Sorry, have no idea about growing under lights because my collection of orchids is "outside" all year....in glasshouses, or a shade-house or a few at various places as Garden plants. The problem i have is not heating enclosures to that mythical temp of about 55F (12C) minimum at night during winter. There are some "Vandas" that do not need all that much warmth and that might be better for your culture. Look for hybrids that have Vanda coerulea influence (many are blue) Or Rhynchostylis coelestis such as Rhynchocentrum Lilac Blossom where the flowers are coloured as per name and are not blue. Avoid the types with terete leaves as they are high light orchids. Hopefully, some of the under lights growers will add to this and recommend some good orchid nurseries in the USA. The thing about the red cats is that yes, some of the hybrids with a strong Sophronitis influence do like it a little bit cooler but there should be some over there that will grow well in general Cattleya conditions.

The three Cattleya Chocolate plants that i raised to flowering, bloomed three different shades of red. The famous, widely grown one, Cattleya Chocolate Drop 'Kodama' is darker. But that particular clone was produced from the original plant by the mericlone process. Because you did not include another name in quotes i assume that you have purchased a seedling (raised from seed) so do not assume that it will look like the clone Kodama. Just measured the pseudobulbs on one of my mature plants and they are 15 inches high. Some orchids are pretty tough and i see no reason why you cannot use the same organic treatments that you use on your garden plants. Wouldn't worry about the ratty looking root, probably caused by handling at the show. As spring comes on a new growth should grow from the base of the youngest pseudobulb and at some stage in the annual growth cycle the plant will grow some new roots. Wouldn't be in a hurry to repot, just observe what happens for a while.....

Unless your 'Catus Orchid' is an Eulophia pertersonii which I doubt, it probably is an Epiphyllum which has nothing to do with orchids but makes spectacular, short lived flowers. Good luck with your new plants, sounds like you controlled your self pretty well. I have a couple of suggestions; Start a catalog of your plants, not now but eventually when you have a few hundred plants, you will tend to repurchase the same plants as you are attracted to certain types. Having a list of plants helps to avoid that. If you have a smart phone and can go on the internet, bring up potential purchases as some plants change names. Encyclias have been fragmented and go under several new names, the same thing will likely happen to Masdevallias. I have on several occasions bought a 'new' plant only to find out it was a synonymn of something I already have. The best times to go is the earliest and the latest possible times. Go immediately when the show opens as you get the best selection but also go 1/2 hour before closing as most vendors will drastically slash prices to get rid of stock. Don't be embarrassed to make a low offer on a plant, you will be surprised how often it is accepted at 4:30PM Sunday. Look for damaged plants. If you like a certain BLC for example and there are several available, one with damaged flowers, make a low offer on that plant, it will bloom again. Don't buy for the flowers on the plant right now but for the ones in the future. Flowers are of course important as it's your best guide to what you are getting but I have no problem with fading or slightly crushed flowers as long as the price is right. Buy the largest plant you can afford, it's very frustrating to buy a small plant because you like the 'Sample Plant' and then have to wait 2 to 3 years for your first bloom. Probably not now but once you are fully addicted, go to the show with a certain amount of cash and leave the check book and the plastic at home. Just like Los Vegas, a good orchid show will suck you dry so be prepared. In the end it's all good fun and there are centers for rehab if you ever want to escape the addiction. There also 9 or 12 step programs for recovered orchid addicts you can join in the future. Or you can fully immerse yourself and end up doing handstands for rare and unusual plants which you will never find at orchid shows but are obtained by scouring the far corners of the world. Nick

Hi Andreas, Bryan69Âs result also impressed me and I also thought about trying it myself. The good news is Osmocote is available in Germany. There is a product called Osmocote Exact Tablets and are available in 5g or 7.5g sizes per tablet with a useful life of 5-6 months or 8-9 months. Prices are as follows: Tablets 5-6 Monate (5-g): 70,62-Euro/7,5-kg Tablets 8-9 Monate (5-g): 75,10-Euro/7,5-kg Tablets 5-6 Monate (7,5-g): 56,95-Euro/7,5-kg Tablets 8-9 Monate (7,5-g): 59,40-Euro/7,5-kg Add 3.5 for handling and about 6 euro shipment costs. Delivery time was about 3 weeks because it was not on stock. Well, I did not consider worthwhile buying 7.5 kg (!) for those few bromeliads I have. Seller said he does not break up a package. Its NPK value is 14+8+11 and a few other elements that I just skip now. Tablets sold there are available only with this NPK value. There are off course several other NPK time-release fertilizers which are not in tablet form. Nutricote, which is claimed by some on this forum to be better, is also available in Europe but not in tablet form. The min. quantity I have found was "only" 5 kg, and available in NPK forms of 13+13+13, 18+6+8, and 15+9+10. The advertizing sheet said other Nutricote products were also available but in fact they were not. I did try one local product but it burned some of the leaves of my Vriesea ospinae var. gruberi. I bought this product b/c it was available in manageable quantities and was the only one it did not say on the package it could not get in contact with plants and I explicitly asked about it in the store and they said all was fine. All other time-release fertilizers had written on the package direct contact with plants should be avoided. The one I tried was not in tablet form, it contained small balls. They swam out of the plant easily at watering. I believe tablets could be handled easier. They are bigger and could be placed more controlled to target areas by pressing those down to the leave axis. The balls broke up easily when I was using my forceps. I tried it one more time, this time used one of those no-name, small rod-like fertilizer bars broken it into pieces and added to a Billbergia (in the cup only) and it worked very well with no problems whatsoever. Go figure! Give it a try and let us know how it goes! Sheila