NYEric
Well-Known Member
Yes.
Can't stop!
Orchid Hoarders!
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Can't stop!
Hi Guys
I've been holding off on posting on this subject as I don't want to get the wife upset. I HATE when people call this an addiction, then I think, oh well it's better than drugs. Plus it keeps me happier than any drug could. This title isn't too much better than addiction. I have lots of orchids. Used to grow in a spare bedroom under lights and spent about an hour a day watering plants with the help of Donna. Now, I have a greenhouse and water in about an hour or so. Let me tell you how this progressed for me and possible others here on the forum. First, you buy an orchid at Home Depot or Lowes, it dies from over watering so you buy another one, and then another and so on. Eventually, you slow down on killing them (because we never really stop killing them) and they start to over take your home. You go from window sills to a single light stand and then two and then into a spare room. Come on guys, you all know the routine. Finally a few of us are lucky enough to get a greenhouse. At first you move your plants in and say to yourself. I'll never fill this thing up. Naturally, you already built the greenhouse larger than you thought you need. Before, you know it, it's full. Then I started to want only certain plants of better quality. Most of us can't just go out and buy the few good paphs that are out there and possible awarded, so we start buying lots of one cross or specie trying to get that really good one. Personally, I have a hard time getting rid of paphs. I don't want. I'd like to get back what I paid for them, and most time that just doesn't happen. That really upsets me because many of them were bought as seedlings, I lost a few along the way and then grew them up to adult hood and flowered them once. Oh well, that a whole different subject. The bottom line is that it's hard for me to control myself, although I'm now at least only trying to buy better breeding and hoping for the best.
I've been holding off on posting on this subject as I don't want to get the wife upset. I HATE when people call this an addiction, then I think, oh well it's better than drugs. Plus it keeps me happier than any drug could. This title isn't too much better than addiction. I have lots of orchids. Used to grow in a spare bedroom under lights and spent about an hour a day watering plants with the help of Donna. Now, I have a greenhouse and water in about an hour or so. Let me tell you how this progressed for me and possible others here on the forum. First, you buy an orchid at Home Depot or Lowes, it dies from over watering so you buy another one, and then another and so on. Eventually, you slow down on killing them (because we never really stop killing them) and they start to over take your home. You go from window sills to a single light stand and then two and then into a spare room. Come on guys, you all know the routine. Finally a few of us are lucky enough to get a greenhouse. At first you move your plants in and say to yourself. I'll never fill this thing up. Naturally, you already built the greenhouse larger than you thought you need. Before, you know it, it's full. Then I started to want only certain plants of better quality. Most of us can't just go out and buy the few good paphs that are out there and possible awarded, so we start buying lots of one cross or specie trying to get that really good one. Personally, I have a hard time getting rid of paphs. I don't want. I'd like to get back what I paid for them, and most time that just doesn't happen. That really upsets me because many of them were bought as seedlings, I lost a few along the way and then grew them up to adult hood and flowered them once. Oh well, that a whole different subject. The bottom line is that it's hard for me to control myself, although I'm now at least only trying to buy better breeding and hoping for the best.
Last edited:
Justin
Well-Known Member
Same progression for me, although it will still be a long time till i can have a greenhouse.
I am for the most part good on seedlings now, so I am mainly focusing on awarded divisions--however, with the price of top-level roths (my main interest but fill in the blank with complex, whatever) being what it is, i can only really afford one per year if that...not to mention they aren't always available even when the money is. In fact with waiting list etc. i am already committed on my orchid budget out through 2013. Knowing that i will have to lay down xxxx amount later definitely helps with "control" in random plant purchases throughout the year!
I also think twice about buying unbloomed plants considering the space they will take as well as the problem of getting rid of them if they turn out not-so-good. In order to find a good plant that way, I will still buy the occasional flask or some seedlings i am interested in. Lately I have been really fascinated with lowii/haynaldianum so i just got one flask recently. (Funny, with all the focus on album breeding these days, my interest is actually towards the more colorful paph forms!)
Anyway, i agree Bob, it's interesting how things progress so that what you want becomes more rarified, and so the natural progression is towards fewer orchid buying sprees. Orchid growing is definitely less harmful than other "addictions" (also agree that’s not the right term to use, but I would argue some of the same psychological if not physiological dynamics apply) and i guess there are more expensive hobbies out there--but there are also less expensive ones too.
I am for the most part good on seedlings now, so I am mainly focusing on awarded divisions--however, with the price of top-level roths (my main interest but fill in the blank with complex, whatever) being what it is, i can only really afford one per year if that...not to mention they aren't always available even when the money is. In fact with waiting list etc. i am already committed on my orchid budget out through 2013. Knowing that i will have to lay down xxxx amount later definitely helps with "control" in random plant purchases throughout the year!
I also think twice about buying unbloomed plants considering the space they will take as well as the problem of getting rid of them if they turn out not-so-good. In order to find a good plant that way, I will still buy the occasional flask or some seedlings i am interested in. Lately I have been really fascinated with lowii/haynaldianum so i just got one flask recently. (Funny, with all the focus on album breeding these days, my interest is actually towards the more colorful paph forms!)
Anyway, i agree Bob, it's interesting how things progress so that what you want becomes more rarified, and so the natural progression is towards fewer orchid buying sprees. Orchid growing is definitely less harmful than other "addictions" (also agree that’s not the right term to use, but I would argue some of the same psychological if not physiological dynamics apply) and i guess there are more expensive hobbies out there--but there are also less expensive ones too.
