I don't know for sure, but I think I passed 100 the summer I decided to build the greenhouse. Congratulations!

How many do you have room for?

I've already worn out that zipper, replaced it with a bigger zipper and built the greenhouse this spring. There are few advantages to being older and retired, but time to devote to my plant fixation is the one I enjoy.

Brooke

That's ok. Seriously, don't worry about it. I zipped right past 200 and I don't even really know when (P.S. not counting 45 community pots and 10 flasks). All I know is that when I updated my list on my page in June, I was over 200. I still thought I was at about 150 ;-P

Julie

I'm pushing 375 again, only with a much smaller greenhouse this time. I keep getting blindsided with the "small shrub" syndrome, always forgetting that those small catts eventually grow large and need more space--and care!

Still a fun hobby, though. Only a few times a year when I don't feel like getting out there to work with them.

Sharon

Goodness gracious - how do y'all manage 200? 375? A greenhouse-full? Of course, I'm a bit compulsive and detail-oriented, so maybe folks like me who work full-time and have family, friends, and pets don't have large collections. Hmmm - think somebody would fund a study to find out?

Anyway, Richard - truthfully, I have room for 85 without another light set-up and would like to have 65, in terms of time and effort. The killer question is - which 65? And what about all the others that are must-haves??

WC8

WC8-

I'm so proud, I'm DOWN to 95 or so from 130 or so :) :) (really huge grin).

My primary grow area just doesn't have the room, and it became too much of a hassle to go from room to room to water & check on them. I feel so much lighter now.

And I've decided that except for a few special plants, I will only have Ctsms (includes morms & cycs), stans, and slippers (mostly phrags right now, some paphs, and I've ventured into cyps!)

I feel as if I've just come out of a cool and refreshing spring shower. The plants actually aren't literally squished together any more. Not that I have room (I don't) but they're not stacked 3-4 on top of each other.

Oh, yeah, so I'm 'bidding' on 2 phrags in a forum 'auction'. So don't listen to a word I say, because I must fill all available space (maybe only 1-2 high this time).

:P
Carolyn

That is a question that is easy to answer in the head, harder in the heart. For example, my collection is "New World species", but do you think all 400 are in that category? No way!

The first step is to decide if there is a focus to your collection. Then to make decisions to move toward that group.

Sounds good? Much harder in practice.

Focus? Yes, I do have it and I do get plants that will keep me focused.

Do I like the blooms - buy it. Is it unusual - buy it. Do I like the unusual foliage - buy it. Is it hard to find - buy it. Is it hard to bloom - buy it. Has the cross never been done - buy it.

Brooke

I think 100 is kind of a turning point for most indoors growers. When you've reached that number and don't really know how it happened, you know something serious is going on here. I can't think of anything else that I have 100 of.

Right now I'm kind of stuck at around 130, but numbers aren't really that important to me. What fits in the amount of space I'm willing to dedicate to orchids is. I really don't want to expand my grow area, but if I somehow manage to part with a few more of the larger plants and stick with miniatures I could easily see that number hit 150 soon. That would be nice because I like variety.

Back to reevaluating my plants I guess.

Kevin

I remember having about 100. Then I had a huge mix of things including lots of hybrids and even, god forbid, floof. But sadly, only maybe two Angs. :(

Somehow I became smarter and smarter and before long had unloaded the fluff and trash, giving me more room for more Angs! Next thing I knew I had 40 Angs and around 100 msc. species, and an even smaller amount of non-Ang, non-species 'filler'.

By now, I've become very highly evolved with almost 100 Angs...and another hundred of whatever. The sad thing is that I'm nearly out of not just room, but available Angs to add. :( Woe is me!!!
-devout Anglican

You think that's bad?

I zipped past 100, past 200...past 600 all within the same year or two!
I don't even have much fluff. I've never been much into those.
The fluff that I do have, were gifts or extras, etc.
Very few hybrids, with the exception of Stan./Cory. and Bulbo./Cirr.

