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#1
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orchid heretic?
Ok, so maybe by the time I am done with this email no one in this group will
take me seriously anymore, but here it goes: I admit that after 3 years of growing orchids, I have today for the first time repotted two of them myself. You see until today I would always go to a local plant nursery, pay them $5-7 and that would include the new pot, potting medium, and labor of repotting. I got to watch, discuss the health of the roots with the staff person there, browse their orchid collection for a possible additional orchid buy, and the entire experience was very enjoyable. Today, my bathroom is a mess. I am a mess. My back hurts. And I am frustrated. But hey, those two orchids have been repotted. Yay. ;-( I think I am going to go back to the nursery the next time one of my plants needs repotting. Sure I saved $5-7 and I got to actually do it myself, but for me this is just not worth it. Plus, I am not even sure that I did a good job of the repotting: What if I left some roots that needed to be cut? What if I disturbed some roots that were better left alone? At the local nursery I trust the staff person to know what he or she is doing -- I know these people well enough to know that they have more experience with orchids than I do. I understand that someone who owns a greenhouse with a huge number of flowers and has lots of experience is better of doing this themselves, but I am much better at coding Active Server Pages and writing stored procedures than at repotting. Programming is my job, repotting is theirs. I love the daily interaction with the orchids, watering them, looking for signs of stress, or for new spikes or new leaves. But repotting is a pain in the back for me. Joanna |
#2
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On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 21:11:33 GMT, "J Fortuna"
wrote: But repotting is a pain in the back for me. Joanna That much I will agree with. You have so few that you worry over them like a mother hen. I learned to repot helping an older society member. I got the back bulbs for all the Catts we repotted. In that one weekend I went from 10 plants to 50. To do that many plants you can not worry. You go in and pull out the squishy roots. He did not believe in clippers when you could snap off the dry dead leaves or spikes. You could pull off the rotten roots and not have a pair of clippers or a knife or blade to sterilize. Such a fuss. And that was in the days when we kept the clippers in a supper saturated solution of TSP. Now no matter how you keep them someone will tell you that way will not kill virus. Remember you are providing artificial habitat for this plant - it is used to roughing it. You will be nicer to it than the wild would be. A bad root or good one in the trash should not be enough to bother it. SuE http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php |
#3
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Joanna,
That is yet another reason to consider semi-hydroponics! Repotting is a snap. -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info! .. "J Fortuna" wrote in message ... Ok, so maybe by the time I am done with this email no one in this group will take me seriously anymore, but here it goes: I admit that after 3 years of growing orchids, I have today for the first time repotted two of them myself. You see until today I would always go to a local plant nursery, pay them $5-7 and that would include the new pot, potting medium, and labor of repotting. I got to watch, discuss the health of the roots with the staff person there, browse their orchid collection for a possible additional orchid buy, and the entire experience was very enjoyable. Today, my bathroom is a mess. I am a mess. My back hurts. And I am frustrated. But hey, those two orchids have been repotted. Yay. ;-( I think I am going to go back to the nursery the next time one of my plants needs repotting. Sure I saved $5-7 and I got to actually do it myself, but for me this is just not worth it. Plus, I am not even sure that I did a good job of the repotting: What if I left some roots that needed to be cut? What if I disturbed some roots that were better left alone? At the local nursery I trust the staff person to know what he or she is doing -- I know these people well enough to know that they have more experience with orchids than I do. I understand that someone who owns a greenhouse with a huge number of flowers and has lots of experience is better of doing this themselves, but I am much better at coding Active Server Pages and writing stored procedures than at repotting. Programming is my job, repotting is theirs. I love the daily interaction with the orchids, watering them, looking for signs of stress, or for new spikes or new leaves. But repotting is a pain in the back for me. Joanna |
#4
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Joanna,
Until you do the repotting with your own hands you will never conquer the orchid demon. Mick |
