Kenni,

This is something that's bothered me since I started growing orchids.

In my opinion, orchids are not easy to grow, when compared with the rest of
the houseplants most people grow.

People will only find orchids easy to grow if they have a strong interest in
them. If there is no intrinsic interest in orchids as a hobby, the orchids
die very quickly. This is from personal experience with friends, across all
age ranges.

It also helps to have a "green thumb" - i.e. being tuned into how to take
care of a plant. When I go through the very basic steps necessary to grow a
Home Depot type pot-plant orchid, 99% of the people stop me after about two
sentences and say "I'm sorry, I will never do ANY of that - I'll just give
it to someone else when the blooms fall off"

For those people who don't want to be bothered to do more than water once a
month and be able to forget to water once in awhile, orchids are hard. I
recommend cactus and succulents for those people. =)

Even phalaenopsis will croak on you if you forget to water them two weeks in
a row in the summer, and oh, gosh, I thought putting them by that bright
window with 3 hours of afternoon sun would be good for them.

For those people with even the slightest interest in growing orchids and
other plants, today's hybrids are very easy and rewarding to grow. However,
it's been my experience that most people want plants to magically start
blooming with wildly exotic blooms with only minimal of care and thought.

-Eric in SF

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
Ditto the write-up that AOBEI got in the Naples Daily News a few weeks
ago -- conventional wisdom says there's no such thing as bad publicity,
but
the photographer chose a common dendrobium for the pic, and the quote the
paper used was from a guy who liked orchids because he found them
"challenging" due to the amount of care required.

There were much more spectacular orchids on display, and I'm sure there
HAD
to be 50 other people in the place [not including the vendors] who
could've
told the truth about how easy they are to grow ...

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
ink.net...
Janet,

Thanks for posting that. We get the NY Times every day, but they missed
us
on Thursday, so I wasn't aware of the article. They do make orchids
sound
kind of hard to grow though, don't they?

Diana

I suppose everyone has a different definition of "easy." And location
certainly plays a big role -- here in south Florida most warm-growers can be
hung outside in a tree and Mother Nature will provide most of their care.

But my experience with the "green" vs. "black" thumb folks, when it comes to
"houseplants," has been exactly the reverse of yours. I find that people
who are good with "dirt plants" tend to overwater, overfeed and overpot
their orchids. People like me, who tend to neglect such plants to death, on
the other hand, usually take to orchids very easily.

Good growing,

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Kenni,

This is something that's bothered me since I started growing orchids.

In my opinion, orchids are not easy to grow, when compared with the rest
of
the houseplants most people grow.

People will only find orchids easy to grow if they have a strong interest
in
them. If there is no intrinsic interest in orchids as a hobby, the orchids
die very quickly. This is from personal experience with friends, across
all
age ranges.

It also helps to have a "green thumb" - i.e. being tuned into how to take
care of a plant. When I go through the very basic steps necessary to grow
a
Home Depot type pot-plant orchid, 99% of the people stop me after about
two
sentences and say "I'm sorry, I will never do ANY of that - I'll just give
it to someone else when the blooms fall off"

For those people who don't want to be bothered to do more than water once
a
month and be able to forget to water once in awhile, orchids are hard. I
recommend cactus and succulents for those people. =)

Even phalaenopsis will croak on you if you forget to water them two weeks
in
a row in the summer, and oh, gosh, I thought putting them by that bright
window with 3 hours of afternoon sun would be good for them.

For those people with even the slightest interest in growing orchids and
other plants, today's hybrids are very easy and rewarding to grow.
However,
it's been my experience that most people want plants to magically start
blooming with wildly exotic blooms with only minimal of care and thought.

-Eric in SF

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
Ditto the write-up that AOBEI got in the Naples Daily News a few weeks
ago -- conventional wisdom says there's no such thing as bad publicity,
but
the photographer chose a common dendrobium for the pic, and the quote
the
paper used was from a guy who liked orchids because he found them
"challenging" due to the amount of care required.

There were much more spectacular orchids on display, and I'm sure there
HAD
to be 50 other people in the place [not including the vendors] who
could've
told the truth about how easy they are to grow ...

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
ink.net...
Janet,

Thanks for posting that. We get the NY Times every day, but they
missed
us
on Thursday, so I wasn't aware of the article. They do make orchids
sound
kind of hard to grow though, don't they?

Diana

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

"Kenni Judd" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
. ..
I suppose everyone has a different definition of "easy." And location
certainly plays a big role -- here in south Florida most warm-growers can
be
hung outside in a tree and Mother Nature will provide most of their care.

But my experience with the "green" vs. "black" thumb folks, when it comes
to
"houseplants," has been exactly the reverse of yours. I find that people
who are good with "dirt plants" tend to overwater, overfeed and overpot
their orchids. People like me, who tend to neglect such plants to death,
on
the other hand, usually take to orchids very easily.

