Greenhouse tours

I was away this weekend taking a tour of some personal and commercial orchid greenhouses. Along with another NCOS member (Joe) whose goal was to "lead me astray", I drove to North Carolina to stay at the home of another NCOS member (Charlie) who had recently moved away from the DC metro area. Charlie gave us a tour of his greenhouse--which is almost as large as the square footage of my house--and the mechanics thereof. Charlie runs a really nice operation (potting, watering, humidity, light and temperature, and pest control), has the plants well-spaced, and healthy looking orchids--in bloom, recently out of bloom, seedlings, etc... One of the best role models I've seen for a personal greenhouse.

The three of us also drove down to Newberry, South Carolina to take a tour of Carter and Holmes Orchid nursery, stopping along the way to visit Seagrove Orchids in Seagrove, NC. Seagrove Orchids provides a show display and sales booth in the NCOS annual Show and Sale (October), so it was nice to see how their facilities are set up and reinforce the NCOS relationship with Seagrove.

Carter and Holmes is a larger operation than Seagrove, and has the advantage of an in-house breeding program and laboratory, so the orchid stock is not the same as Seagrove's. However, I appreciated comparing/contrasting greenhouse construction, maintenance and plant husbandry for these commercial growers.















Thankfully, our visit was, by-and-large out-of-season. That most orchids were not in bloom helped to mitigate the purchases. I know all too well the challenges of visiting an orchid nursery when in full bloom season. These little ones are either Laelias, Cattleyas, or Laelia/Cattleya (Lc) hybrids. So, in the end, Joe was able to "lead me astray" per design, and initiate a serious challenge to the "Primarily Cymbidiums".