"Diana Kulaga"
If you are growing inside, you can creep up on the spare bedroom! A
humidifier in the dining room will make up for never having another formal
meal in this life time! Glorious orchids! Orchids everywhere!
It's.........La La Land!

For the longest time I've had a vacant greenhouse at work.
We had been paying for years to heat and maintain it but
we never really did anything with it. Finally, someone came
along and asked if they could use it. I figured sure, why not,
we're not doing anything with it. Now, it's stuffed FULL of
assorted burros tails and jade plants. The greenhouse is a
pretty good size - prolly 20' x 40' with all the mod cons.
sigh The spider plants sure love it. :-\

Congrats on your new acquisitions. VBG

Thanks!

The guy at the nursery (not the owner) said that all orchids
bloom only once a year so he tried to talk me out of the full
bloom Brsdm.

I dunno. I bought my first orchid (Phal) the week before Christmas
in full bloom. It's been repotted and it's growing new leaves
like mad and throwing up another spike. I told the nursery guy
about it and he said that it's dying. Pfft! He should see the
roots on this thing. Do dying orchids grow leaves, flowers and
roots? To me, that's the distinct definition of NOT dying.

Ruth CM

The guy at the nursery (not the owner) said that all orchids
bloom only once a year so he tried to talk me out of the full
bloom Brsdm.

That is pure BS (and I don't mean Blooming Size!). Many orchids bloom
multiple times annually. Our Brassias and their crosses bloom a couple of
times a year at least. Ascda. Princess Mikasa 'Blue', which is taking a
much needed rest at the moment, blooms 4-5X a year, so for all intents and
purposes is in bloom most of the time. I have Phals that started their new
spikes before the old ones had shed their blooms (though that's not the
norm).

OTOH, *some* orchids - lots of 'em - only bloom once a year.

Do dying orchids grow leaves, flowers and
roots? To me, that's the distinct definition of NOT dying.

No, they don't do that if they are dying. What that obviously inexperienced
clerk was referring to is the phenomenon of a truly dying orchid sending up
a spike in an effort to save itself. Your plant is thriving, if it's
growing roots, leaves and a spike to boot. Keep on keepin' on!

Diana

The guy at the nursery (not the owner) said that all orchids
bloom only once a year so he tried to talk me out of the full
bloom Brsdm.

That is pure BS (and I don't mean Blooming Size!). Many orchids bloom
multiple times annually. Our Brassias and their crosses bloom a couple of
times a year at least. Ascda. Princess Mikasa 'Blue', which is taking a
much needed rest at the moment, blooms 4-5X a year, so for all intents and
purposes is in bloom most of the time. I have Phals that started their new
spikes before the old ones had shed their blooms (though that's not the
norm).

OTOH, *some* orchids - lots of 'em - only bloom once a year.

Do dying orchids grow leaves, flowers and
roots? To me, that's the distinct definition of NOT dying.

No, they don't do that if they are dying. What that obviously inexperienced
clerk was referring to is the phenomenon of a truly dying orchid sending up
a spike in an effort to save itself. Your plant is thriving, if it's
growing roots, leaves and a spike to boot. Keep on keepin' on!

Diana

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
hlink.net...
[snip]
No, they don't do that if they are dying. What that obviously
inexperienced
clerk was referring to is the phenomenon of a truly dying orchid sending
up
a spike in an effort to save itself. Your plant is thriving, if it's
growing roots, leaves and a spike to boot. Keep on keepin' on!

Diana

Your are assuming the best for this clerk. I know some nurseries that, not
to mention big box stores, that would prefer to "educate" their consumers
into believing orchids, and other plants, flower only once and then ought to
be disposed of. They do this because they believe they'll be able to sell
the same customer more plants the next time they are available. And, if
fact, I have heard of some huge breeders developing hybrids of certain house
and garden plants that have a very short life span relative to their wild
counterparts (e.g. Sinningia speciosa and various Cyclamen that have tubers
that are far too small for them to be likely to survive dormancy: I have yet
to get one that survive dormancy so I must be buying from the wrong places,
and this makes me sad because I love Sinningia speciosa about as much as I
like phals). IF it is true that some breeders try to breed perennials into
producing annuals, I can only hope that such scoundrels will never gain
market share among orchid growers.

Interesting! My first reaction to what Ruth described was to assume that
the clerk mentioned is "ethically challenged", to be politically correct.
;-) I guess I have assumed a survival strategy of hoping for the best but
expecting the worst since in that way, one is never really disappointed and
occassionally surprised.

Cheers,

Ted

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
hlink.net...
[snip]
No, they don't do that if they are dying. What that obviously
inexperienced
clerk was referring to is the phenomenon of a truly dying orchid sending
up
a spike in an effort to save itself. Your plant is thriving, if it's
growing roots, leaves and a spike to boot. Keep on keepin' on!