NYEric
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, I've seen some addict themselves right into divorce or the poorhouse!
Absolutely! It's nearly impossible to care equally well for a vast collection of plants. Now with my greenhouse closed for winter. I have to sell a lot of plants and give some away. It also means getting rid of plants I care for but can't grow well anymore without a greenhouse. By the time I'm finished, I will probably be left with a majority of phrags and paphs and a very few other species. Right now, it takes me two hours a day watering and caring for the plants inside the house. That includes lugging buckets full of rainwater upstairs two or three times in the morning for as long as the tub outside doesn't freeze solid. Then I will have to rely on my reserves inside and finally city water. The several trips upstairs with or without buckets of water keeps me reasonnably fit and taking care of my collection inside in the morning is the best part of my day. In short, less plants and more pleasure.
I expect I will have reduced my collection by 50% by next summer, from 600 to 300.
NYEric
Well-Known Member
Um...less plants?! ity:
ity:
paphioboy
hehehe...
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So many! My collection is somewhere around the 200 mark after 10 years of orchid growing..
Wendy
Just me!
Yes. That's exactly what happened to me. I got up to about 300 and it was pretty crowded (mixed collection) in my grow room. As you know, I also have a passion for golf and I found that I didn't have time for both. My plants started to suffer because I never had enough time for both hobbies and I began to dread watering time. I lost quite a few and then one day decide that enough was enough. After selling/gifting many of them I now have a perfectly managable collection of top quality Paphs and I once again enjoy caring for them.
Another deciding factor was noticing black mildew/mold marks on the baseboards/lower part of the drywall in the grow room. I started to wonder if this may affect our health in the long term....pretty scary when you research what mold can do to your lungs. My small collection is now moving to a much smaller area in our laundry room so we can rip out all the contaminated material from the grow room and finish our basement. After seeing what excess humidity/ water splashing can do in a house (check out the parquet floor in Eric's photos
) I have no second thoughts about taking the grow room out....houses are NOT meant to be greenhouses.So if you start having second thoughts on maybe having too many plants it might be time to scale back.
*off soapbox*
Now having said that...it might just be different if I had a greehouse. :evil:
NYEric
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry. Did you say something!? :noangel:
Wendy
Just me!
Ha, Eric you can always make me laugh. Now, you, are a classic horder. :rollhappy:
Now, you, are a classic horder. :rollhappy:
J
Jorch
Guest
also guilty of mildew mark in the basement grow room! just spent 3 days moving out all the plants to scrub down the walls/floors, remove the mildew with some chemical spray, and repaint the room with better mildew resistant paint. Seriously planning to reduce my collection by 50% next year, really running out of room and time!
This is pretty sad. There must be a way of growing indoors and not to worry about mold and mildew growing. What do causes this? Just water splashing on the walls and floors? I have 50 plants right now and I want to add a few more. So this is a little bit worrying.
Mold and mildew on the wall is not a problem, just have patience and soon algae and moss will cover it over.
likespaphs
some call me brian
humidity!
The problem is humidity. You need a vapor barrier built into the walls behind the plaster to prevent the humidity transpiring through the walls. It is much more important if you live in northern climates where there is a large temperature difference between the outside and the inside. If there is no vapor barrier like in older houses, or the barrier has been compromised with new electrical outlets, condensation can occur within the walls and water accumulate at the floor level, which causes mold to appear on baseboards.
If you don't have a vapor barrier, you can put several coats of paint on the walls and ceiling and even then, keep the humidity inside around 50%. Most plants and orchids can tolerate that level and it won't affect your house too much. Air circulation is also important.
Wendy
Just me!
My grow room has vapour barrier in both walls and ceiling and I still have mold/mildew issues. I have taken everything out and scrubbed the walls and baseboards several times in the past. It's not the stuff I can see and remove that bothers me...it's the stuff behind the drywall I'm worried about. After watching a few 'Holmes on Homes' and researching mold problems it scared me enough to want to remove it.
I need a greenhouse.
I need a greenhouse.
Wendy, if you go for the greenhouse, get one with four layers walls of polycarbonate or go with triple glass like Dot.
Personnally, if I had the chance to start all over again, I would use concrete walls with good insulation and a few windows on each side for ventilation and natural light, then I'd put a normal well ventilated roof on top. In short, I would build a basement above the ground beside the house. Of course, I'd use high intensity growing lights for the plants, which would also function for heating.
Personnally, if I had the chance to start all over again, I would use concrete walls with good insulation and a few windows on each side for ventilation and natural light, then I'd put a normal well ventilated roof on top. In short, I would build a basement above the ground beside the house. Of course, I'd use high intensity growing lights for the plants, which would also function for heating.
G
goldenrose
Guest
why above? why not sink it 4ft into the ground? That would have to help cut heating costs. There's a commercial grower in Canada, if I remember right, Orchids in Our Tropics that does that. They have a height restriction so originally they did it for that reason. I'm kinda surprised that more in the northern regions don't do that, if I had it to do over, I'd do it in a heartbeat!
I live in a seasonnally flooded area. That's why I only have a service basement on dirt under my house.
L
L I Jane
Guest
I admit to being a hoarder as well with capital letters, as well.The 1st orchid was my mistake! From there the addiction just kept sky rocketing.Now over 620--- was 630 so you see I'm getting better.Not only that I'm have a couple of friends to come in (orchid executors lol) for when I pass away or get too feeble to look after them.They will sell to our society members etc.I can't bear to get rid of them before then.