#5
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Mick, Yes, but do I really want to conquer that demon? Up until now, me and
the demon have had this understanding: I let him be in charge, and in exchange he provides me with a pleasant, enjoyable hobby. Ray, I may well try semihydro, I have been thinking about it, but ... the thing is that now I still have most of a bag of orchid potting mix left, and wouldn't want it to go to waste. :-) My husband asked what I would give him in exchange for him doing the repotting the next time. Hmm, something else to think about. Joanna (who is in a much better mood by now after a very pleasant walk in gorgeous weather in the DC area) "Mick Fournier" wrote in message ... Joanna, Until you do the repotting with your own hands you will never conquer the orchid demon. Mick |
#6
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Mick, Yes, but do I really want to conquer that demon? Up until now, me and
the demon have had this understanding: I let him be in charge, and in exchange he provides me with a pleasant, enjoyable hobby. Ray, I may well try semihydro, I have been thinking about it, but ... the thing is that now I still have most of a bag of orchid potting mix left, and wouldn't want it to go to waste. :-) My husband asked what I would give him in exchange for him doing the repotting the next time. Hmm, something else to think about. Joanna (who is in a much better mood by now after a very pleasant walk in gorgeous weather in the DC area) "Mick Fournier" wrote in message ... Joanna, Until you do the repotting with your own hands you will never conquer the orchid demon. Mick |
#7
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It would certainly be a trick to repot without hands. Gloves are even too
cumbersome for me. Best to repot when the plant is in need of repotting rather than waiting. Pot larger if roots are in the out-growing mode; pot smaller when roots are few and the plant is not doing well. .. . . Pam Everything Orchid Management System http://www.pe.net/~profpam/page3.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mick Fournier wrote: Joanna, Until you do the repotting with your own hands you will never conquer the orchid demon. Mick |
#8
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Pam,
To repot with one's own hands. And to love the smell of the raw bark, the fine bristling soft osmunda fiber teasing/tickling my long fingers, the weight of the smooth round ballast stones rolling plimp-plomp in my large hands, the siren song in my ears of the styrofoam peanuts as I gently squeeze-pop them into thirds... Ah, but how could anyone forego such first person earthly pleasures and call the result a true consummation of love in the orchid bed. That is the essential crux beyond the perfect golden rule pot size you so eloquently describe. Give me repotting... or give me death. Or, give me one decent lotto and I will chuck the whole greenhouse... pots and all. Mick ================================ "profpam" wrote in message ... It would certainly be a trick to repot without hands. Gloves are even too cumbersome for me. Best to repot when the plant is in need of repotting rather than waiting. Pot larger if roots are in the out-growing mode; pot smaller when roots are few and the plant is not doing well. . . . Pam Everything Orchid Management System http://www.pe.net/~profpam/page3.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- Mick Fournier wrote: Joanna, Until you do the repotting with your own hands you will never conquer the orchid demon. Mick |
#9
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That's for sure--it's a five-minute job and not messy at all. I have a
little repotting station set up downstairs by the laundry tub. Here's what I do to repot: First, I always have PrimeAgra soaking in a container--I use an empty plastic kitty litter container. These containers are great--they come with lids and handles and are great for storing dry S/H and chemicals too. To repot, I remove the orchid by up-ending the pot in Kitty's old litter box (which catches stray pellets), but a dishpan would work as well. Then, I put the plant in a wire-mesh colander and rinse the algae off the plant's roots. Then I trim off any bad roots, but most of the time, there aren't any to speak of. Then I put fresh media in the bottom of the new, larger pot, plunk in the orchid and its roots, which are still clinging to a lot of the old media, and fill the new pot with pellets that fell out of the old pot plus new pellets to fill. That's it! In article , Ray wrote: Joanna, That is yet another reason to consider semi-hydroponics! Repotting is a snap. |
#10
