A while back some people were talking about Stanhopeas. I posted a
link to: http://www.greenleaforchids.com/ because he had an awarded
Stan he was dividing. I was asked if I had bought anything from them.
I said I would be goin to the greengrowers visit on the 25th and
report back. I went and here is my report. They have built a new
greenhouse and I did make a puchase. He has very nice stuff. The
prices for what you get are very resonable. It is a small operation so
it feels a little more personable. He has a private collection of 30
or so sp. of Stan. and some other interesting plants.
So my report overall is positive and I will be buying from them in the
future. Any other questions about em postem

"where thers roots thers life"
JRT


NOOK

If this is the same outfit, I bought some phrags from him a couple of years
ago. At the time he was reusing plastic pots, in my opinion not an acceptable
practice, otherwise the plants were as advertised. No particular bargains as
others have the same hybrids. I think his source like a lot of others was the
Orchid Zone.

nospamX (TRAINMAN9) writes:
ago. At the time he was reusing plastic pots, in my opinion not an acceptable

Could you please elaborate? Does something nasty happen to old plastic
pots?

Geir

Geir Harris Hedemark wrote:

(TRAINMAN9) writes:


ago. At the time he was reusing plastic pots, in my opinion not an acceptable



Could you please elaborate? Does something nasty happen to old plastic
pots?



They do tend to get a little brittle over time. For paphs, reusing
pots is probably not a horrible thing. For other genera, it is a good
way to spread virus if the pots aren't very well cleaned and
sterilized. So, for anything but slippers, I use brand spanking new
plastic. If nothing else, it supports the oil industry, and we all know
that this is a very patriotic thing to do here in the USA.

I reuse pots all the time, but only for my slippers. And I don't
generally bother to sterilize them first.. I don't use pots from
diseased or unhealthy plants, those get pitched into the trash can when
I pitch the plant in the compost. Is this bad? Well... If I were
selling plants, I would use all new plastic. It looks better, and
besides, if you are selling plants you don't get very many pots to reuse
anyway. Many paph growers (not me) insist on putting a little used
potting mix into the new potting mix, presumably to innoculate the
medium with beneficial critters. I don't see how that is any different
than reusing a few fairly clean pots from some healthy plants.

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit

Could you please elaborate? Does something nasty happen to old plastic
pots?

or paphs, reusing
pots is probably not a horrible thing. For other genera, it is a good
way to spread virus if the pots aren't very well cleaned and
sterilized. So, for anything

The cost of plastic pots is so cheap that it makes no sense to reuse them and
take the chance that a virus may be transmitted. You also need to take into
account the cost of your labor, bleach and other cleaning aides. Afterall you
could be doing something else besides washing old pots.

My partner and I ran a commercial orchid nursery for about 15 years. If we got
a mail order for a plant we would be shipping bare root that had been potted 1
minute earlier we would still throw the pot out. This policy applied to all
genera.

Besides there are some who believe that even paphs can be affected by orchid
virus and most definately phrags.

Would you risk a $100 plant for a 5 cent pot?

Xref: kermit rec.gardens.orchids:51401

"TRAINMAN9" wrote in message
...
Could you please elaborate? Does something nasty happen to old plastic
pots?

or paphs, reusing
pots is probably not a horrible thing. For other genera, it is a good
way to spread virus if the pots aren't very well cleaned and
sterilized. So, for anything

The cost of plastic pots is so cheap that it makes no sense to reuse them
and
take the chance that a virus may be transmitted. You also need to take
into
account the cost of your labor, bleach and other cleaning aides. Afterall
you
could be doing something else besides washing old pots.

My partner and I ran a commercial orchid nursery for about 15 years. If we
got
a mail order for a plant we would be shipping bare root that had been
potted 1
minute earlier we would still throw the pot out. This policy applied to
all
genera.

Besides there are some who believe that even paphs can be affected by
orchid
virus and most definately phrags.

Would you risk a $100 plant for a 5 cent pot?

LOL!! Even *I* - cheap ******* that I am, decided to stop washing pots and
just buy new. Makes repotting soooo much quicker and easier. And I buy
premixed bark too. Whenever I can find it. Where ever I can find it.
Stewart's used to sell a mix. Fordyce sells a mix. I'm pretty sure Roberts
sells a mix.(If you care to buy that sort of thing mailorder) When I had 70
plants repotting wasn';t a chore and I looked forward to the experience
(OOOh! what condition would the roots be in *this* year?). Now I have over
700 and its a daunting proposition to say the least.

I suppose I should look into buying pots in bulk, but really don't care
anymore. Time is the ultimate commodity.

K Barrett

And I buy
premixed bark too.

I still like to make my own mixes. I treat the bark with Physan and soak it for
about 30 minutes then make up the mixes depending on what I am potting. The
paph mix is much simplier now but I don't think it is quite as good as when we
had a rather complicated mix that included bone meal, electra and other
components.