"Bob Fuchs' nursery in the Redland... orchids, collected by his grandfather and placed in the nooks of oak trees more than 60 years ago. Fuchs, the owner of R.F. Orchids nursery and a third-generation grower, remains an... advocate of old-school orchid techniques despite the pressures of foreign competition and a booming market that has placed the once rare blooms in big-box stores and supermarkets. ... Fuchs... specializes in unique and hard-to-find varieties...
the 19th Annual World Orchid Conference... orchid enthusiasts... converge on Miami-Dade for the... event, including visitors and vendors from every continent save Antarctica[why not ?] The past decade has brought... growth to the orchid market, with wholesale values increasing more than 200 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ... Orchids are second... to poinsettias as the most popular potted plant in the United States. Florida is one of the top-producing states... with nearly $50 million in wholesale volume. California and Hawaii are also big producers. ... While facing increased land costs, small-scale nurseries are struggling to find a niche in an increasingly competitive market. Larger operations are constantly looking to perfect production and modernize their facilities. ... Homestead-based Kerry's Bromeliads, one of the largest orchid growing operations in the country, with about half a million units in stock during the peak four-week period around Mother's Day. ... said McHatton [Ron..., director of education for the American Orchid Society]. "Where we are today is basically orchid as a commodity. The market demands that you modernize. You can't really afford to grow something that takes 10 years to flower.'' ... He predicts smaller nurseries will eventually find a foothold in catering to customers looking to move beyond a one-time orchid purchase. ''The smaller boutique nurseries I grew up with are really struggling. It's hard to compete with a $15 phaelonopsis in a Home Depot,'' he said. ``You may have a thousand people buy an orchid and 900 will eventually throw it away. But the rest will get hooked, and they're going to go to a nursery like Bob's.'' Fuchs -- whose potted plant sales have increased 75 percent in the past decade and whose business has an annual revenue of $1.5 million -- offers tours of greenhouses on weekends and employs staff members who can answer detailed questions about orchid maintenance. He is also part of a group of Redland business owners hoping to market the area as a destination for agri-tourism... The [World Orchid] conference... has sold out the 334-room Sheraton... The Taiwanese government... backed orchids as a replacement for an ailing sugar industry, offering low-interest loans and other incentives. In 2004, a group of Hawaiian growers unsuccessfully filed suit against the USDA to block the importation of Taiwanese orchids. The country now supplies more than a quarter of orchids worldwide, according to the Taiwan Trade Center in Miami. ... ''Orchids have become the chic thing, and it's yet to hit its peak,'' said McHatton. ``We're at a point that whatever you can produce, the market will absorb.'' [comments welcome !] URL : http://www.miamiherald.com/business_monday/story/385401.html ************* Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com