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"J Fortuna" skrev i meddelandet ... Ok, so maybe by the time I am done with this email no one in this group will take me seriously anymore, but here it goes: I admit that after 3 years of growing orchids, I have today for the first time repotted two of them myself. You see until today I would always go to a local plant nursery, pay them $5-7 and that would include the new pot, potting medium, and labor of repotting. I got to watch, discuss the health of the roots with the staff person there, browse their orchid collection for a possible additional orchid buy, and the entire experience was very enjoyable. Today, my bathroom is a mess. I am a mess. My back hurts. And I am frustrated. But hey, those two orchids have been repotted. Yay. ;-( I think I am going to go back to the nursery the next time one of my plants needs repotting. Sure I saved $5-7 and I got to actually do it myself, but for me this is just not worth it. Plus, I am not even sure that I did a good job of the repotting: What if I left some roots that needed to be cut? What if I disturbed some roots that were better left alone? At the local nursery I trust the staff person to know what he or she is doing -- I know these people well enough to know that they have more experience with orchids than I do. I understand that someone who owns a greenhouse with a huge number of flowers and has lots of experience is better of doing this themselves, but I am much better at coding Active Server Pages and writing stored procedures than at repotting. Programming is my job, repotting is theirs. I love the daily interaction with the orchids, watering them, looking for signs of stress, or for new spikes or new leaves. But repotting is a pain in the back for me. Joanna ....What Mick said =) My repotting always seems to get done when I am stressed out, mostly before exams (like today!). I love to take a break from papers and books and make a mess of orchids, moss and bark in the kitchen. It really calms me down. Others might get stressed by the mess though, I guess =) Here (Sweden) I have never seen the offer of repotting! How interesting. And I have had a job selling pot plants. Different ways for different places, I guess. //H |
#11
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Joanna: I seriously doubt that you hurt your plants, but it sounds like you
hurt yourself G. I think it's great that you finally worked up the nerve, and now understand what's involved, but don't let other folks tell you that you have to do them ALL yourself to be "taken seriously." Nurseries offer this service because there is a demand for it [whether other customers wish to be as honest as you and admit it, or not G]. And, at least during the off-season, or if you sometimes buy a new plant while you're there, your local nursery probably appreciates the income. -- Kenni Judd Juno Beach Orchids http://www.jborchids.com "J Fortuna" wrote in message ... Ok, so maybe by the time I am done with this email no one in this group will take me seriously anymore, but here it goes: I admit that after 3 years of growing orchids, I have today for the first time repotted two of them myself. You see until today I would always go to a local plant nursery, pay them $5-7 and that would include the new pot, potting medium, and labor of repotting. I got to watch, discuss the health of the roots with the staff person there, browse their orchid collection for a possible additional orchid buy, and the entire experience was very enjoyable. Today, my bathroom is a mess. I am a mess. My back hurts. And I am frustrated. But hey, those two orchids have been repotted. Yay. ;-( I think I am going to go back to the nursery the next time one of my plants needs repotting. Sure I saved $5-7 and I got to actually do it myself, but for me this is just not worth it. Plus, I am not even sure that I did a good job of the repotting: What if I left some roots that needed to be cut? What if I disturbed some roots that were better left alone? At the local nursery I trust the staff person to know what he or she is doing -- I know these people well enough to know that they have more experience with orchids than I do. I understand that someone who owns a greenhouse with a huge number of flowers and has lots of experience is better of doing this themselves, but I am much better at coding Active Server Pages and writing stored procedures than at repotting. Programming is my job, repotting is theirs. I love the daily interaction with the orchids, watering them, looking for signs of stress, or for new spikes or new leaves. But repotting is a pain in the back for me. Joanna |
#12
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Kenni Judd wrote:
