There is no known cure. You have OCD Orchid Compulsive Disorder. Its not the plants I spend the$$$ on its the rest of the stuff like lights. This year I'd imagine I spend $600 on lights, not counting the electric bill.

Clara

The most on a single plant - $145
The most for a single delivery - $750

I don't do that all the time, but DO believe in paying more for healthy plants or special plants.

Clara, are you for real?? Wow, no wonder you get those gorgeous blooms!

Never spent more than $25.00 for a plant. Maybe I should buy better lights...

Jane

the most i've spent on a plant was $50 for a Neo (Tamakongo) and the most at once was $330 for about 11 Neos and other mini Japanese orchids

perhaps we need to start an Orchid Addict Anonymous here

We don't need OAA. I can stop any time I want to. I just don't want to.

The most on a single plant was $200 for a Phrag kovachii - couldn't resist being part of the intrigue and history. So far, so good - 2 new leaves. Who knows if it'll ever bloom, but the foliage is happy.

You should see the info I keep on each plant - bordering on a bit much. However, there are 2 things that don't get recorded - the cost of individual plants (including shipping and handling - oof, Richard), and the cost of orchid "stuff" - lights, utility $$, shelves, RO water & containers, the lathe house, heaters, watering cans, area rugs to protect the floor, fans, max/min gauges, pots & media, fertilizer, stakes, ties, tags - does it ever end?

C'mon, a girl can't be denied her denial.

Whitecat8

The most? OK, I've tried to forget about this, but now that you've brought the topic up - $65 for one plant. The really hard part is admitting what kind of plant it was. Would you believe a PHAL? Yes, I did say a phal. Years later when I came to my senses and realized how much I don't like these I traded it for a couple of Neo keikis.

Kevin

The most for one plant $350 for an awarded phrag.

The most at any one time bumped into a thou at Christmas and had pocket crimp -- course same vendor

I frequently pay $125 plus for divisions of awarded Paphs - I have a very experienced friend and I let him pick on a lot of occassions - $300 bucks got me 4 paph seedlings of course 2 in bud course he was on vacation and visiting the same vendor I had the pocket crimp on.

Should add that I am a prob. judge and have this crazy idea that I will breed and sell plants in a couple of years -- excuse for dementia or addiction.

Hi
Kind of an interesting thread as i got into orchids via the back door so to speak.lol Neighbor was moving to Europe and gave me 12 plants of various species...Catts ,Dends and epidendrums. Still have all or parts of these.
So spent nothing on plants but did modify the screen room to accomodate them That cost a grand lol. That was in 82 and never bought one until 00. Since them have bought 25 more but all were cheapies lol.
Find the toughest part about growing orchids is knowing how and where to shop lol. I refuse to give more than 25 bucks for a single plant of any kind so shopping is really easy lol. The down side to this type of purchasing is that all but 3 of my orchids are noids lol and I wouldn't bet money on the I.D. of these 3 lol.
At a recent show i got a Kasems delight Vanda ,misidentified paph, and two catt offsets for 35 bucks !! i think I'm learning lol gary

$35 for my old Cymbidiella rhodochila, and that's not typical of my orchid spending which I try to keep in the $10-20 range. I can get wonderful orchids in that price range, especially bareroot imports.

25 is my limit for a single plant. I did pay 35 for Phrag. Schlimii once
Most I have spent on an order...200 or so.
Trip to Redlands 2005 - about 400 in orchid purchases :/

Olya

Jane
You can buy a baggie baby. If you have light it will be a stunner! H got me into 85w cfl's... Oh boy they are amazing! Even the 42's make a huge difference!

During last weeks flood I hooked some big cfl's up on the floor and aimed them at the 'chids. The babies are drying out very fast with the 85's and a fan. If I didn't grow so many places and on shelves, I would go with HID's. CFL's are great though with the clamp housings. You can move them around easy! IMO that's where the $$$ should go.
Clara

Up until recently, the most was $150, for a Cattleya walkeriana v. flammea 'Tokutsu' GM/JOGA!
I was a little shaky about that ,but I survived. ;~)
Although it's not yet big enough to bloom, it's growing well and gave me several new growths this summer.
I can't wait for it to reach blooming size!
I couldn't help myself and bought an original division of a Cattleya skinneri 'Casa Luna' AM/...!
At $200 something, mumble...mumble..., I was really shaky and still am. :~0

The most on a single order was from TOF, last year.
I don't actually remember, but it was in the $300 - $400 range.
Totally worth it!!
Mainly Bulbo/Cirrs and Stans! :~)

Gad!
I remember the first time I paid over $30 for an orchid.
It was for that Cory that just bloomed.
That was last year or the year before.
It all blurs and I'd have to check my files for actual dates.

