Yes, Ki, I'm moving. The stress and BS of the past year have finally worn me down. Not to mention the fact all my money is tied up in the house and I'm broke. And houses soak up money faster than a sponge water. Taking care of a 2600 sf house and the yard by myself is a lot of work. Of course, one person doesn't need a house this big anyway. I use all of three rooms and one of the baths. I dust the other bathrooms rather than cleaning them. When friends come over and I actually venture into the living room, I usually notice it's been a while since I've vacuumed and dusted the whole house. I've got half a mind to buy a condo on the beach in Miami, except I can't afford it. I've wanted to move back or nearer to a bigger city for a good 12 years. I used to take long weekends once or twice a month to get my dose of "civilization" but haven't been able to afford that luxury for a few years or haven't had the time. Since downsizing is a pain, I'm just going to sell it all and replace everything when i know how much room I have, when I get where ever it is I'm going. Seriously, the only furniture I'm taking is the master bedroom furniture since it's gorgeous solid cherry, a recliner (it had been my dad's but I never use it so it looks new) and some occasional tables I have in the living room. The artwork is coming with me as is the pottery I've collected in the various countries I've traveled to. In two weeks I'm having a moving sale and hope to sell the house, everything in it and the car all at the same time. Paul's coming up to help me out. What doesn't sell or that I'm keeping, he's going to take back to Florida and store for me until the house is sold. I'm only keeping behind with me the dog, the birds and computer (I still have to work while all this is going on), and a few things i don't trust him to "handle with care". But it's all got to fit in the van when it's my time to leave. I've never been one to just slowly ease my way out of a rut. Total upheaval is the only thing that works for me. Or, I could be having a midlife crisis. I think I'm going to get that Honda S2000 I've been coveting since they came out. Y'all have strange dreams.

I'm at about 40 orchids and I think I'm over my limit. They're not getting enough water or fertilizer, and I'm not noticing pests as soon as I should. I'm also not repotting when I should. I've already pruned down my non-orchid houseplant collection quite a bit, but haven't had the guts to prune the orchid collection. I have a bunch of minicatts, but they're just not doing as well as the phals for me. I think I'll stick to phals from now on, unless I suddenly master the minicatt culture. Very big trays do help a lot with reducing watering time. I use big appliance trays designed to go under washing machines, with wire closet shelving on top. That holds a lot more water than the waffle grids did. This works great under HID lights, not sure how well it would fit with fluorescents though. Good idea about craigslist, thanks! I got tired of packing plants on eBay, and that was just waterlilies which are bareroot and pretty easy to pack.

I'm late happening across this thread, but had an experience pertaining to the plant and the Ebay seller. First, to reaffirm that the seller is bill_asia and the Cattleyas are mericlones of Lc. 'Mari's Song'. He's still selling them and still calling them 'Merry Song', a corrupted version of the cultivar epithet that probably results form an English language difficulty. I bought one of these during the past winter. I had always admired 'Mari's Song' and was tempted by the low price. The "in spike" plant arrived with two buds, one about to open and the other in the process of aborting. The plant would have been healthy except that the roots were dehydrated entirely beyond recovery. I babied it along for a few days to see the flower and then cut that off to deal with the rootless plant, which required an intensive-care sphag and bag treatment for recovery and new growth. I sent bill_asia an e-mail to complain about the dead roots and to recommend that he not ship plants in such condition. He responded by firmly stating that an orchid's roots must be dried out prior to shipment and that he will ship an orchid no other way. He described part of his handling process, which involves taking sold orchids out of their pots, removing all the medium, spraying with fungicide (as if), and letting the plants sit upright for three days to dry. The next step, which he had already demonstrated, is to wrap a dried out plant in dry paper, slap it into a box and mail it. A seedling or mericlone that has spent every day of its young life in a medium does not have roots that are acclimated to withstand that treatment. Bill seems like a nice guy who hopes to please his customers, but he is blindly determined to follow a handling and shipping method that ensures more plant trauma than customer satisfaction. I would not recommend dealing with him unless you are willing to receive a weakened or damaged plant that must be nursed back to health.

Some good suggestions here. Let me add a bunch as well (warning, this is a long one): Aerangis luteo-alba var rhodostica (aka A. rhodostica) Schoenorchis fragrans (if you have high enough light) Phals of all sorts Paphs of the Maudiae variety (any coloratums, albas, vinicolors...) a lot of Oncidium species and hybrids (NOT talking the intergenerics here); SHARRY BABY :) Angraecum didieri Howeara Mini Lava Burst 'Puanani' Sophronitis cernua and everyones favorite around here: Haraella retrocalla (aka H. odorata) A really good suggestion I've been wanting to follow myself but could never seem to remember: Bring some books with you. A lot of books (at least the ones I have) will list whether or not they are easy plants to grow, or if they are suitable for windowsill culture. This way if you find a plant you like you can look it up and find culture requirements to see if its suitable for you. Some general rules for impulse buys, assuming you're just growing on a window sill and nothing more: 1. THIS IS A GENERALITY AND DOES NOT APPLY TO EVERY SPECIES IN THESE GENERA!! [had to get that disclaimer out of the way] Stay away from anything Pleurothallid: Draculas, Pleurothallis, Restrepia, Scaphyglottis, Trichosalpinx, etc... They all tend to be cool-intermediate temp/high humidity types. There are a few species in these genera that are warmer growing and easier to grow (like arthurs suggested Restrepia cuprea), but for a neophyte I'd suggest stay away from these all together until you get to know individual tempermants through other growers here 2. Research Oncidium intergenerics before you go, and draw up a chart to bring with you of various/common intergeneric names and their parentage (i.e. Beallara=Miltonia x Odontoglossum x Cochlioda x Brassia). A lot of them are pretty easy, but others lean heavily on cool growing parent (most odontoglossums, miltoniopsis, cochlioda being the biggest culprits), which could make them a little more difficult. This chart will help you weed out the latter hybrids. 3. Complex Paph hybrids tend to be a little more cool growing than their Maudiae/Multifloral counterparts. 4. Find out of the plant you want needs a cool winter dormancy. If you aren't able to provide that kind of dormancy, you want to avoid any plants that require it (like Nobile type dendrobiums. Nobile types derived from Yamamoto Nursery breeding are exempt as they dont require the cool down). Some plants, like cycnoches, need a dormancy but it isn't a cool dormancy so you can just stick the dormant bulbs in a kitchen drawer. These suggestions are from my own experience as a warm plant grower who grows in a windowsill in the winter and out on a balcony the rest of the year. Being a windowsill grower, I've never had good experience with plants that need more intermediate-cool temps. Over in Chicago, you might be able to handle slightly cooler growers a bit easier. But this is at least one place to start, from one windowsill grower to another. Our conditions are different, so it'd also behoove you to throw out all these suggestions and just experiment, see what works for you :) I have a non orchid-savvy friend who is growing and blooming orchids he really shouldn't be having any luck with, so take all the suggestions you're getting here with a boulder of salt and don't be afraid to try new things. Most important suggestion of all: Just have FUN! :)