Exactly my opinion. I think my orchids do well because I was always a
neglecter. Now they reward me with blooms and I am becoming a doter. It's
one of their self-protection mechanisms, like the innocent round eyes of
children...
;-)
--
Reka

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.583 / Virus Database: 369 - Release Date: 10.02.04

Kenni,

Very good point - I've been to South Florida, and believe me, us Northern
Californians are highly covetous of your ability to throw an orchid into a
tree and watch it thrive. *smile* But then again, you can't grow
Masdevallias in your back yard like we can here. =)

My green thumb reference wasn't as specific as it sounded, I think. I meant
green thumb in the broadest sense possible - meaning if you have a good
understanding of how to keep plants, not specifically houseplants, but
plants in general, alive, then you've got a green thumb. I agree that there
is a segment of plant lovers who have to be "reprogrammed" to take care of
epiphytes instead of terresterials, and those people usually kill a few
orchids before they get it. =)

-Eric in SF

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
. ..
I suppose everyone has a different definition of "easy." And location
certainly plays a big role -- here in south Florida most warm-growers can
be
hung outside in a tree and Mother Nature will provide most of their care.

But my experience with the "green" vs. "black" thumb folks, when it comes
to
"houseplants," has been exactly the reverse of yours. I find that people
who are good with "dirt plants" tend to overwater, overfeed and overpot
their orchids. People like me, who tend to neglect such plants to death,
on
the other hand, usually take to orchids very easily.

Good growing,

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Kenni,

This is something that's bothered me since I started growing orchids.

In my opinion, orchids are not easy to grow, when compared with the rest
of
the houseplants most people grow.

People will only find orchids easy to grow if they have a strong
interest
in
them. If there is no intrinsic interest in orchids as a hobby, the
orchids
die very quickly. This is from personal experience with friends, across
all
age ranges.

It also helps to have a "green thumb" - i.e. being tuned into how to
take
care of a plant. When I go through the very basic steps necessary to
grow
a
Home Depot type pot-plant orchid, 99% of the people stop me after about
two
sentences and say "I'm sorry, I will never do ANY of that - I'll just
give
it to someone else when the blooms fall off"

For those people who don't want to be bothered to do more than water
once
a
month and be able to forget to water once in awhile, orchids are hard. I
recommend cactus and succulents for those people. =)

Even phalaenopsis will croak on you if you forget to water them two
weeks
in
a row in the summer, and oh, gosh, I thought putting them by that bright
window with 3 hours of afternoon sun would be good for them.

For those people with even the slightest interest in growing orchids and
other plants, today's hybrids are very easy and rewarding to grow.
However,
it's been my experience that most people want plants to magically start
blooming with wildly exotic blooms with only minimal of care and
thought.

-Eric in SF

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
Ditto the write-up that AOBEI got in the Naples Daily News a few weeks
ago -- conventional wisdom says there's no such thing as bad
publicity,
but
the photographer chose a common dendrobium for the pic, and the quote
the
paper used was from a guy who liked orchids because he found them
"challenging" due to the amount of care required.

There were much more spectacular orchids on display, and I'm sure
there
HAD
to be 50 other people in the place [not including the vendors] who
could've
told the truth about how easy they are to grow ...

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
ink.net...
Janet,

Thanks for posting that. We get the NY Times every day, but they
missed
us
on Thursday, so I wasn't aware of the article. They do make orchids
sound
kind of hard to grow though, don't they?

Diana

I bet you can grow Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum and standard Cymbidiums,
oo -- as to which I am limited to pictures :(
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Kenni,

Very good point - I've been to South Florida, and believe me, us Northern
Californians are highly covetous of your ability to throw an orchid into a
tree and watch it thrive. *smile* But then again, you can't grow
Masdevallias in your back yard like we can here. =)

I bet you can grow Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum and standard Cymbidiums,
oo -- as to which I am limited to pictures :(
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Kenni,

Very good point - I've been to South Florida, and believe me, us Northern
Californians are highly covetous of your ability to throw an orchid into a
tree and watch it thrive. *smile* But then again, you can't grow
Masdevallias in your back yard like we can here. =)

I bet you can grow Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum and standard Cymbidiums,
oo -- as to which I am limited to pictures :(
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Kenni,

Very good point - I've been to South Florida, and believe me, us Northern
Californians are highly covetous of your ability to throw an orchid into a
tree and watch it thrive. *smile* But then again, you can't grow
Masdevallias in your back yard like we can here. =)

Some Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum, and standard Cymbidiums can be grown
in a greenhouse where temps sometimes reach 100. I, however, grow many
standard Cymbidiums outside and temps have reached 110 and 17 degrees.
Cymbidiums are fairly hardy plants as well as bletilla. Just cover the
plants with sheets when temps go below 40 degrees. And, as for
Miltoniopsis and Odontoglossums, find those plants that are temperature
tolerant.

