On Feb 23, 3:00*pm, "Diana Kulaga"
wrote:
KTTT -

I think it goes deeper than that. There have been numerous discussions about
the AOS on this board. Some have been heated. One thing we all agree on is
that we would like the AOS to succeed.

You are certainly correct that as orchids have become more accessible many
people are buying them to keep only for the length of time they bloom. But
if you are a regular reader of rgo, you know that the majority of
contributors here are serious and passionate about this hobby. Yet many are
not AOS members.


The way stores like Walmart and Home Depot sell them may contribute to
the phenomenon where "many people are buying them to keep only for the
length of time they bloom". They bring in, and sell, lots of orchids,
though of a limited variety. But they also provide little to no
information about them. When I see people there, either staff or
people looking to buy orchids, few know that orchids can bloom more
than once if well cared for. They do occasionally get good plants
(such as the Cymbidiums I got at Walmart recently), but they treat
them as disposable. They are improving, a little, in that, for the
first time in my experience, the Cymbidiums I bought actually had
labels identifying the hybrid (and I found these on the internet, with
descriptions consistent with the plants I bought). But they encourage
the notion that they ought to be thrown out once the bloom fades by
their practice of throwing their stock out if they are not sold before
their blooms fade. One would think they wouldn't throw out such stock
if they knew the plants would rebloom in a year.

I suspect most people who buy orchids, even from Walmart (a place
where people seek bargains) or Home Depot (a place serving do-it-
yourselfers), would try to keep them going if they knew orchids would
rebloom. The problem is, at least with the people I have talked to,
they don't know it is possible, or how to do it. And while it is easy
to find info on the Internet, many of the folk I have spoken to could
be described as luddites WRT IT (these are amazing people when it
comes to skill to work with their hands, but IT is an alien thing to
them: they're no more able to use the net than I am able to rewire a
house or upgrade the plumbing in my bathroom). Perhaps the various
orchid societies need to get more creative in marketing themselves?
Or perhaps it isn't in orchid vendors' interest to educate their
customers? Or perhaps I am getting too cynical in my old age?

Cheers,

Ted