That worked nicely!!

Tricks of the trade…what a difference!

Here is my latest little Phalaenopsis. This is Phal. Jiaho Summer Love. It is Phal. Taisuco Mikey x Phalaenopsis bellina.






I think that this is just a sweet little plant with 2" flowers. This breeding line should produce small, compact plants producing very colorful flowers. The inflorescences can elongate and keep producing flowers month after month after month.
But I am really influenced by the parentage.
Jiaho is a newer Nursery in Taiwan producing some really gorgeous plants!
Taisuco stands for the Taiwan Sugar Company. They are an older nursery in Taiwan known for a long lineage of award winning Phalaenopsis. They are perhaps best known for their "whites"!

Btw, these are readily available all over the internet. Who does not have room for this little beauty!?!!!!

This one has a really cute pattern!

I been so busy the last few days. I finally got around to potting this up today. It was a bit dry so I photographed it on my kitchen counter next to the sink. So my background is ugly!!! But I wanted to really water it ASAP!
Oreo Method!!

Sad. So very dissapointed. I went to Merrifield garden center today, prepared to carry a beautiful jewel orchid back... they used to be 15$.... now they are 40$
Oh well, next time then!

40 bucks, wow!
You know, Orchids have gotten a lot more expensive the last couple of years. I have the feeling growers try to recoup some losses incurred during the pandemic.

Glad to hear you walked away, Alex. If they drive half of their customers away by charging such high prices, it's going to take forever to re-coup losses. You can get back money for a while, but if your customers give up buying because it's too expensive, you lose more in the long run, I think.

Personally, I have not bought any new orchids since before the pandemic. The mini-Phals at Trader Joe's were looking tempting a couple of days ago and they were only $7 which is the same price they've always charged. So that may be the direction I go for new plants. They've all survived for me, so far and the ones I have were rescues off the death rack at Lowe's at least 3 years ago.

For some reason, our local nurseries sold tables full of the prettiest succulents this Spring and Summer for very reasonable prices. And I see really gorgeous stuff posted daily here in our forums/threads. Kinda tough to resist. I expanded a bit with some gorgeous Aloes and just a few other pretty succulents.

Well the Merrifield Garden Center will most likely be higher then every place else but even so, an increase from 15 to 40 did not all come because of one source.
The grower or importer likely paid more for plants. Then their costs were up lately. The costs and availability of pots and soil has gone up. Merrifields costs are up.
That is a lot more fingers in the same pie.

I am not saying $40 is justifiable but I expected a significant increase. Maybe to $30?

But I would try to avoid a nursery.
Here is another example. Pots of Salvia at a nursery near me this May were $39.99 each in a gallon pot.
Half gallon Salvias at Lowe's, exact same plant and ID label from the same wholesaler were $7.99!!!! Gallon sized Salvias identical to the nursery, same big label on the pot were $14.99.
Where would you shop? Ah 39.99 or 14.99????? Caveat emptor.
If I were you I would try Lowe's, Home Depot or Trader Joe's. All are going to be much cheaper then Merrifield.

Shipping is another factor that has driven the prices of plants up this year. But not nearly that much! The box stores and grocery stores have their higher volume supply chain secured better than a smaller local nursery would of course, so their shipping costs are lower.

That's a beautiful little Phal you have there Bill...
I am lucky in that I can buy directly from the breeders and growers here in Florida so there's no middle man to add to the equation. But just like for us, the prices of needed supplies have skyrocketed and those costs get shared with the customers. I want to support my local peeps, because where would I be without them? So instead of buying 3 $15 plants I buy 1 $45 plant and call it a day.


Vanda Jay Mullen from Motes Orchids they often have great mixed box offerings ..this one from last year ended up costing $10


Bulb. Lindsey Paris 'Golden Girl' AM/AOS just starting it's show


Missa. Charles M. Fitch 'Izumi ' AM/AOS I'm happy to have kept this one alive long enough to bloom it.


Blc. Shin Shang Diamond x B. nodosa blooming for the first time.

Every pic is a gem, Lindsey !! Your 'Golden Girl' is a true beauty!!

BigBill said: Well the Merrifield Garden Center will most likely be higher then every place else but even so, an increase from 15 to 40 did not all come because of one source.
The grower or importer likely paid more for plants. Then their costs were up lately. The costs and availability of pots and soil has gone up. Merrifields costs are up.
That is a lot more fingers in the same pie.

I am not saying $40 is justifiable but I expected a significant increase. Maybe to $30?

But I would try to avoid a nursery.
Here is another example. Pots of Salvia at a nursery near me this May were $39.99 each in a gallon pot.
Half gallon Salvias at Lowe's, exact same plant and ID label from the same wholesaler were $7.99!!!! Gallon sized Salvias identical to the nursery, same big label on the pot were $14.99.
Where would you shop? Ah 39.99 or 14.99????? Caveat emptor.
If I were you I would try Lowe's, Home Depot or Trader Joe's. All are going to be much cheaper then Merrifield.

Yea, usually the other places are cheaper. One exception is herbs (???). Merrifield sells them cheaper than all the other places!

I'm definitely on orchid lookout…

I love the Shin Shang Diamond, graceful form like a brassavola, and that amazing lip!

I have two plants of Miltassia 'Luke Skywalker' and both were in bloom when I left, but one still has a flower going. They do like a lot more shade than most of my orchids so they're hanging low down against the west screening, with the 30% shade cloth protecting from the late sun.

I have another question:

Are the leaves of my Moth orchid supposed to start falling off and dying, while other new ones come in? Because I have new ones growing really nicely; ones that are green and crisp, yet some below those leaves are starting to thin and die.

Yes, to a certain degree that is normal. Phalaenopsis do not retain leaves forever. Some really good growers with plants in ideal conditions may have large plants with roughly 6-8 leaves per plant. But more important then the exact number of leaves are the size of those leaves! They should gradually get longer and wider over time until they reach mature size. I can't say what that size may be as it depends on breeding.
But when you grow a plant who's leaves gradually get smaller and smaller over time, then that is bad. That is a clear sign that your culture is off. Something is wrong.
We have standard Phalaenopsis, compact Phalaenopsis and novelty Phalaenopsis, average leaf size is different for each. But a healthy leaf is bright grass green and firm. Never grooved, soft or a bit mushy.

Abigail, please show us a picture. It can be the natural progression for your plant to lose a lower leaf as it makes more new ones, and new leaves are a good sign. But it could also be a problem.

Let's see it?

Two other notes about happy and healthy Phalaenopsis, if you buy one in bloom with say 10 flowers and next year it has 8, the year after that 6, the year after that 3, that is your plant telling you that it is not happy, your culture needs to improve!!
OR if you buy a Phalaenopsis with 5 big beautiful leaves and a year later it has 4, then after another 6 months 3, then that's a bad sign too.
Your orchid, no matter what type, will tell you when it is not happy. We just need to learn to understand.

Thanks BigBill and Elaine. I'll show some pics.