Buying orchids from a nursery during shemitah
Question
I am considering visiting an orchid boutique nursery - it's called Sharon Orchids, in Rishpon, HaPrachim 31. Am I permitted to buy an orchid plant in view of shemitah?
Answer
Orchids are mostly imported from Holland. They come in planters and are placed in greenhouses (not on detached platforms) where they are watered and cared for in ways that are permissible during shemitah. Orchids are generally meant to be house plants, so it is fine to buy them and bring them into the home. Make sure you don't put them in a place exposed to the open sky. If they are indoors on a surface detached from the ground, it will also be permissible to fertilize them.
There are, however, nurseries that plant orchids during shemitah. Those are forbidden to buy without a kashrut certificate of matza menutak or heter mechirah.
Specifically with regard to Rishpon nursery: they have two types of orchids:
Holland imports. Itzik and Tami import orchid seedlings from Italy and then plant them in the greenhouses during shemitah.
Over the phone they told me that in Rishpon they work during shemitah just like during any other year and don't have a certificate of heter mechirah.
In conclusion make sure you buy only the orchids imported from Holland and not the ones planted during shemitah in a forbidden fashion.