.. . . Pam
Everything Orchid Management System
http://www.pe.net/~profpam/page3.html
New 2004 upgrade will be available in the next week or so to registered
users. 300+ culture sheets and pictures on new CD located in the Culture
directory.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kenni Judd wrote:

I bet you can grow Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum and standard Cymbidiums,
oo -- as to which I am limited to pictures :(
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Kenni,

Very good point - I've been to South Florida, and believe me, us Northern
Californians are highly covetous of your ability to throw an orchid into a
tree and watch it thrive. *smile* But then again, you can't grow
Masdevallias in your back yard like we can here. =)

It is not only the _long_ summer heat [5-6 months of temps in the high 90s
with little nighttime cooling], but also the lack of sustained winter cold,
that makes these unsuitable for south Florida. A _very_ few Odonts
[bictonense and some of its hybrids are the only that I know of] can be
successfully grown and bloomed as far south as Vero [only 60 miles north of
me, but apparently across a "weather line"].

I can _grow_ standard Cyms with huge gorgeous foliage, no problem, but
neither I nor anyone I know gets flowers from them south of Daytona [about
200 miles north of me] more than once every 3-5 years [when we have an
exceptionally cold winter]. And even there, it requires some tinkering --
watering at sunset to give the root system a boost to the night chill ...

A few of my customers are doing "OK" with the most heat-tolerant of
Miltoniopsis, by summering them indoors in the airconditioning from May
through September, and then leaving them out all winter.

I like a lot of these plants, and would like to be able to grow and bloom
them, but I am committed to NOT putting in a cool-house. My customers don't
have them, and I don't want to sell them plants they can't grow and bloom in
their own environments.

But if you have a list of them that you think would actually grow and bloom
down here, I'll keep an eye out for them and try a couple on a small scale.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"profpam" wrote in message ...
Some Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum, and standard Cymbidiums can be grown
in a greenhouse where temps sometimes reach 100. I, however, grow many
standard Cymbidiums outside and temps have reached 110 and 17 degrees.
Cymbidiums are fairly hardy plants as well as bletilla. Just cover the
plants with sheets when temps go below 40 degrees. And, as for
Miltoniopsis and Odontoglossums, find those plants that are temperature
tolerant.

. . . Pam
Everything Orchid Management System
http://www.pe.net/~profpam/page3.html
New 2004 upgrade will be available in the next week or so to registered
users. 300+ culture sheets and pictures on new CD located in the Culture
directory.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Kenni Judd wrote:

I bet you can grow Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum and standard Cymbidiums,
oo -- as to which I am limited to pictures :(
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Kenni,

Very good point - I've been to South Florida, and believe me, us
Northern
Californians are highly covetous of your ability to throw an orchid
into a
tree and watch it thrive. *smile* But then again, you can't grow
Masdevallias in your back yard like we can here. =)

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:38:21 +0100, "Reka"
wrote:

"Kenni Judd" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
But my experience with the "green" vs. "black" thumb folks, when it comes
to "houseplants," has been exactly the reverse of yours. I find that people
who are good with "dirt plants" tend to overwater, overfeed and overpot
their orchids. People like me, who tend to neglect such plants to death,
on the other hand, usually take to orchids very easily.

The reason I grow orchids is because I can not keep an ivy, or
pathos alive. A catt does not care if your schedule is a little
stretched. After all that is what a pbulb stash of water is
for... a little drought. G

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

Susan Erickson wrote:

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:38:21 +0100, "Reka"
wrote:



"Kenni Judd" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
t...


But my experience with the "green" vs. "black" thumb folks, when it comes
to "houseplants," has been exactly the reverse of yours. I find that people
who are good with "dirt plants" tend to overwater, overfeed and overpot
their orchids. People like me, who tend to neglect such plants to death,
on the other hand, usually take to orchids very easily.



The reason I grow orchids is because I can not keep an ivy, or
pathos alive. A catt does not care if your schedule is a little
stretched. After all that is what a pbulb stash of water is
for... a little drought. G



I'm pretty grey thumb with everything. I'm picking grey as a
neutral color. Most plants do OK for me, but there isn't anything that
does spectacularly for me. Sweet corn is probably my best crop,
actually, and I'm not sure that is my fault. Orchids, houseplants,
roses, small fruit... I can grow them all pretty well. But there are,
and always will be, people who amaze the heck out of me in any one of
those categories. My grandmother could garden circles around anybody I
ever met, but never really figured out orchids. My father always had a
big garden and a good crop, with weeds up to the sky - I wish I could
figure out how he did that, as it would save me a lot of time.

I grow orchids because I enjoy the variety and I'm a born plant
collector. And I like the science, too. But I don't know that there
was a really big learning curve for me, after I figured out that they do
best if I leave them mostly alone. Which is really my style of
horticulture, anyway.

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