
about that ivy.

Finally, in my opinion, it is very easy to tell when a Phal orchid in moss
needs watering: one just needs to touch the surface of the moss to get a
pretty definitive answer. I am never able to tell with plants in soil, there
just isn't enough difference between "soil that is not quite dry enough yet"
and "soil that is a bit too dry" in my opinion. And lets not even talk about
cacti.

Joanna