Joanna: I seriously doubt that you hurt your plants, but it sounds like you hurt yourself G. I think it's great that you finally worked up the nerve, and now understand what's involved, but don't let other folks tell you that you have to do them ALL yourself to be "taken seriously." Does that mean the more plants you repot the seriouser (should be a word) you get? I must be painfully dull. Anyway, I agree completely. If you want to (and can afford to) have your plants repotted for you why not? I wouldn't necessarily take the experience of two plants and extrapolate it, as I suspect that you would get much better at it if you practice a bit. In fact, I have a few thousand you could practice on this week, for free... *grin* I do find it interesting that someone can get 5-7 dollars per plant to repot. Materials aren't that expensive, really. If I repot one per minute (not unreasonable for me, if everything is near at hand), then that is ... wow. Of course nobody is going to bring in 60 plants, and chances are it would take more like 5 minutes with questions and answers. That is still $60 per hour. Good work if you can get it. Probably not an unreasonably high amount to charge for a couple of plants, though, especially if you want to spend some of your time doing something else. Seems like this would be a valuable service to offer to your customers, if you are a smallish plant seller. I doubt it would work for the big vendors, although I do remember that Hausermanns would repot plants for you. I can't recall what they charged. I took a cymbidium in a 12" pot in for them to do for me when I was first starting out. It was more than I could handle. I think they used a hacksaw... More than I want to handle now, frankly. -- 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 LittlefrogFarm is open - e-mail me for a list ) |
#13
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Personally, I feel quite virtuous after a good potting session, though they
don't occur as often as they should (mea culpa). Joanna, I understand all about aching backs after a session, though. The trick is to have a place that is the right height for you, and to have all your "stuff" handy. Most of the problem comes with a lack of organization, for which growers with few plants can definitely be forgiven. When I first began growing, I didn't have a bench, or any other place that was dedicated to potting. Materials were here, there, and everywhere. It's not like that anymore, for me. And, as Ray describes, your choice of medium matters a lot. I don't use bark mixes, and I find it much simpler to repot without that stuff. I find the interaction with the plants when I repot to be quite satisfying. I like trimming them, and cleaning them, and also the occasional challenge when one of them absolutely refuses to get into that pot. Oh, well, just re-read Mick's sensuous post; that says it! Having said all that, if you want to have someone else do it, who says you are wrong? I love the six acres or so of floor tile in our house, but I don't much enjoy cleaning it! Be happy. Diana |
#14
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In article ,
"Hillevi P" wrote: ...What Mick said =) My repotting always seems to get done when I am stressed out, mostly before exams (like today!). I love to take a break from papers and books and make a mess of orchids, moss and bark in the kitchen. It really calms me down. Others might get stressed by the mess though, I guess =) Here (Sweden) I have never seen the offer of repotting! How interesting. And I have had a job selling pot plants. Different ways for different places, I guess. //H i like to pot in dirt, and now i have a pickaxe, i even like digging around in the dirt (which is actually clay here) but repotting orchids is ... a strain. i repotted several in sphag all at once one day--the kitchen looked like Swamp Thing had exploded all over it. however, i *do* like the way the plants always promptly grow new bits and pieces of themselves after repotting. as for potting for bucks--some places do it to make money, other places do it sort of for charity--one of the local orchid shows is held at one of the local public gardens; the garden gets a cut of the sales and the repottng fees. hmm, you folks with orchid societies, what about having a repotting night once a season? ask a minimal fee, which could go to the OS...? -j_a- |
#15
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LOL
"Mick Fournier" wrote in message ... Pam, To repot with one's own hands. And to love the smell of the raw bark, the fine bristling soft osmunda fiber teasing/tickling my long fingers, the weight of the smooth round ballast stones rolling plimp-plomp in my large hands, the siren song in my ears of the styrofoam peanuts as I gently squeeze-pop them into thirds... Ah, but how could anyone forego such first person earthly pleasures and call the result a true consummation of love in the orchid bed. That is the essential crux beyond the perfect golden rule pot size you so eloquently describe. Give me repotting... or give me death. Or, give me one decent lotto and I will chuck the whole greenhouse... pots and all. Mick ================================ "profpam" wrote in message ... It would certainly be a trick to repot without hands. Gloves are even too cumbersome for me. Best to repot when the plant is in need of repotting rather than waiting. Pot larger if roots are in the out-growing mode; pot smaller when roots are few and the plant is not doing well. . . . Pam Everything Orchid Management System http://www.pe.net/~profpam/page3.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- Mick Fournier wrote: Joanna, Until you do the repotting with your own hands you will never conquer the orchid demon. Mick |
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