Diana

Your are assuming the best for this clerk. I know some nurseries that, not
to mention big box stores, that would prefer to "educate" their consumers
into believing orchids, and other plants, flower only once and then ought to
be disposed of. They do this because they believe they'll be able to sell
the same customer more plants the next time they are available. And, if
fact, I have heard of some huge breeders developing hybrids of certain house
and garden plants that have a very short life span relative to their wild
counterparts (e.g. Sinningia speciosa and various Cyclamen that have tubers
that are far too small for them to be likely to survive dormancy: I have yet
to get one that survive dormancy so I must be buying from the wrong places,
and this makes me sad because I love Sinningia speciosa about as much as I
like phals). IF it is true that some breeders try to breed perennials into
producing annuals, I can only hope that such scoundrels will never gain
market share among orchid growers.

Interesting! My first reaction to what Ruth described was to assume that
the clerk mentioned is "ethically challenged", to be politically correct.
;-) I guess I have assumed a survival strategy of hoping for the best but
expecting the worst since in that way, one is never really disappointed and
occassionally surprised.

Cheers,

Ted

Interesting! My first reaction to what Ruth described was to assume that
the clerk mentioned is "ethically challenged", to be politically correct.
;-) I guess I have assumed a survival strategy of hoping for the best but
expecting the worst since in that way, one is never really disappointed
and
occassionally surprised.

Yeah, maybe I did cut the clerk too much slack. Still, *most* growers are
honest and helpful, in my experience. You are right, though, that many
growers develop repeat customers because the plants die due to poor care.
But I tend to blame that on the buyer who doesn't pay attention to the
culture sheets.

Look at it this way: For every buyer who picks up one white Phal (and lets
it die after flowering) annually, how many are simply turned off after
watching that Phal kick the bucket, and never buy another orchid, period?
If I were in the business I'd bend over backward to see to it that the buyer
succeeded with his/her first plant. You know - create another addict! S

Diana

Interesting! My first reaction to what Ruth described was to assume that
the clerk mentioned is "ethically challenged", to be politically correct.
;-) I guess I have assumed a survival strategy of hoping for the best but
expecting the worst since in that way, one is never really disappointed
and
occassionally surprised.

Yeah, maybe I did cut the clerk too much slack. Still, *most* growers are
honest and helpful, in my experience. You are right, though, that many
growers develop repeat customers because the plants die due to poor care.
But I tend to blame that on the buyer who doesn't pay attention to the
culture sheets.

Look at it this way: For every buyer who picks up one white Phal (and lets
it die after flowering) annually, how many are simply turned off after
watching that Phal kick the bucket, and never buy another orchid, period?
If I were in the business I'd bend over backward to see to it that the buyer
succeeded with his/her first plant. You know - create another addict! S

Diana

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Interesting! My first reaction to what Ruth described was to assume
that
the clerk mentioned is "ethically challenged", to be politically
correct.
;-) I guess I have assumed a survival strategy of hoping for the best
but
expecting the worst since in that way, one is never really disappointed
and
occassionally surprised.

Yeah, maybe I did cut the clerk too much slack. Still, *most* growers are
honest and helpful, in my experience. You are right, though, that many
growers develop repeat customers because the plants die due to poor care.
But I tend to blame that on the buyer who doesn't pay attention to the
culture sheets.

Yes, I agree in part. But often these culture sheets are not available from
the vendor. If I had the money to set up a retail operation selling house
plants, and supplies for them, I'd be making sure that I had detailed
information for the customers, and regularly hold workshops to teach
customers about orchids and how to take care of them. And on a price basis
alone, the other nurseries and big box stores would not be able to comete
unless they dramatically dropped their prices (a NOID phal at Zehrs or Home
Depot here will cost C$25-C$40, and similar phals at any of the orchid
society shows or meetings could be had for C$10 to C$15), and MUCH better,
properly labelled phals could be had for only a little more. These people
aren't about to provide culture sheets to their customers. Nor are they
going to hire people who really know what they're doing when it comes to
keeping the plants alive. Only a bad result can be expected when a consumer
who knows nothing buys from such a vendor at grossly inflated prices.

Look at it this way: For every buyer who picks up one white Phal (and
lets
it die after flowering) annually, how many are simply turned off after
watching that Phal kick the bucket, and never buy another orchid, period?
If I were in the business I'd bend over backward to see to it that the
buyer
succeeded with his/her first plant. You know - create another addict!
S

I fully agree. There is nothing better for a business (regardless of the
business) than a knowledgable customer. And it doesn't matter what the
business is! I know that in this area, only a tiny portion of the business
people making decisions about how to run their business have any
acquaintance with how IT, used correctly, can help their bottom line. Their
eyes glaze over if you start talking about workstations, servers, software
integration, web apps and the like. And I know a number of businesses
(selling computer and peripheral hardward) who have been told by their
customers that they will only buy shrink wrapped software from companies
like Microsoft because they and their colleagues have been burned too many
times buy folk developing custom software. I am presently helping out with
one project in which the coding is actually very basic because the client
doesn't really know what could be done. And I know of many cases where had
the idiot who sold the clients their software sold a properly integrated
system and the right software for the job, the clients' productivity could
have been as much as four times greater than it can be at present. Needless
to say, such bungling results in the alleged productivity gains from IT not
materializing and business folk becoming highly sceptical of new projects,
especially custom projects. They simply do not want to hear from IT
consultants who do know what they're doing how they've been badly served by
their previous supplier and how if their systems and procedures were
re-engineered they'd see tremendous improvements in their productivity and
profit margins.

