Make sure it isn't too bright. Phals (Phaelenopsis) are quite keen on a bit of shade, and do not like direct light. Somewhere with good bright light but no direct sun, except maybe some in the morning, would be best. Feel the leaves...do they get hot? What shade of green are they? Water from above by pouring water through the pot for 30 seconds. Then do the same again 5 minutes later. Alternatively, submerge the pot in water for ten minutes. However, if you do this, make sure you flush through the pot once a month to prevent salt build-up. You can mist if you want, but with the humidity you have in that room I wouldn't bother. Misting can also cause crown rot if water settles on the crown too much. I think mounting is when you grow an orchid attached to something like a piece of wood rather than in a pot. Orchids do not naturally grow in the ground, but usually attached to trees. Make sure you have good air movement in the room where you keep orchids. No air movement can be very bad for orchids. A small fan is good to set up, not pointing directly at the orchid, or open the windows as often as you can. Loads of fertilizers out there. Get a balanced 10-10-10 if you like, and fertilize at a much lower strength. I have an orchid fertilizer that I use at half strength each week rather than full strength every 2 weeks. And to cap it all off........post us a pic of your new orchid. Being able to see them is the best bit :D

Ugh. I didn't know. That does suck. Hoosiers had some great selection of species. I lived in Chicago at one time and went down there to see them. Awesome stuff. Thankfully we still have places like Andy's Orchids on a Stick to supply somewhat estoteric species. But every time I hear of a commercial orchid company going under makes me sad. As Bruce pointed out, the big box stores have caused this glut of cheap generic orchids. Run of the mill phaleanopsis or dendrobes. A lot of imports from Asia. They are flasked in Taiwan and then sent here to huge commercial nurseries to grow then up to flowering size and blooming plants. Companies like Taiwan Sugar Co. Rod McClellens in San Fran was sold to these huge asian orchid concerns and now the greenhouses churn out generic phalies. And the these large off shore orchid companies really don't do in-house breeding. Any new breeding is done by hobbyist there and the seeds are sown by the commercial outfits. Same goes for cloning. A plant may come from a hobbyist, bought by a big outfit and cloneed to death. But are they virus-free. I'm hearing that a lot of these clones are virused. They don't bother to test the plant before cloning. So beware. With the cost of heating and cooling, and shipping, it's become difficult for even the old established big commercial growers here. Thankfully we still have Carter & Holmes and Krull & Smith that continue to give us quality plants. But Frank does have his side business in landscaping and his day lilies. I'm still optimistic that these cheap big box orchids will become a stepping stone for new hobbyists to move on to more interesting orchids. But then again, some people seem addicted to just buying these cheap plants, let them die and then just by another blooming plant to replace it. They are not orchidists. They just use orchids like we all use cut flowers. Orchids have been relagated to just something to brighten a room or doctor or lawyer's office. I go to shows and it is great to see some kids interested in species. Or something out of the ordinary. But need to expose more people to the myriad of different kinds of orchids that are out there. There is more to orchids than Lowes or Home Depot. But I think some of these people might get intimidated by the unusual. They want something familiar. Agan, something to put in a kitchen or living room coffee table. I don't know. But even how great the WOC was this past year, I was expecting more exhibitors and vendors. Nothing from Japan or Australia. (there might have been a small few) I'm personally a cattleya person, but am really tired of the same mericlones from Taiwan or Hawaii you see in huge numbers on Ebay. On the other hand, I'm glad to hear that Tom Ritter bought Tropic One Orchids in Orlando. Tropic 1 was once Muse's. Well all my best to Tom. And for the owners of Hoosiers. Good luck. I'm really sad to see you go. We need more people like you.

Whitecat8 Ive been growing in terrariums 7-8 yrs. now and I have them closed off to air. The only new air they get is when I open them to check a plant or to water. Watering is needed usually every 2-3 months this way. A couple I have going need a bit of water only once a year. My orchids and Hoya's I grow this way love it. I have 18 terrariums going at this time. The teardrop ornaments have a 2 inch round opening so unless the opening is covered with saran wrap it would have air flow. Ive eyed the Den. toressae several times and its def. on my "gotta have cause I can't live without" list! There's a few others on my list of course and as soon as Oklahoma sees Spring I'll be getting a nice order out to Andy. I mainly grow mini and micro mini orchids. I met Andy at an orchid show in TX. and he is a very nice guy and full of info! It was nice to hand pick my orchids and see some he had just got in and hadn't put on his site yet.,,,,Debbie

All types, actually. I'd be happy to help take some off of your hands.... :-) Is there anything on my tradelists you're interested in? Please post your reply here; my email is giving me fits just now. Thanks, Lily