As I'm getting closer to getting an actual green house,
I'm seeing some potential very large numbers.
There's going to be a whole lot of zero's involved! ;~)

Scott

LOL! I don't feel so bad seeing what some of you folks have spent. :) Most I've spent on a single plant was $35 or $45 [honestly can't remember] on a nice phal ... which I later killed. Most at one time ... about $100. Killer is how much some of the mini's I like sell for. *sigh* just can't bring myself to spend the big bucks.

The most I paid was $20 for a phal. I usually wait until they're out of bloom and get them from $4.88 (Wal*Mart) to $7.49 (Home Depot).

I didn't even mention what my camera, lenses, etc cost.
Although I use them daily for many things, they were bought primarily for orchid photos.

Now that was some serious money.:~(
The only thing that will cost more, will be the greenhouse.

hehehe

I've spent..a bundle. funny mention on lights; I had police come in based on the 'glow' of my lights, and the look on their faces as they were looking at my orchids was priceless..great memory :)

dont ask..it is ocd. I also have spent a heck of a lot on carnis

Ha!

I've heard of other orchid growers being checked out based on their lights and/or an increase in their power bills.
I lived in Northern Cal when they first started to do 'copter' fly overs.
I'm not sure how many times they had to check our gardens to figure out that they were only seeing tomatoes!;~)

We were getting really tired of it and complained.
They kept scaring the horses and other livestock.

Really, did we look like potheads?

Wait!
Don't answer that!:~)

Just teasin'!
I hardly have the time for orchids and the veggie garden, etc.
Although, a few good harvests and I could buy more orchids! ;~)

Peril, Funny you should mention lights. In our area there are a lot of "grow houses" people rent a house and use it solely to grow marijuana. THey have pretty sophisticated light fixtures set up.
My biggest expense was moving from NJ to Florida so my orchids would be happy.

Thanks Clara. My biggest problem is my family! They don't understand why orchids on every table, window and shelf isn't beautiful. They do not enjoy the thought of clamp lights hanging from the same places. Multiple octopus floor lamps shine throughout the house. Extension cords, timers strung over furniture and floor. They just don't understand why fans are blowing in the living-room in the dead of winter, or why neigbors ask if we have a landing field behind our house.

They are the reason I can't get flowers like yours...

Jane

Jane I am laughing! I picture you beautiful house with the maze of cords and lights!
Buy higher watt cfls for the lamps. Don't add more lamps. I actualy began taking away! It makes all the difference. H turned me on to this place for good bulbs (see link below). The colour of the bulbs are gorgeous! The site is a little tricky. 42w you will want a 5100k. You won't see that option until you click on the 42w for 7$. Click the 42w and then you will see the options. I think the 5100k are 14$ a piece.

The 85 w is unbelievable. Its big but anything I had inside that was stalled popped right out! I can grow vanda types inside. No problem. I think they are about 26$. You can get away with a shorter run time with the more powerful lights.

I know what you mean about tripping. Last winter I started 3 fires with extension cords and got a bruise the size of a grapefruit on my leg. I am happy to get rid of the balllast tubes. Kept on smashing my head on the edge! I looked like an orchid POW.

You'll just have to hand out sunglasses at your door if you upgrade!

I also had a visit by Chicago's Finest when I first moved in. I have an 85w in the window now. It keeps the burglars away. I grow little Dragon Trees I brought from FL. They look a lot like Cannabis when they are small. Have to keep them out of the ground floor window.

Live next to a small restaurant that's packed with young YUPPIES on the w.e's. My lights are a cruel reality check after 6 beers and 4 shooters!

Clara
High on Orchids
{{gwi:189264}}
Bllomed under an 85W CFL

Here is a link that might be useful: Great CFL's

My biggest expense was buying a house with east facing patio- huh, the mortage payment is big, but the orchids love it.
Spent more $$$ putting in trees with nice branches, so the orchid pots can be hung and does not look unsightly.
What the heck, 'chids are real happy.
In no way or form I am addicted to orchids, unlike all you folks in this forum, lol.

