Pardon me Peter, but the illogical jump from the AOS endorsing Sun Bulb's potting mix to awards being a 'similar' endorsement followed Andy Easton's comments. Potting mix and AOS awards are peanuts and sirloin. An endorsement that their potting mix was adequate for growing orchids for beginners is a far cry from AOS awards: note difference: "adequate" versus elite qualtiy awards, for example in a normal show perhaps an average of 3-6% of the plants are screened for awards and of that on a generous day perhaps 25% of those will receive some sort of award, including cultural and botanical awards, which you would be hard pressed to find anyone paying extra for a plant with a CCM or CBR. So the logical stretch from adequate for culture to elite quality recognition is worth getting my dander up about. As for awards increasing the value of a plant, yes quality awards may do that in that they formally tag quality plants for the public. But people who are willing to pay extra for plants usually are not beginners and have the savey to distinguish a quality plant from an average one anyway. For instance the Potinara that was bought the night before judging at the Vancouver WOC for $20,000+ was bought BEFORE the judging took place. That it won the big prize was icing on the cake. Here is the comment by Andy Easton, that was then picked up by Marc and converted to AOS awards that you then added to: <Iris had better watch her typing finger or with the defamatory comments she made about Sun Bulb, she might have to cough up some serious dollars. They are a fine old reputable company and well suited to receive the product endorsement by AOS.
It is wonderful that the AOS endorses orchid products that meet agreed standards. It sets a seal of quality that new hobbyists can trust instead of having to buy orchid supplies that have been scraped off some warehouse floor. Notice, they are not endorsing orchid plants but I could see in the future some sort of a system maybe where aggrieved customers could get an arbitrated settlement for substandard plants from growers who signed on to an AOS administered scheme. Let's get into the 21st Century! Andy Easton>> Jean Allen-Ikeson _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