No GH yet, although I'm getting closer and will need to have it up by the end of summer.
Time??
I have 30+? cows, 100+? sheep, chickens, pigs, dogs, gardens...!
Organized?
Never heard the word before! ;~)
Must be foreign!

Scott

I'm up to about 70, a slow climb from a phal hybrid someone gave me 8 years ago. After the two I got last week and the one coming next week, I'm done. Slowly I became a real species snob but I refuse to look down on floof, so I keep a few of these. If I stop now, I'll always have 2-8 in bloom. But I fall in love too easy. The next big thing for me is to cross a unique hybrid and move everything into a shade house.

Focus? Did someone say focus? Richard, was that you? IÂm too focused on all the possibilities to focus on focusing the collection. :)

Seriously, though, recent additions have tended to be orchids that stay mini or compact but donÂt have to be mounted (that daily watering thing) and have fragrant blossoms that last for a long time. Focusing on the biggest bang for the space.

By compulsive and detail-oriented, I meant that I look at each plant individually every 2-4 days for moisture needs. The ones in bark need the most care, of course  well, after the mounties. For whatever reason, 2 plants about the same size in the same bark mix and same size pots can need watering at different intervals.

Carolyn, youÂre an inspiration. What discipline!

Sharon, goodness gracious  how many orchids did you have before you moved?

Mr. B, the Angs fit in the focus category perfectly, IF they can be happy in pots and donÂt need super high light.

Scott, you must be a whirlwind of activity, just to get 600+ plants repotted, let alone caring for them and all the livestock. How do you do it, and where are your plants, if you donÂt have a greenhouse?

Kevin, if future plants fit all the criteria and will be happy in sphag, my collection might expand, too.

Brooke, doesnÂt my focus sound good, sane, rational? Much of the time, IÂm w/ you on the gorgeous blossom, hard to find, unusual aspects. The uglier the blossom, the better.

Julie, what on earth will you do w/ the community pots and flasks? Will you have about 1000 plants in a year or so? Do you sell any of them? (Not on GW, of course!)

One Mango, youÂve got to be one of the few non-addicts on this forum! 70 orchids in 8 years??? Do you realize thatÂs fewer than 10 a year? Does your restraint come naturally, or have you had a "keeper" all this time?

Whitecat8

One Mango has probably been in a coma for nine of the eight years! ;~)
I know that I'd have to be.

I have dozens that desperately need repotted or mounted.
Orchids are scattered throughout the house, outside and on racks in a room off the carport.
God forbid someone needs to open a window! ;~)

The greenhouse is in the late(?) stages of obsessive plannin'!
Although I haven't picked it up yet, I just bought an 8000 gal storage tank to use as a heatsink.
Over-kill is apparently genetic!

Although I have the space to do whatever I can get away with...
It's not easy finding somewhere that will not ever flood, will get winter sun, cows/sheep/deer/assorted varmints...etc,
can't get in, I can get to summer and winter, and...

I've thought about trying discipline, but I can't find thigh-high stilettos in my size! ;~)

Scott

Whitecat,

I am so totally an addict that it's not funny. The flasks really started when I kept seeing these plants that I just simply had to have, like variegated Neofinetias and Catt. aclandiae. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't find any for sale, from members of my OS or from Canadian vendors. Those American or otherwise vendors who did have some were not exporting to Canada or were charging an arm and a leg for the privilege. Flasks are a whole lot easier to import, and there's a great variety out there. And so it started... and kept going on... until the idea of eventually starting a small business crept up. I know I'll never really make money at it, but if it can at least support part of my addiction, I'll be a happy girl. Although I'm not thinking about watering all of those individual plants just now.

I have been slowly "focussing" my collection, which has allowed me to make room for the plants as they started growing and growing (those 45 compots were originally from 19 flasks). When there is no more room in the orchid room, guess the plant shelves and lights will start taking over the other rooms of the house... Ah, the pleasures of addiction.

Julie

oh yea, I remenber 100. Well actually I don't!!! I was in complete denial, I still thoought I only had about 40 orchids until hubby made me count then all. I confess I stopped counting at 122 LOL. We will be moving sometime this year and are building a bigger veranda, so I guess the number will keep rising.

