On Feb 23, 9:46*pm, unknown wrote:
as for reblooming in a year, i doubt any big box stores have either the
space or the wherewithal to keep stock that long. plus, they don't
*want* customers taking the plants home and reblooming them; they want
them to take them home, enjoy them for a monthj throw them out and come
back and get *another* one.

Quite right. Their business model relies on this. At the same time,
people I have met buying orchids there are grateful to learn that they
can rebloom them. I know one man who has been able to keep a
phalaenopsis alive for many years, but, while he'd bought it in bloom,
he has never been able to get it to bloom again. While there are
undoubtedly plenty of people who'd buy them because the flowers are
pretty and then toss them when the flowers fade, there are also lots
of people who would try to rebloom them if they knew it was possible
and could find a resource to learn how. None of the people I met
buying orchids in Walmart, and only one that I met buying them at Home
Depot, even knew that there was such a thing as an orchid society, and
all were grateful to learn about the nearest orchid society and the
resource they could provide.

OTOH, orchid growers i've talked to seem very interested in their
customers' being able to grow and rebloom *plants. *but for every orchid
person in the business, there are 100 walmarts/trader joe's. *the
numbers are against the als and pats and odoms' etc out there. *i'm sure
it also varies geographically--al, orchids for you, and the Little
Greenhouse are pretty much the only dedicated orchid nurseries within 90
minutes of my house. *if i lived in homestead, however, there would be,
what, at least 6 places to go in a 90 minutes radius?

You're lucky. I have a two hour drive to find the nearest orchid
vendor, and the only 'convenient' access to such vendors is at the
orchid societies' meetings (they're all a minimum of two hours away,
and in one case as much as three hours away, if I rent a car to get to
their meetings or shows.

And yes, the vendors I find there are quite interested in helping
their clients succeed in reblooming their plants and take special
pride when they do so (sometimes well enough to take them to be
judged). It doesn't matter if the big box stores outnumber the
specialist orchid vendors. Their business serves a purpose in
creating awareness of, and interest in, orchids.

i know lots of people i talk to don't have the patience to rebloom the
plants--they buy them because they're pretty, and *toss them a few
months after the flowers fade because they don't want to wait as long as
it will take for them to rebloom.

And they're well served by the big box stores that cater to that. But
that doesn't imply that there aren't a significant number of people
who, once getting a taste for orchids at such a place, proceed on to
investigate the possibilities further and eventually become
enthusiastic growers with a keen interest in orchids (and often other
house plants).

i know growing these worthless things has certainly taught *me* to have
more patience. * sometimes. *(--pay no attention to that whimpering you
hear from the trash can, where i tossed a phal that i've had for three
years and that has only grown small leaves. *plus i think it's got some
sort of ick. -jams lid on tighter-) *(which is not to say that i don't
keep non blooming plants for ridiculous amounts of time--but they have
to be healthy.)


:-)

The only time I toss mine is when they'd died from neglect during my
stays at the hospital. I can keep them healthy and rebloom them, but
only as long as I can remain healthy enough to stay out of the
hospital: I've been in hospital three times in as many years, so my
collection is meager right now.

as for AOS, i think they shot themselves in the foot when they jacked up
the membership fee--i know that's what stopped me from renewing. *(i'm
only a member now because it's my birthday present from my sibs.)

It's like any other venture. Survival depends in part on management,
how well management can bring in new clients and keep existing
clients, and in part on general economic conditions.

No organization today is likely to be immune to the 'interesting'
economic circumstances in which we find ourselves. We'll all likely
survive, but there will inevitably be vendors and other kinds of
organizations that will be hard pressed to survive (I don't know about
the states, but I heard a report on Canadian news that consumer
confidence in Canada has risen considerably over the last month or
so). Who in their right mind would buy an orchid or join an orchid
society (or remain a member of one) is he is uncertain that he'll
still be employed, and have a roof over his head and food on the table
next month and next year, &c.?

Cheers,

Ted