At what point are you an addict?

Yes, only 10 tillandsias, I havent been into them very long.
Anna_Z , be careful if you like epis. There are thousands out there . I have to stop myself looking at epi sites.
I already have a crowd of our DG friends in our Aussie section. We trade and enjoy our plants . I do like browsing on eBay too as there are no markets close, being a country area.
I am sorry if I have hijacked your thread Franco, but I will post a couple of pics of a few plants .
Some of the epis from last years flowering. They are just starting to bud up now for this year.
Jean.

Part of the long fern house and epi house with my bonsai plants . I started them about 10 years ago and they are looking great.

This message was edited Aug 28, 2011 9:03 AM

Some of the irises with their rose border.

My best baby. My brug grown from a cutting from a plant found squished in an old glasshouse on a farm.
He is an aurea and so strong and beautiful. The perfume hangs around all day not just evenings like most.
Nothing bothers this fellow. He is in the open and aside from getting a bit tatty in the wind , he does very well.
We named him Glasshouse Angel.
Jean.

77sunset, my downfall are the HUGE alocasia. LOL And brugs too, but I don't have all that many of those. My alo's are doing great. I can't believe the size of the leaves on my Thailand Giant.........and the plant isn't even that tall yet.

Anna_Z, yes I like the alocasias too but its too cold down where I live to grow them. . I would need another greenhouse. Hubby said no more greenhouse etc as we have run out of room.
Franco, have you any pics of your plants. After I put mine on your thread, I would love to see pics of your plants.
Jean.

were all addicts here.. but not such a bad addiction...:)
in hs i grew 1000s of african violets..my motivation was $$$$$$ :) still is..
my family were all gardening bugs..so no wonder i love it too..
even spent 2 of my mmmm...many yrs in college as a botany major..and well spent i must say..
i agree.. get yourself in college..if ya love plants..how they grow..why they do what they do.....
go to florida,hawaii..or even overseas to college..
with things the way they are (economy) spend yrs in college..you will never regret it...
for me.. ive grown orchids(1000s),staghorn ferns(100s) bonsai,way to many.. organic gardening
xeroscaping,rock gardening,low maintance gardening..now getting into bananas,and other tropicals
yea.. tropicals are low maintance in utah..LOL
so frank go with your passions.. learn..learn..learn..
good luck to ya !!!!!

Hi, Franco24.

I see you have not posted since May of this year, so on the chance that you still check in at Dave's Garden, I thought I would chip in a thought or two.

Like you, I love plants; I think it's in my genes. I believe that some folks were born to be the gardeners of the world.

I agree with those on the forum who encourage you to pursue your love for plants by studying plant science in college. I'm sure there are plenty of avenues and areas of interest in that field of study.

While you are living at home, I would encourage you to respectfully abide by the standards set by your parents/family as far as living space is concerned.

I, myself, am a mother of grown children (for the most part), but I always have a full house (of people!), so even though I would like to have plants on every windowsill and tabletop and in every room, I must temper my desire with the knowledge that the people come first. The plants' needs are secondary.

With that in mind, keep going in your thirst for knowledge and in your experimentation! Besides all that, plants are fun! And rewarding. Moreover, caring for plants from seed to mature specimen can teach a young man a lot about how to be a nurturer.

If your plants get too numerous, why not give small ones as gifts? Birthdays, Christmas, Weddings, Anniversaries ... the sky is the limit. I would make sure that I kept a parent plant of all the cuttings or offsets that I might want to give away.

An older adult (or anyone) would not only be blessed by the gift of a living plant, but he or she would be doubly amazed at the fact that a teenager raised the plant. Awesome!

If you still check in and if you reply, I will post a picture or two of some of the things that I have raised from seed (in the house), including lithops and dwarf poinciana.

Take care,
TJ Given

First off, Happy Holidays! It has been awhile since I've visited DG, but I am back! I've been tied up with my senior year of highschool and applying to colleges. To say the least I have given away most of my tropicals/ treated them as annuals (with the exception of my taccas and BOP, cyclamen, and clivia) and have begun to focus on orchids ... the count is quickly approaching 100.

I'll be sure to post some pictures later in the week!

Great to see you back, Franco! You probably know you've exchanged your tropical plant addiction for a worse one. Orchids are irresistible - Expensive, slow growing (which might be very good for you) and there's an almost unlimited variety. Since you already have nearly 100, you must have a good job to support such a habit. Or lots of indulgent relatives who buy them for you as gifts? That's how I get mine, generally.