PS what's fluff?

"PS what's fluff?"

Flowers that you can actually see with the naked eye!
Also orchids, that as a declared species snob, you're embarrassed to let people see on your grow list! ;~)

Thankfully(?), my one attempt at deflasking, failed several years ago.;~)
I'd really be in trouble if I got into that.
I could probably do it now...or at least whenever I get around to doing my greenhouse!
Everything really went great, until I mounted all of my baby Bulbo. echinolabium's and whatever the other one was.
They all dried up! :~(
I will do it again, eventually!
There are some fun sounding Bulbo flasks from Meen Nursery, in Thailand, that I really want!

Scott

Scott

you better becareful Whitecat, soon you'll be like my buddy out in S.F. in 3 years his collection has grown to around 850 orchids. The scary part is he can name them all at a glance and with out looking at a tag he can give you the detailed history of each one since he got it. He's amazing when it comes to Orchids

Salvialvr -

Don't worry. DH and I maintain the polite fiction that the orchids are in the "guest bedroom." When we have guests, enough of the orchids can be rolled out so people will fit in there - kind of. So, space limits quantity. Doesn't that sound logical? Uh huh.

Where in the world does your buddy have all those orchids???

About the history of each plant, it really threw me to repot them in different pots. Every plant's a stranger now. Who knew I'd come to associate pot size and color w/ the specific plant?

WC8

Whitecat, i have about 1000, i know people who have many thousands of plants and they are not running nurseries.
Maintenenance is certainly a problem with indoor collections and it takes just as long to water 40 indoor Phals as the orchids "outside" where you can splash water and fertilizer around without incurring the wrath of your better half.
So you visit these enormous collections and there are orchids everywhere from the front "garden" to the back fence and there is just room for a clothes line.

Now these enormous collections are usually the domain of the champion grower of such and such orchid society where "championess" is worked out by a points system which rewards having lots and lots of orchids in lots of different Genera to bench every month of the year.

It seems to be a fact that the people who win Champion Orchid at shows are not usually the people mentioned in the previous paragraph. That is because the people who win all those Champion ribbons are specialists who concentrate their efforts on a few Genera.

Of course, I am talking about a climate that is mostly frost free and my comments might only apply to Australia.

My solution, when I was growing orchids before and literally only had surface area for about 30, was that when I decided I wanted more I started into minis and hanging orchids. I had a 3-tier stand that held about 10 pots each, but I managed almost another 30 just hanging mounted orchids and minis off the sides!

Now I'm starting over in an apartment, but one entire wall, living room and bedroom, is windows with southern exposure. The patio is also on that side. I plan to have many many orchids and not be limited to one 3-tier stand because I'm living with someone else who doesn't want them taking over the house. My house, my rules, and I want my whole aparment to be a greenhouse!

Great thread. "Confessions of a Lost Soul"...

I'm too old to care about showing off my skills as a grower, but I love to have flowers around, LOTS of them. Especially during a long gloomy winter. That's what made me fall in love with orchids to begin with-- blooms that lasted all winter! No need now to stare at seed catalogs or count the buds on the dogwoods in February. Just go count the spikes and tiny new 1/4" leaves!!

They're expensive, but they're beautiful. For me, they add an element of beauty and pizzazz and even discovery to a life that otherwise seems to shrink a little every few years. Once you're having to eat chicken three times a week to keep your doctor happy, you need SOME KIND OF SELF INDULGENCE THAT WON'T KILL YOU. !!!!

I'm sure DH would rather not spend quite so much on them, or cut up quite so many orchid boxes, but he has to be grateful I never took up drinking. And he claims to love the window-full of blooming phals I put in his south-facing office last winter.

As I've said elsewhere, a window full of blooming orchids make me feel rich.

PS, whitecat, your focus sounds just right to me. My focus is "most bang for the unit of energy expended" ;P

I am somewhere around 1000, with the bulk of my collection in the ctsm,cyc family--about 800+ of those---I keep them in an outdoor greenhouse on day's tier benches and pray there are no more hurricanes---or I might be having a fire sale
whitecat8--did you get the ctsm pileatum crossfrom jem? I made the cross pile imperial X pierre couret r.r.v.