Most on one plant was $150 or so on a very nice yellow Bro. sanguinea from Hamlyn. It was definately awardable, and then the damn thing had a really prettily variegated sport offshoot. Man, if the mealies hadn't eaten that plant, I could've cloned the variegated sport and made a mint...

Most ona single order/event is harder to remember. I think I spent $500 at one Redlands... I came home with a carry-on FULL of miniatures. Something like 45 or 50 plants.

Most PLANTS at once was when I went to a big sho (AOS trustees meeting) in Corpus Christi. I probably only spent $100 or so on plants, but this vendor from S. America I met and had helped out, during the show ende up giving me all the plants he had left at the end of the show for free. Lots and lots of odds and ends...pleuros, various others. I think it was something like 80 plants.

ANd that, my friends, is the fire of orchid fever...next thing you know, you have over a thousand plants and you're breeding the damn things. Of course, one good freeze or one power outage, and it all goes down the crapper. Invest in or be willing to rent generators, guys.

I once estimated the total cost of my collection. On average, I spent 20 to 25 bucks ona plant, and a few were more valuable (the Broughtonia, a Paph and a Doritis I had awarded, etc...) and I guessed somewhere around $20,000+. This thing can get serious, guys.

-Cj

>>Neighbor was moving to Europe and gave me 12 plants of various species...

Like my grandma used to say, "There's no such thing as a free orchid".

The most I spent on a single plant is $50.00 for a Lc. Longriver Compton 'Golden Star' FCC/AOS. It was quite large and was a good deal for the money.

The most I spent on a single order was around $280.00 for a bunch of catts.

For non-plant stuff, the most I spent on a single order would be the greenhouse $4,000.00 for the GH and related supplies.

Ironically, I seem to have spent more time working on cheap orchids compared to the "expensive" ones. The high priced ones that I buy seem to be able to just take care of themselves. The cheap ones are serious babies that demand constant attention.

the most i spent on one plant is a NOID standard size cymbidium from loblaws (supermarket chain) about 4 years ago -$69.99+tax. it blooms faithfully every year (2 to 3 spikes)and this past spring it had 4 tall spikes - very nice show. last year we added on a sunroom...

sue

Webfeet
I just spent another 500 bucks repairing the shadehouse again lol The real kicker to that is, those that I'm growing in the yard attached to a Carambola tree are out flowering the ones in the 3,000 dollar shadehouse. lol
But I don't limit my insanity to Orchids though . I just spent 600 bucks on a 200 gallon aquarium to grow a lace plant that cost 3 dollars. But it not only woke up from dormancy it flowered and set viable seed!!!! Let's see at a dollar a plant wholesale I can break even in well under a 150 years !!!!
If you really want an expensive hobby try reef aquariums!! They make orchids look CHEAP lol gary

>If you really want an expensive hobby try reef aquariums!! They make orchids look CHEAP lol gary

I'm quite addicted to that as well. But the orchids are now funneling money away from the reef. Otherwise I would probably have ended up with five 200 gallon tanks in the house. Right now I am "happy" with the one 50gal that I have lol. I had three tanks running at one time.
Thinking of all the money I spent all those years, I might have been able to send myself through college all over again hehehe.

Webfeet
Gave up the the reef tank was without power for a total of 42 daysduring the back to back hurricanes.. i did manage to sell most of the equipment and I got back at least a dime on the dollar.lol I sure miss it though in spite of all the expense and hassle.
Did better with the softbill birds though they cost a fortune to buy they reproduced for me and just when i was about to actually ,make a profit rats broke in and killed 15
birds ranging from 100 to 600 bucks each . Wilma tore the side off the main aviary and 8 moved to a better neighborhood.lol. Still see some potential there but the ones I have in mind are 1500 bucks each lol
if i can convince the rats to dine at Olive garden I might have a chance?? lol
a place to put all your excess money i guess that's what hobbies are for ??? lol gary

Reef tanks -- no as bad as orchids - if not worse -- I have a friend who used to have to call up and inform her husband the new $500 fish was belly up

Moved and bought a new greenhouse -- still need to spend more money with an electrician etc. Yeah that $350 plant is still alive