# Cost Difference between Blooming Size and Previously Bloomed?



## silence882 (Jul 7, 2015)

Hi All,

I was hoping growers with more buying/selling experience might be able to offer some opinions on few things regarding plant cost.

How much more do you value an unbloomed BS plant than one that is a single growth w/start that has bloomed already and found to have a good, but not exceptional, bloom? In other words, how much more are you willing to pay for a chance at an exceptional bloom?

I ask because I notice that on eBay the Orchid Zone is selling bloomed-out roths for $85 while the unbloomed BS plants are $350 (4x the price).

Does paying more for unbloomed BS plants only make sense if the parentage of the plants is very good (e.g. the OZ roths)?

Are there certain species/crosses where it makes more sense to pay for a known good bloom than to risk getting a poor bloom?

--Stephen


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## SlipperFan (Jul 7, 2015)

Good question, Stephen.

I prefer to purchase unbloomed, unless I can see the bloom. But the cost in your example is far beyond what I can afford, so I'll pass on this offer.


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## littlefrog (Jul 7, 2015)

I think the idea is that the breeder/grower has 'pre-screened' the previously bloomed ones. In other words, if there was a really exceptional one, it wouldn't be for sale. So you are in effect purchasing a lottery ticket, you might get a better plant than the grower has, or at least a really good one, if you buy an unbloomed plant. Of course you are as likely if not more likely to get an average to poor one...

In my hands I can't really remember which ones are the good ones.

Are there certain crosses where it is better to get unbloomed seedlings? That is a really good question. Depends on what you are going for. I know I throw away the dogs, so if you get a previously bloomed plant from me it is at least decent. So you lessen your odds of getting a bad one by buying pre-bloomed. Now if a grower doesn't screen out the bad ones, then shame on them, but you might be better off buying unbloomed. Might want to ask the seller what their philosophy is on that. For species, I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference, they should be fairly uniformly distributed for quality. A few percent will be exceptional, a few percent will totally suck, most will be OK. 

For cutting edge hybrids, I personally would rather buy seedlings than bloomed stock, unless I can see the flowers. I'm buying lottery tickets in that case. But that is just me.


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## Wendy (Jul 7, 2015)

For me I prefer unbloomed plants. I enjoy rolling the dice to see what the outcome is. I've had some less than desirable plants but I've also had some really good ones. As mentioned above....like playing the lottery.


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## NYEric (Jul 7, 2015)

Hmmm, personally I prefer the more mature, previously bloomed plants.


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## abax (Jul 7, 2015)

I'm with Eric on this question. I prefer mature plants and
will pay more for them. I don't have much patience with
seedlings.


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## ehanes7612 (Jul 8, 2015)

It depends...1.how many growths it has 2. the time until its next blooming 3. the quality of the bloom and its potential to improve 
I have paid the same for bloomed plants (as their unbloomed counterparts) and have bloomed out several award winning plants
Generally, the plants I sell after blooming are at least three years from blooming again..hard to sell for even good flowers..so I sell them cheap to make room for unbloomed plants.
The exception (generally speaking) appears to be kovachii hybrids and certain species..they can go for the same after blooming, maybe more if the particular species/cross is known to be hard to bloom


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## Linus_Cello (Jul 8, 2015)

OZ as a vendor is a little different in that they want to see what the plant looks like if bloomed (hence higher price for unbloomed). They try to bloom out every plant, and can since they have the space with huge greenhouses. Most other vendors are willing to sell without seeing the plant bloom (at a lower price) since they don't have as much space.

That being said, folks have bought OZ's "reject" plants in bloom, and get HCCs and AMs.


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