Even though I live in Florida, I swore I would never grow orchids, since they're not all easy. But then my daughter bought me two Phals for my birthday a couple of years ago, and I'm hooked. Daughter now keeps a 'wish list' of types that I want. As of yesterday when my gifts arrived from my kids, I now have 15. I want types that I can grow outside in my yard, preferably year 'round. I need them to be relatively low-maintenance because we do travel often.

Here are my newest fav's Spathoglottis plicata. They're ground orchids that I can grow in the shady border here. Some I've had since the summer have been blooming non-stop for 4 months! You really should take a look at the Orchids forum - tons of good info there.

Elaine

Thank you! And I have a well paying job at 18 to where I've made $10,000 this year alone ... and still have no car, and minimal money saved. My parents claim that i've spent it all on orchids - though i like to deny it.

I've been treating myself since it's christmas and have ordered 6-7 new chids.
Everything from Oncidium, to Miltoniopsis, to cattleya. I am a noted phalenopsis killer ... so I grow everything (and i mean EVERYTHING from cattleyas to draculas) else.

It's funny you've mentioned spathoglottis ... I've actually been on the hunt for a blooming sized plicata and kimballina. Just haven't found anything other than divisions online.

I am truly addicted. Santa Claus brought me a new orchid rack so I can get the psychopsis and paphs off of my floor. :P

You're going to hate hearing this - I'm buying Spathoglottis plicata at Home Depot for $8 apiece for big clumps in gallon pots in bloom. Trouble is, they're all purple flowers and I'm looking for the yellow ones.

Yeah, phals are pretty easy to kill, I think. I've come close with two of mine, but I now have a 'system'. When they start going limp I give them my best shot at re-potting then I hide them out in the garden where they will either sink or swim. So far the two I've done this with have survived after a month or so of abandonment. I'm thinking when they shrivel up and wilt they're telling me to leave them alone.

The only good thing about phals, (except their nice, long lasting flowers) is that they're so darn cheap. I got two for $10 apiece at IKEA on Labor Day weekend, one of them tried to die, but the other bloomed for 3 months straight and is now putting out new buds on the same flower stem. Turns out they were potted with a big lump of moss packed under the roots that was all soggy. Once I took care of that, they've done great!

My kids bought me two Phaius as gifts, and paid a small fortune for a couple of pretty small starts that I'm really doubting will bloom until next year. Best bargain I got was at our local Master Gardener plant sale in October - a huge Brassavola (maybe nodosa - it's in spike now so I'll find out soon) and a big pot of Epidendrum for $10 each. My favs are the Brassavolas, they're easy and bloom often.

I do hate hearing that! Would you be willing to buy a clump and mail it to Jersey if I paid for the plant itself and shipping?!?! (I'm not even joking!) :P

And if you are desperate for a kimballina (the yellow one) there is a seller on ebay that lives 2 minutes away from me that currently has 3 listed. The only reason I haven't bought one is because i'm a little strange in the fact that if I need a purple and yellow ... at the same time.
I refuse to buy the yellow one from her unless i have a purple coming too. I want the purple plicata more ... and only want the yellow if I already have the other.

Hm, I think it would be risky for the plant to mail it at this time of year, don't you? I only order plants online in the spring and fall for temperature reasons.

We've been having greenhouse weather for a month, so if it sat outside, even in a truck and got cold before you got to the package, it would most likely be toast. Recommend we wait until March or so, then if you still haven't got one, I'll send you one.

I've have 9 orchids in the mail now despite the cold weather. Though I've been paying extra for heat packs and insulation wrap ...
Though with this it is probably best to hold off. But come march, if I still remember, I'll be sure to hit you up if I have yet to obtain one. I'm actually coming to Florida toward the end of march (school trip to disney) It's going to kill me not being able to bring a couple orchids home on the plane.

You're certainly more brave than I am! Heat packs, huh? Clever. Like the little hand-warmers we used to use for skiing would probably be great, but they only last about 6 hours. Wonder what your delivery guys think when they pick up your package and it's warm?? You're sure they haven't got you on some watch list?? LOL.

Still, you must be paying up the wazoo for those puppies. I'm finding one of the most valuable things I've learned from growing orchids is patience. I've got one that's had buds coming along on it for almost 2 months. We've had great weather, high 70's in the daytime and 60ish at night so perfect for the 'chids, but it sure makes them move slow! It's agonizing to wait, but good for the soul . . I guess.

How 'bout some pictures of your beauties? You must have a few in bloom by now. You could show them off on the Orchids forum - the December thread has some fabulous pictures already.

