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Collector or grower?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:22 am
by Herts Mike
Looking at the ever lengthening posts on ELK and illegal plants made me wonder which category you mainly come under?

I am definitely the latter. Always degraft and try to grow on own roots, always try to grow from seed whenever possible.

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:47 am
by Bill
I suppose I am a bit of both yes I like to have them all but not at the expense of paying top dollar for new discoveries rather than wait a year or so for the price to come down or obtaining them from dubious sources, but I do grow a fair bit from seed and other propogation methods.
Sub bags to catch seeds.
Sub bags to catch seeds.
Big fat H. pumila pods
Big fat H. pumila pods

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:48 am
by IanW
I'm not sure how I'd classify, I keep stuff on grafts and even graft myself, though I wouldn't say this is because I don't like growing them, if anything i just like growing them faster so that I can produce seeds of species for which seeds aren't commonly available so that others can grow them too.

If I had to say I was in it for anything I'd say it was probably the flowers. I love the plants, but the real joy comes for me when they eventually bloom and if I'm lucky get them to bear fruit.

I don't know what category that puts me in!

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:21 am
by Herts Mike
I know one guy who was once very active on here but was definitely a collector, Greenhouse crammed with plants everywhere desperate for repotting and only just surviving.

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 8:01 pm
by Peter
I was nearly in that situation myself, excepting that visitors to my Massive Clear Out Sale were kind enough to say that the plants are fine and took many away.

This, together with disposing old but scruffy pal plants has given me room for a huge repotting exercise which will both rejuvenate them and my enthusiasm for the hobby.

No more seed sowing for me, getting too old and enough plants -although I do share Ian's pleasure in getting them to the flowering stage!

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 8:33 pm
by Wilk
I would not grow a plant just because it was rare and difficult if it was not also attractive to my eye. The example I cite to support this theory is Yavia Cryptocarpa, a plant I find most unappealing (emperor's new clothes??).

Does this make me a grower or a collector though? I like to grow my plants from seed but not just so I have something others don't.

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 8:50 pm
by TS Hakansson
Maybe I´m a collector then,since i like to have species of different forms. It´s a bonus to have the plants flower for you,but for me the main thing is that the plants are pleasing to the eye,i do spend a lot of time just looking at and loving my plants.I used to grow a lot from seed,not any more since there is no space to put them in! I try to get rid of couple of hundred plants every year at a garden fair,but since my plants refuse to stop growing the scarcity of space is a neverending problem.

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:40 pm
by jhb
I love growing personally although that doesn't mean to say that I don't enjoy collecting as well because I do. I love pollinating Lithops to see what comes from the seed. Last year I just went around with a fine brush so the seed i sowed this year is interesting, nothing special I know but just fascinating to see the seedlings. Going to need more room in years to come.
This year I am being more selective & organised with the flowers & self pollinating. No doubt there will be cross overs though.
I try & re pot all my plants into bigger pots that need it & renew old compost. That leaves me little room for collecting all those rare & expensive plants,
.

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:54 pm
by ChrisR
Interesting question but surely we all have to be both......"collect" by one definition - To bring or gather together (a number of things).

Once we've collected them, we grow them the best we can and then one by one (unless you go to ELK for "a haul") collect more to grow......and so it goes on.

Then some will get to e.g. Peter's stage when the collection becomes complete through space restriction or a label collector has them all.

Some then do what Peter has done and plans to do, others even sell the lot and start over with a completely new genus.

Myself.....I like to chop them up and propagate so consider myself primarily a grower. And unfortunately not always a good one - I struggle with some that others grow easily. But I do have to continually collect more to maintain my interest and bring new plants into my collection.

Aren't most of us like that?

Re: Collector or grower?

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 10:26 am
by juster
This is an interesting topic and, as Chris says, we have to be a bit of both. I'm happy to buy small plants (I'm useless at seed raising) and enjoy watching them grow on and make progress over the years. My most expensive plant at the National was £7, others about £3 - 4, max 3" pots. The best advice I was given when I started in the hobby, from John Pilbeam I think, was just to concentrate on growing my plants well, and in a few years, I'd be surprised at how good they would look. Of course, over the years, there have been many plants which have departed to the great 'greenhouse in the sky', but I still follow that advice and try just to enjoy growing.