Mehitabel - You said, "My focus is "most bang for the unit of energy expended." Like you said, which is why I'm resisting any more mounties. :)

Mark - Oh, my gosh. 1000 plants. I don't know what it would take for me to give up looking at each plant every 3-4 days. That alone limits my total.

It must be worrisome - and beyond - to have to factor in hurricanes. Ouch.

Wow - it's impressive that you made that cross. When was that? Do you have any pictures? Excuse my lack of info, but what does r.r.v. stand for?

The Ctsm came from Orchids Limited, which is dangerously close to our house. The first of 7 buds should open in the next 2 days. Hopefully, the plant has been in enough shade long enough to have male flowers.

You'd know this - are there any Ctsm/Cyc species or crosses that stay smaller than most others and need less than Vanda light? Always looking for those smaller, fragrant orchids. Thanks for any info.

Whitecat8

Hey Whitecat, the real problem with the guest bedroom idea is that eventually you get brilliant ideas such as " maybe we should knock out that wall and turn the guest bedroom into a guest suite" or " don't you think a guest house would look great in that corner of the back yard, maybe 2 bedrooms just incase" My plan was to contain my collection to terrariums but the other night I sat down and worked up the plans for a wall sized terrarium with sliding glass doors. My right brain is soo evil sometimes it makes the left side cringe.

My buddy is blessed with living in the Pilot Point area and has a near perfect microclimate for cool to warm growers so most of his are scattered around the back yard. They had an unusual cold spell this past winter and he had to pull all of them into his livingroom for a bit but now he has a greenhouse for the rare cold days. I'm dying to go visit him. He has a friend out there with two comercial sized GHs and a private collection of about 15,000 Orhcids of all types including a ghost orchid that bloomed 9 flowers last year. I start drooling just thinking about it. I may ask to move into his gh. Supposedly very few people have ever seen his collection.
Adam

"...and worked up the plans for a wall sized terrarium with sliding glass doors."

Oooh!
That been one of my major dreams for years!!:~)
Waterfalls, pools, rockwalls, etc!
I was even pricing walk-in florist coolers and the various types that are used a large grocery stores.
They're a little out of my price range...by just a few thousand dollars!
It would be for my Pluerothalids!;~)
Hmm...
Maybe I could get one of those refrigerated shippin' containers, cut out a side and install glass!
Lets see...20' or 40'?
Where's that measurin' tape?;~)

My Ctsm. pileatum 'Imperial Pierre Couret' died! :~(
It wouldn't do anything productive and just dried up!
Sniffle...
Although, my Ctsm.Orchidglade 'Davie Ranches' is actually putting out new growth! :~)
So far, I'm trying to hold my mouth right!
I hear that's the key! ;~)

Scott

Whitecat8---I scan my orchids everyday, searching for spikes---but as a continuing project I pick up every plant on a bench or two and look them over for fungus, mites and foreign plants growing in the same pot---doesn't take too long, just long enough to relieve my stress and relax me

R.R.V. stands for red river valley---made the cross 5-7 years ago--gave the pod to jem to grow out and sell----imperial pileatums are pileatums with any amount of red in the flower--I've heard talk of making them their own catagory of catasetum---so the flowers should be somewhat cup shaped and red--the flatter and redder the cup the better

there are crosses between cyc and clo that might suit your request,(barthiorum or cooperi X rebecca northen mmmmmmm) they do grow smaller, but remember cyc,ctsm,clo all have a huge variance in light. They can grow in very shady conditions to (I've seen both in the jungle) exposed to full sun on the top of a dead palm tree

I know the common knowledge of more sun female less sun male, but I stopped buying that one a while ago-the mythbuster in me just knows its more complex that that--other factors definitly come into play---besides a female (red) pileatum would have a long list of great males to play with---it just boggles the imagination

Scott--I don't know why they do that, a very healthy psudeobulb- just decides to give up the ghost and move on to the great garden in the sky--a few of mine did the same to me this year--