C$50/plant seems like a lot of money. And it is outrageously expensive if
the plant will stay in bloom for even a month or two and then die. But if
you know that if you keep it happy, i will give decades of blooms, then the
cost is almost nothing. If you believe the plant you just bought will only
die after a few months (or less), then you might buy another only on very
special occassions and even then only if you have money to burn. If, OTOH,
you believe that with proper care it will conitue giving blooms for years or
decades, then you are likely to fill every available spot in your home with
yet another beautiful plant.

Hehe! If our schemes to create more orchid addicts works, our cities will
eventually become filled with houses and apartments with sun rooms or
attached greenhouses larger than the rest of the homes combined! :-) That
would be a good thing, wouldn't it?

Cheers,

Ted

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Interesting! My first reaction to what Ruth described was to assume
that
the clerk mentioned is "ethically challenged", to be politically
correct.
;-) I guess I have assumed a survival strategy of hoping for the best
but
expecting the worst since in that way, one is never really disappointed
and
occassionally surprised.

Yeah, maybe I did cut the clerk too much slack. Still, *most* growers are
honest and helpful, in my experience. You are right, though, that many
growers develop repeat customers because the plants die due to poor care.
But I tend to blame that on the buyer who doesn't pay attention to the
culture sheets.

Yes, I agree in part. But often these culture sheets are not available from
the vendor. If I had the money to set up a retail operation selling house
plants, and supplies for them, I'd be making sure that I had detailed
information for the customers, and regularly hold workshops to teach
customers about orchids and how to take care of them. And on a price basis
alone, the other nurseries and big box stores would not be able to comete
unless they dramatically dropped their prices (a NOID phal at Zehrs or Home
Depot here will cost C$25-C$40, and similar phals at any of the orchid
society shows or meetings could be had for C$10 to C$15), and MUCH better,
properly labelled phals could be had for only a little more. These people
aren't about to provide culture sheets to their customers. Nor are they
going to hire people who really know what they're doing when it comes to
keeping the plants alive. Only a bad result can be expected when a consumer
who knows nothing buys from such a vendor at grossly inflated prices.

Look at it this way: For every buyer who picks up one white Phal (and
lets
it die after flowering) annually, how many are simply turned off after
watching that Phal kick the bucket, and never buy another orchid, period?
If I were in the business I'd bend over backward to see to it that the
buyer
succeeded with his/her first plant. You know - create another addict!
S

I fully agree. There is nothing better for a business (regardless of the
business) than a knowledgable customer. And it doesn't matter what the
business is! I know that in this area, only a tiny portion of the business
people making decisions about how to run their business have any
acquaintance with how IT, used correctly, can help their bottom line. Their
eyes glaze over if you start talking about workstations, servers, software
integration, web apps and the like. And I know a number of businesses
(selling computer and peripheral hardward) who have been told by their
customers that they will only buy shrink wrapped software from companies
like Microsoft because they and their colleagues have been burned too many
times buy folk developing custom software. I am presently helping out with
one project in which the coding is actually very basic because the client
doesn't really know what could be done. And I know of many cases where had
the idiot who sold the clients their software sold a properly integrated
system and the right software for the job, the clients' productivity could
have been as much as four times greater than it can be at present. Needless
to say, such bungling results in the alleged productivity gains from IT not
materializing and business folk becoming highly sceptical of new projects,
especially custom projects. They simply do not want to hear from IT
consultants who do know what they're doing how they've been badly served by
their previous supplier and how if their systems and procedures were
re-engineered they'd see tremendous improvements in their productivity and
profit margins.

C$50/plant seems like a lot of money. And it is outrageously expensive if
the plant will stay in bloom for even a month or two and then die. But if
you know that if you keep it happy, i will give decades of blooms, then the
cost is almost nothing. If you believe the plant you just bought will only
die after a few months (or less), then you might buy another only on very
special occassions and even then only if you have money to burn. If, OTOH,
you believe that with proper care it will conitue giving blooms for years or
decades, then you are likely to fill every available spot in your home with
yet another beautiful plant.

Hehe! If our schemes to create more orchid addicts works, our cities will
eventually become filled with houses and apartments with sun rooms or
attached greenhouses larger than the rest of the homes combined! :-) That
would be a good thing, wouldn't it?

Cheers,

Ted