if youre doin terrestrials i suggest making a note of where and then getting them during dormancy

Just one question... WHY?

Generally wild orchids do not like to be messed with and unless there's advanced knowledge involved, they quickly go south and perish. Why not just enjoy them where they are, take pictures...(unless they are about to clear the area for construction or else). You can probably get much better quality species plants that have been seed grown by commercial nursery. I don't recommend it, then there is the legality issue, unless you have written approval of the property owner allowing you to remove the plants, it maybe a problem. That is, if it.s on private land, public land removal of orchids in FLA is totally illegal.
May not be worth the dirty spot on the conscience...

Removing a wild orchid, say a terrestrial like a cypripedium, requires prior knowledge on how to grow them. I wouldn't remove plants from the wild even legally (like rescue plants in the way of road constructions etc.) unless you know what you are doing. In many cases, these plants don't transplant well. And the best time to remove such plants are during dormancy.

Ok, First of all, I live in Barbados. Orchids grow wild EVERYWHERE. And I mean every where, there are masses and masses of them.
There are no laws or restrictions against harvesting them.
Some of the wild orchids I have seen growing are so pretty and unusual that I would like to have them somewhere that I can appreciate them all the time, and also where I know that at least one of that type will be fine, as the monkeys which live wild here can be very destructive.
I would never take any that were scarce, only where there are 10 or more plants growing together.
As for which varieties, I have seen nearly every genera growing here on trees, telegraph poles, rocks, on the ground, etc.
I grow orchids as a hobby, I am fairly new to the world of orchid growing, but apparently I am a natural, friends and acquaintances give me their sick or (seemingly) dead plants to resuscitate.
Also... as for dormancy... They are in bloom pretty much all year around, so I am not sure when that would be.

I, for one, would be interested in what kind of orchids these are - do you have any photos? Every genera is actually impossible, but I can think of a few that would grow nicely in your climate. To be honest, no one can give you any information answering your original question ("...do it without killing the plants") without knowing what these orchids are.

To be perfectly blunt, the fact that there are no laws doesn't make it morally right. If you're fairly new to the world of orchid growing, you won't know the conservation status of different plants...for instance, certain stands of orchids which are rare may still grow in relatively large stands, but in sparse isolated populations. Just because there are 10 plants in one stand doesn't mean that the plant is common. Furthermore, if you don't know what you're harvesting, you may accidentally harvest something you think is common but in reality is rare, growing alongside something that is common. Finally, human actions cannot be justifiable by comparison with animals in nature. Killer wales eat hundreds of seals each year...does this justify seal clubbing?

I apologize if this seems like a patronizing lecture to you, and I have no such intentions at heart. These are beautiful plants and I can completely understand what you mean when you say you want to have them somewhere you can appreciate them. However, I'd like to suggest that you take a bit of time to examine what exactly these orchids are, learn about their culture and perhaps talk to some people who do conservation work. In the end, the plants, and even yourself will be much happier.

I harvested a few boughs of golden rod last fall. It's a weed that grows everywhere in fields, by the roads etc... and yet I did feel a little guilty. I tried to justify it to myself by thinking: "If every single person in Canada harvested a bunch of golden rod for their homes each fall, we would still have tons left in 100 years, right?" I'm not sure - I think the answer is yes, but I think I'll grow my own from seed this year.

"As for which varieties, I have seen nearly every genera growing here on trees, telegraph poles, rocks, on the ground, etc.
I grow orchids as a hobby, I am fairly new to the world of orchid growing,"

Leave them be kiddo.... they will surelyperish in your custody
Rationalizing doesn't make it right. Don't mess with God's work and adaptation

Savage Beauty is not for possession, but rather, admiration......
CV

Hey There Strangeangel, I have a co-worker & orchid buddy who live in Puerto Rico for until the age of 27 (she is in her 40's now). She frequently collected & often killed the wild orchids she collected during her early 20's. It was not until she joined a local society & was mentored by professional growers who collected for commercial propagation that she was able to keep some of them alive. I showed her your post & she agrees with the sentiments of the others here, it is a great idea to figure out what they are & to buy a plant that is in cultivation. Chances are the cultivated plant will be much more tolerant to your varying conditions than one that has spent decades growing in its own little micro climate on the tree, rock, light pole, etc.

If you want to figure out what kind of orchids these are, try going to Google & typing in search phrases like "native orchids, Barbados" or "native orchids, Eastern Caribbean" or other similar combinations. Don't waste your time looking at the images tab; spend the time looking thru the web pages until you find one that matches the plants you are interested in. Then you can contact local growers or hobbyists & find a cultivated plant! Good luck!

-Ray-

I just wanted to add how pleased I am at the growth of the "conservation-mindedness" of the GW Orchid Forum community! There were a couple of threads similar to this several years ago, which I added comments similar to the above, for which I received no support and was the "odd-man out".

The fact that so many of you are like-minded on this subject gives me hope!

-Bruce C.

http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=orchidyr9.jpg

thats an image of one that I am planing on harvesting, which I have discovered through various sources (including Calvin orchidlover) is called Vanda Miss Joaquim.
Calvin, I may be new to the world of orchids but I am not a total idiot. I plan on identifying any plant I take, before I take it, and as I am posting here it should be evident that I plan on being totally educated before I even consider cutting a new spike. I am reading everything I can and speaking to people a lot more experienced than I am.
Thank you all for your ... advice. As for talking to people who do conservation work... In Barbados.... thats not as simple as it sounds. I am doing my best though.
If any of you thought (as it seems most of you do) that this was my main means of educating myself in this matter, rest assured. Im a geek, I wont risk killing a plant that I love before I am fully prepared to give it the care that it requires.

