I told you we are a lot alike!
None of my orchids were posted for sale when I first started the "business", September, 2011. What I did was divide those that were really large, and my 'Emerald Isle' was the largest, producing 34 flowers (see pic) that fall. So depending on whether or not a plant was in sheath, bud, or bloom, I began to divide most of what I had. Its not like I had a lot of orchids in my collection, only eleven plants, but they were sort of like family to me. I had them for several years and babied them while they became nice, vigorous, blooming size plants.
So in the spring, I had about doubled my collection, though I divided the 'Emerald Isle' and 'Elmhurst' into three plants, all nice size. That's when I first posted them in May, 2012. I sold all those divisions quickly but would not sell the "mother" plants. I kept telling myself "They are only plants", but to me those original eleven were more than that. In the fall/winter of 2012, I was able to divide a few again, and then in the spring of 2013, I posted those again. By that time the plug plants I had purchased in February, 2012, were getting large enough to move to 3" pots (they began in 2" pots), and I listed some of those for sale.
By the summer of 2013, I finally convinced myself to go ahead a list a few of those original eleven plants (the "They are only plants" philosophy). I sold those but have held on to four varieties from the original eleven. Now I have other blooming size plants available, so I think I will just keep those four. Also, since I had been purchasing plug/flask plants all along, I have begun to develop a "train" of plants, going from those in 2" pots to (a few) in 4" and 5" pots. I have lots of plants in 3" and 3 3/4" pots, though they are not yet blooming size. They are saleable though.
I form the same attachment for some of my old staghorn ferns and of course my 25+ year old fiddle leaf ficus. The ficus is now air-layered twice a year and she produces a few 2-3' plants twice a year. I also have three plumeria that I brought back from Maui in 1987. They were just small cuttings, but I still have those three, which are now 4" in diameter at their bases. I take cuttings from them just to keep their size under control, since they have to be moved inside during the cold months. Those cuttings are rooted and sold.
