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Anyone just keep botanicals?

I just picked up a book today from the library, Botanical Orchids and How to Grow Them by Jack Kramer. A fantastic book with a ton of great pics of orchids in the wild.

Anyway, he focuses his attention on those true species from the wild--not hybrids. I tend to be more attracted to this type of orchid keeping (same goes for aquaria, etc.). I was just curious who is interested in botanicals as well, and whether or not it's difficult to obtain them with so many hybrids out there?
 
I like species plants but they are hard to find in local greenhouses and garden shops. However, you can find them on eBay.
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I've seen some VERY nice offerings of rarer species there.
 
I've always been fascinated by orchid species rather than hybrids. I think it has something to do with the thought that I can someday go out and see these plants growing in the wild. I am constantly amazed at the bizarre adaptations that the various orchid genera have evolved to thrive in their natural surroundings.

I tend to have similar tendancies in my CP collection too. I shy away from the Sarra hybrids and concentrate mainly on the species. The same would apply with the Nepenthes if I only had suitable conditions to grow them in.

Stick with the species I say. This way you are helping to conserve what is being destroyed in rainforest and other habitats every day.

Sean.
 
For the most part I dislike hybrids, theres always a few nice ones out there though. I prefer the true species and natural hybrids but this may change if I am successful creating my own hybrids.

The reason hybrids are popular/easy to find at retail greenhouses is they often grow faster and are more forgiving of mistakes (sometimes bred to be heat or cold tolerant). Their care is less specific than their species parents.
Buying true species is fine but only if you know you can keep them alive.
 
There is a good nursery in California that sells mainly mounted species orchids like Angraecums, Haraella, Stanhopea, Gongora, Dendrobiums, and lots of species I haven't seen anywhere else. I don't know if I can post the site here, though.
 
Our sponsor has an outstanding price right now for a Bulbophyllum which is actually a Cirrhopetalum curtisii. Bulbos and Cirrhos are cousins and their various species switch back and forth as botanists examine the plants a little closer or redefine the genus boundaries. If you're growing lowland Neps, Bulbos and Cirrhos will be thrilled to go right in with them. I've had no success with either genus because they don't appreciate cool temperatures at all and prefer more humidity than my plants get in the winter. But if you can provide a little warmth and humidity, this is a nice miniature species to accompany CPs.
 
I have grown & flowered the Cirrhopetallum Elizabeth Ann Buckleberry x Louis Sander hybrid in my highland Nepenthes chamber (70-80 days / 50-60 nights) with no problem, however true Bulbophyllum species do not fare as well in this environment.
 
We grow Bulbos and Cirros with the Nepenthes. They like the same misting and constant high humidity. All our other orchids are grown seperate from the Nepenthes.
If you're looking for a wide range of species that grow under warm to intermediate conditions, there's a grower in Hawaii who specializes in this: everything from Oncidiums to Stanhopeas, Pleurothallids, etc.
If your conditions are cool growing there lost of orchids for you. If I lived in a cool zone, I would be growing Masdevallias and Draculas-species and hybrids.
Trent
 
I mentioned the Cirrh/Bulbo only because the forum sponsor has a good deal on it right now and it would be an excellent choice for someone who can give it adequate warmth and humidity, such as that for lowland Neps.  That makes sense since they come from the same areas.  My orchids are almost exclusively species orchids, other than for some hybrid Catts picked up as extras in trades.  They live outside in trees for ~4 months here just outside of Hartford, CT and hang in windows or sit under a two bulb fluorescent fixture the rest of the year.   Just like my highland Neps.

I choose to grow species orchids for the same reason I choose to grow species CPs.  That's because I find it more appealing.  Like happens with Sarracenias, there are many natural hybrid orchids.  Plus, there's so much variation within species and so much selective breeding, you could probably collect nothing but different varieties of a single species and fill a greenhouse.  There are many thousands of orchid species, adapted to all kinds of different environments.  So decide what growing conditions you can offer and choose accordingly.

It's easy to fall for flashy blooms and I keep getting seduced.  Take me, Laelia crispa, I'm yours!  But they always want more than I can offer and, in the end, they go to other growers who offer what I can't.   Why, oh why does it always have to end?!?  I'm kind of describing my pre-marital life, but this is a plant forum.  What I can grow well are things like, for instance, my Encyclia tampenses, Tolumnia tetrapetala, Pleurothallis tribuloides, and other plants who tolerate too much heat some times and too much cold others.  They don't mind several straight days of soaking rains or the occasional dry period.  They'd rather have more humidity in Winter, but can wait until Spring.  The selection process relies on a sort of educated trial & error.  Buying that book was a good start.
 
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I grow Stanhopea oculata, Encyclia radiata, Neofinetia falcata, Haraella odorata, Denrobium amabile, Sedeirea japonica (spelling?), Dendrobium aggregatum, Cycnoches chlorochilon, Angraecum longicalcar, Rhynchostylis retusa, Paphiopedilum spicerianum, Paph lowii, Vanda teres, and Grammatophyllum scriptum as long as a few hybrids. Most of these are fairly new, so they are still adjusting to my conditions andhaven't flowered for me yet.
 
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