I have been away for a very long time but am pleased to see that this forum is still active. I have been growing my plants after a long absence from the hobby and just enjoying watching everything grow again. I see that many members who used to be active are no longer here. I am a greenhouse grower mainly, Aroids and plants like Heliconias and orchids are my favorite plants but I have many plants in different genii. I have rejoined the IAS after a long absence, although I did not get to go to Miami for the last show and sale. I hope to hang around with you guys. I cannot figure out how to post photos from my Mac photo program here. Any tips?
I am using Windows, Android and Linux, and all those attach photos the same way here. I don't have any Macs nearby, but I suppose your Mac should do the same. Just click on "Upload a File" button and browse the path to selected photo. If that does not work on Mac, then upload your photo to some free upload server (like UPLOAD.EE) and use the link, provided by the upload site, with the picture button above the editing box.
Bihai, I was thinking of also finally joining the IAS, but are they very active there? Is it really true they still communicate with that barbaric listserv that isn't much better than string and plastic cups, and no Aroid forum?
That is all true. I wasn't aware of it when I joined again. No one visits the forums. And the list serve is the same. And the people who answer the questions seem to not answer if they think the question is beneath them. The only real perks it seems are some written published content that seems to be members only on the site, and any member's only sales that may occur. The last meeting and show in Miami was apparently the largest they have had in many years. I was not able to go but a friend of mine who also lives here and has been a member for many years and also a contributing author to the newsletter went and he was kind of disappointed. Now please do not get me wrong. I am NOT an ageist. But he is in his 40's and I am 60, and we both believe that the largest influx of people who are driving this recent craze in aroids and driving up the prices of plants to huge sums are what he termed millennials. I am not certain exactly what age that encompasses. My daughter is 24 and she says she is a Gen Y. He said that the sale and meeting was absolutely packed with people who were under the age of 30, that some of them were pushy and rude around the plant tables and in line, like it was a fire sale and they had to be the first to get to the tables of plants and were willing to fight LOL. And as to the tables of plants, there were very few actually rare things (and he said he thought that those that were there had been 'pre-spoken for' between members privately or pre-ordered from places like Ecuagenera for delivery to the show). He said that the vendors stacked the tables with pretty common stuff for the crowd at large. At one point he even saw a calathea on a table. And wondered what in hell it was doing at an aroid show. He drove 6 hours to get down there and came home with 2 small cuttings of plants and one trade. He got a Scindapsus perakensis which he shared a piece of with me, and an unknown monstera species which he gave to me to root because he doesn't have a greenhouse. When it grows I'll share it back with him. Both of those were $100 plants. We trade back and forth a lot. All infall he said that the sale was a bust, but some of the lectures were good.
If the group is attracting hordes of young people it is doing better in that regard than certain other hobbyist plant clubs. Of course, if this influx is only occurring at the sales, with no specific participation beyond that level then there may not really be that much recruitment of fresh faces going on. The plural of genus is of course genera, and not "genii".
Not having seen the word before I wonder what "genii" was supposed to be, that the software thought was more normal than "genera".
