Joanna: I seriously doubt that you hurt your plants, but it sounds like you
hurt yourself G. I think it's great that you finally worked up the nerve,
and now understand what's involved, but don't let other folks tell you that
you have to do them ALL yourself to be "taken seriously."

Nurseries offer this service because there is a demand for it [whether other
customers wish to be as honest as you and admit it, or not G]. And, at
least during the off-season, or if you sometimes buy a new plant while
you're there, your local nursery probably appreciates the income.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids
http://www.jborchids.com

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
Ok, so maybe by the time I am done with this email no one in this group
will
take me seriously anymore, but here it goes:

I admit that after 3 years of growing orchids, I have today for the first
time repotted two of them myself. You see until today I would always go to
a
local plant nursery, pay them $5-7 and that would include the new pot,
potting medium, and labor of repotting. I got to watch, discuss the health
of the roots with the staff person there, browse their orchid collection
for
a possible additional orchid buy, and the entire experience was very
enjoyable.

Today, my bathroom is a mess. I am a mess. My back hurts. And I am
frustrated. But hey, those two orchids have been repotted. Yay. ;-(

I think I am going to go back to the nursery the next time one of my
plants
needs repotting. Sure I saved $5-7 and I got to actually do it myself, but
for me this is just not worth it. Plus, I am not even sure that I did a
good
job of the repotting: What if I left some roots that needed to be cut?
What
if I disturbed some roots that were better left alone? At the local
nursery
I trust the staff person to know what he or she is doing -- I know these
people well enough to know that they have more experience with orchids
than
I do.

I understand that someone who owns a greenhouse with a huge number of
flowers and has lots of experience is better of doing this themselves, but
I
am much better at coding Active Server Pages and writing stored procedures
than at repotting. Programming is my job, repotting is theirs.

I love the daily interaction with the orchids, watering them, looking for
signs of stress, or for new spikes or new leaves. But repotting is a pain
in
the back for me.

Joanna