The 9 plants I've got coming in the mail come to a grand total of 115$ total (shipping was about 26$). I sure hope I'm not on any watch lists! If they open a box to inspect it ... they might damage my orchids!!!!! That's the day I raise hell at the postal office! :P

I've been contemplating composing a master list and starting a thread with pictures over on the orchid forum. Because I'm forced to grow inside ALL of my orchids are housed in my bedroom. It's a mini jungle in here ... but it's hard to get my cattleyas to bloom because if light issues. Currently I have a Cattleya 'Burana Beauty' in bud along with a Psychopsis 'Alba' ... and 3 phals in full bloom. Perhaps later in the week I'll compose a list and take some pics to share with you all!

Went and had a look on Ebay at your spathoglottis kimbaliana supplier - outrageous price for a tiny little division there! The purple ones I'm getting at both Lowe's and HD are at least 10 times that size - one of mine in an 8in. square pot has 12 bloom stems. Ten bucks for that one at Lowe's (see pic)

Just the fact that Lowe's and HD are selling these means to me that somebody is producing them on a huge scale, and you should be able to get a nice big plant at a reasonable price where you are once the weather warms up. Would you believe they were selling them at Lowe's as "annual color"? When I told one of the nursery staff that they were orchids, she just was amazed.

Stop taunting me with these pictures! I absolutely need one these asap! The outdoor landscape department at our Lowes' are all closed down and barren for the winter. Do you really think that one of these guys would get damaged if I were to have you ship me one of these? If it were pulled from it's pot and wrapped well with news paper ... It should be fine. They aren't called 'hardy orchids' for nothing. Our night temps are just starting to dip in the 30's. If you are willing to, I'd be more than happy to pay for the plant itself, shipping costs, and a little more via paypal so you can go purchase yourself a nice little orchid in return! Seeing the size of that for only 10$ makes my head go nuts. Considering single growth scrawny divisions sell for 10- 15$ each here.

I think the fact they're ground orchids tends to make most people believe they're not orchids. In the big stores here they're usually sold amongst the ordinary plants and just labelled Spathoglottis.

My white and the purple ones flower most of the year, but I got a yellow one and a mottled orange/brown one that only flower during the wet season (summer). They're easy to grow but they like a lot of sun. Mine seed prolifically but I never see young plants. Probably don't have the right fungus.

Can only find photos of the purple one

and the white one (white is a difficult colour to photograph)

Once when I was shipping an unusually tender plant I was desperate to find a packing material that was light weight but would protect the plant. While searching the house I discovered a bag of poly quilt batting which worked very well. Since then I have even taken old (clean) pillows apart and used the stuffing. The polyfill is an excellent insulating material in addition to being protective and light weight.

Good luck in your quest for the spaths.

Light requirement might be another reason for you to wait to get these, Franco.

As tropicbreeze says, they do like some sun even here in FL (and Australia) so trying to keep them going in your bedroom for 4 months before you can get them outside into the real sunlight might be a problem. How about I go buy a couple more, and keep one with your name on it so you will have it, but it will be spending the winter in Florida? Then I'll send it to you when the sun comes back to NJ.

Yet another problem for you and me - there's a white cultivar I didn't know about . . .

That sounds wonderful dyzzy. If you wish I'll send you some funds via paypal for it now? And I had no idea about a white cultivar?! I need to add that to my list now too.

I don't need any money right now. Hey, I get to enjoy the plant until I send it to you.

Meantime, you gotta stop buying plants until you invest in some more Gro-Lights! Next fall you'll need them for the Spaths even if you don't need them now. Plus you'd be able to get your catts to bloom with more light. Don't forget to contribute some money to your parents' electrical bill, too!

Go see the latest post by SCBegoniaguy on the "December Orchids in Bloom - part ll" thread. Scott grows all his orchids in his basement under lights in the winter. btw, All these people get regular visits from the drug enforcement guys to make sure they're not growing pot. Turn your lights on in the daytime only! (invest in an auto-timer, too)

Haha. I have grow lights everywhere. I have psychopsis, cattleyas, tolumnia, and dendrobiums growing inside. There are 7 light fixtures in my bedroom that are all set on different timers. When one clicks off, the next one clicks on. I have no problem getting another light for a spahtoglottis ... I already know where I'd put it (looks like my orange bird of paradise will be booted from it's light source). All my catts are growing like weeds ... just no blooms yet. I'm blaming light as the problem, but I'm not positive.

I've been accused of growing marijuana by family members and people at walmart ... because i'm always buying new lights/ changing bulbs! They don't understand that I grow orchids. When I try to explain it, I get the whole "Mhm ... sure" response.


This message was edited Dec 27, 2011 12:12 PM

Me to Franco!