Personally...
I think that everything depends upon circumstances.
I've been huggin' trees for 40 plus years and think that I'm quite conservation minded.
But...
There are no absolutes!
I've seen vast areas of the Philippines, Java, Borneo and even my local temperate rainforests devastated by logging, cows and other intrusions!
(BTW...
I do also have cows, etc and a ranch, yet try to protect my watershed and the natives.)
I just (today) walked several miles of irrigation ditch through old growth forest, vinyards, freshly logged areas and cow pastures.
But, also...
Fresh beaver dams, trilliums, Fritillaria and native orchids!
Yet, no one even looks twice before hackin' or using a Cat to haul logs out!
On one hand I was overjoyed with every new plant that I saw, yet I was also cringing at the ones with tire tracks through the middle! :~(
If one knows what they're doing and it's either legal or there is a higher moral justification...!
Do it, but be absolutely careful and make sure that you're doing the right thing.
If it's for the future health and preservation of something, I rarely ask for opinions of professional tree huggers living in ivory towers in the city!
No offense to most of you! ;~)
Although I have lived in cities, I actually live with the trees that I like to hug!

If it's just for you're own private collection and pleasure...
Well, that's rather different and you'd likely be wrong to move natives!
Granted, many countries and cultures have there own standards and considerations.
Go with what you think is best for the future as a whole! :~)

Also,(as I reread) knowing little about Vandas as I'm not into them, isn't Vanda Miss Joaquim a hybrid anyway and Singapore's national flower??
Not exactly one of your native orchids??
My feelings are that it shouldn't be encourage to naturalize there anyway.
I'm sure that you have plenty of indigenous orchids that could use the growing space and resources!
So many of the concerns are sorta' moot!
Just pull the sucker out, get all of it and make sure that it stays cultivated and doesn't spread locally anymore! :~)

Scott climbs down off his pedestal and walks away mumbling about people protecting invasives...

If it is Vanda Miss Joaquim (which we weren't aware of at the beginning of this discussion, but is indeed, as everyone has mentioned, a primary hybrid from south Asia) then it's either invading all these areas you're seeing it, or someone actually planted it there...I read some posts here a while back about someone seeing 'wild' terete vandas in costa rica. Actually I don't even think there's a single species of vanda native to Barbados or the Caribbean!

Scott - uh oh! We've managed to lure you out of your rock :) "If it's just for you're own private collection and pleasure...
Well, that's rather different and you'd likely be wrong to move natives!"

To the original poster, I'm sorry you were offended by our responses...but can you really blame us for responding the way we did? You were very vague, your GW page gives us very little additional info about you or your intentions -- even your nickname is enough to give one a little pause.

If you had perhaps worded your thoughts a bit differently, you would have received more helpful responses, although, for a hobbyist to do as you plan, even if as you say there are no laws against it, will raise eyebrows here.

Well, with the vanda Miss Joaquim, that is an unusual exception.
I think most of us would agree that it is a non-native of your region that has attempted to naturalize.
Unless your government or environmental agency is intentionally planting them there, these would be considered invasive organisms and could pose a threat to the real natives.
It might be a good idea to check with your local environmental agencies and find out whats the deal with these vandas in your region.

The question then should be "How can I properly harvest them without leaving any scraps that would further multiply their invasive populations?"
And the second question should be "How can I propagate them in my growing area without having them accidentally reintroduced to the local wildlife?"

The local wildlife can be threatened two ways: By destroying local wildlife, or by introducing invasive organisms.
It will be up to your own judgement to decide which course to take.

But with regards to the other orchids, you are on the right track with regards to studying the plants first in order to properly care for them once you harvest them.

"Scott - uh oh! We've managed to lure you out of your rock :)"

I knew that you'd all regret it...
Unless you really like my long winded rants and hang on every word!

I can get worse, you know! ;~)

Hey, Scott, good to hear from you again. Solid post. Whitecat8

I thought I did mention that these things grow everywhere here. Most of them are introduced and there are literally masses of them. A lot of people buy seedlings and put them into trees to grow on their own.
They are pretty much treated as weeds by a lot of people.
They certainly grow like weeds in a lot of places.
The pic I showed only shows one spike but there is a HUGE patch of them growing. They dont appear to be killing the tree that they are growing in, but if it were my garden I wouldnt want them out of control like that.
I should get some more pics when I have time, to show you guys what I mean. as soon as some more are flowering I'll get pics to show you, and perhaps you could let me know what type they are? Im still not so good at working out what genera is what except phals (which is mainly what I have here at home) and now vandas thanks to their odd leaves.

Wait... My nickname gives pause? how so? on this post alone we have talking lunaticvulpine, la_countessa and someone called whitecat8. My nick name is no stranger than theirs. :/ I think you're just looking for something to pick at now.

...except those others you mentioned have a long history here, and everyone knows them well and what they're like. They contribute, share, etc., etc.

It's a little difficult to "get started" on a new message board as you are, and with such little information to go on as you originally provided, the responses you received were predictable.

I don't think I "picked at" anything. My only offense was to agree with what had already been said. You totally missed the fact that I recognized your frustration, I cared enough to try to point out what had "gone wrong" so that you could perhaps carry on in the future with more productive posts, and I attempted to make a little peace as best I could.

Best of luck to you. I won't add any more to this thread.