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Buying Orchids
by David Horak
Plants and supplies are readily available from many different sources. Orchid societies are often a great place to acquire plants. Most have raffles of plants or annual orchid auctions, and often vendors or members sell plants at a society's monthly meetings. Trading with other growers can be a great way to obtain rare and unusual plants. At times even supermarkets and discount centers can be good sources for decent plants at good prices, but of course, they are not the best places to get advice on how to grow orchids. Commercial firms that specialize in raising orchids offer a much greater selection and better quality. Visit an orchid nursery in person if it accommodates visitors, but you can also easily and safely purchase orchids from catalogs, online, or at orchid shows. If you don't see what you are looking for in a catalog, ask for it: Most dealers don't list plants if they have only small quantities available.
Decent orchids may be available at your local supermarket. However, for practical advice along with good-quality plants, head to orchid society events or specialty nurseries.
Keep in mind that dealers usually avoid shipping plants in winter to areas that commonly experience below-freezing temperatures. Even with the best packing and express delivery, leaves or inflorescences can get damaged in transit at any time of the year. If the packaging seems reasonable, try to overlook minor damage. If a plant arrives with a broken leaf or pseudobulb, remove the damaged plant part with a sterile razor blade and dust the cut end with cinnamon or Neosporin ointment to minimize the chances of infection. In the event of significant damage, immediately contact both the vendor and the carrier to determine the best course of action. If the quality or condition of the plants differs significantly from the catalog description or if the plants are dead, call the vendor immediately. Reputable firms stand behind their plants and will provide reasonable recourse.
Grow the best plants that you can find and afford. It takes just as much work to grow a plant of inferior quality as it takes to grow a good one. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but the qualities that orchid judges look for in all flowers, those that set them apart from the merely average, are generally consistent. In general, look for flowers that are large for their type, with full, wide segments. Color and markings should be clear, and the flowers should be well presented on their inflorescences without excessive crowding, or the need for excessive staking.
Online and mail-order catalogs offer a wide selection of plants, but bear in mind that most dealers avoid shipping plants in winter to areas that commonly experience temperatures below freezing.
One clue to identifying a quality plant is to look for a clonal or cultivar name after the genus and species or hybrid name. This name appears in single quotes, as in Lycaste Jackpot 'Willow Pond'. An even better indication is an American Orchid Society or Royal Horticultural Society award abbreviation appended to its name, for example: Slc. Tiny Titan 'Laval' HCC/AOS or Cattleya Portia 'Cannizaro' AM/RHS. Sometimes the parentage of an orchid is listed as an indication of its potential quality, for example Phragmipedium Twilight 4N (Eric Young 4N 'Haley Suzanne' AM/AOS x Living Fire 4N 'Prometheus' FCC/AOS). Both parents have high American Orchid Society awards, and "4N" after each name indicates that each plant is a tetraploid version and likely to have larger flowers with heavier substance.
Avoid expensive rare species and hybrids for your first orchids, no matter how gorgeous they look, especially if you don't have a greenhouse. Conversely, try not to buy an unlabeled plant or one that comes with just a partial name such as Phalaenopsis hybrid. The plant may be pretty, but you may eventually want to show it in an exhibit or on a show table, or present it for judging, and in all these instances a complete name is required.
Look for plants with clean, healthy, turgid leaves and pseudobulbs. Preferably you should be able to see live roots extending into the medium, which itself should not be too decomposed. It is common for epiphytic orchids to have roots growing out of the pots into the air. Do not be concerned. The exposed roots should have live green or reddish tips. Avoid plants that look desiccated or have an abundance of black spots on the leaves, dead leaf tips, bugs, or weeds growing in the pots.
Vanda sanderiana Alba 'Eastwind' HCC/AOS. The letters behind the name show that the flower has won one of the much-sought-after American Orchid Society awards, an indication of quality that may be helpful when choosing a plant.
Most growers, especially beginners, are best served with mature blooming-size plants. Look to see if the plant has previously bloomed so you know that you're getting a mature plant likely to bloom when its flowering season comes. Buying seedlings may be tempting since the cute little plants are cheaper, but it typically takes from three to five years before they reach flowering size, and younger plants often demand more care than mature ones. Seedlings can provide great opportunities for experienced growers who have the space and the patience to nurse them to mature size.
In the beginning it's also better to avoid acquiring orchids attached to mounts such as branches or tree fern plaques. The naturalistic presentation may be very appealing, and most orchids can grow well cultivated in this way, but they usually need higher humidity and typically require daily watering.
David Horak has been growing orchids for more than 25 years. He is the curator of Orchids and the Robert W. Wilson Aquatic House at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He is the current president of teh Greater New York Orchid Society and the chairman of the New York International Orchid Show.
Photographs: Charles Marden Fitch