Hmmm... I see no spikes on any of my plants, although they do look good and healthy. Lot's of growth outside during the summer. So, those of you who have spikes,...on what plants are they? Also, my dendrobiums are all phal types. Can I actually leave them outside just until that 1st frost (even if it gets down to the mid 30's?? About moving all the rest in -- Catts., mostly, can they stay outside until just before the first frost, too??? Does the cold snap aid Catts. in spiking? Do any need to be slowly acclimated to the indoors (like houseplants, tropicals, etc.) or can they just come in one day??? mehitabel, I noticed that you said you don't see spikes yet either. Which plants are they? Also, if my plants are actually going to bloom, will they spike now? I'm getting nervous now... everyone's spiking but mine! Actually one has started to bloom...Onc. Twinkle Fragrance...but it's the only one. I'm concerned about scale, too. Lot's of scale before I moved them outdoors. The good predators ate them all off the plants over the summer. I hope there are not a few lingering in the folds just waiting to come indoors and INFEST like they did last year. It got soo bad, I had to discard some plants -- it was hopeless. I'm still dealing with mealy bugs inside now on the Phals. Stubborn. Nothing is working, but I keep on trying. Good luck to everyone with the spikes! Liz

What gets me is so many experts say many of those orchids dont grow in the bay area..and i wasted time believing them until i put them outdoors and they did fine. Stanhopea is one and a beautiful Dendrobium is another, that has lime green glossy and highly segmented plump stems-it looks exotic out of bloom is another thing i like about it.In 2006 it bloomed twice in one year outdoors. Right now a Masdavallia is in bloom,a red-orange type.Laelia's lived years. A Oncidium that is a little on the rare side with a bloom that looks like a wasp to me but is called a butterfly orchid(the name i have someplace!) so far is growing slowly but truly on a piece of tree fern trunk. An Angrecum spends most of the year outdoors-i did bring it in last year in January-back out in late February. The "DARWIN" Orchid. So ,bay areans use that list posted by the SB society as a good guide-those orchids will do far better on your porch or covered patio then indoors. Especially when they are finished blooming and you dont know where to put them in the house.

The windrow gets little direct sun. I'd say max maybe 2 hours in the afternoon if that. With trees the sun is dappled and if needed I can always move the windrows around to take advantage of the greatest high temp afternoon shade. I'll keep the additional shade in mind. If I used a tarp to block afternoon sun that might make some difference but burlap bags on the windrow would not. I would agree with Rick concerning the rest of the year and my experience with a windrow but the only factor I can see that changed for me was mid August heat. All the windrows are in large part under trees and get full shade. The idea about the ice isn't even to cool the entire windrow, I know I can't provide enough to keep it that cool. While those bottles are thawing though it'll cool enough around them to allow the worms to squeeze into some a/c during the hottest part of the day. It seems like more shade, water saturation, possible ice bottles are my best options. I'm really a novice, just trying to figure this out. It allows me to make compost for free out of garbage that others would put in a landfill. I love using the worms energy to generate it instead of turning piles manually and the product seems to be higher quality. I've noticed worms in my windrow still, just greatly diminished numbers. The ones that have survived will quickly multiply based on my past experience. There may be more in the piles than I realize just based on the fact that they could be near the bottom where temps are the coolest. I've not torn through the entire thing, just dug around in spots to check. Thanks for the advice, I'll think about the shade more for next summer and also check around for misting systems that'll allow me to keep the windrows moist in summer when it dries here. Thanks again for all the feedback and I'll keep you posted. Feel free to ask more questions if something isn't clear.

@Kauaiguy, I second what Alexandra said. There is no way you've been taking care of orchids for so long and not become an expert. I certainly value your perspective and thank you for the advice. I am here to learn, after all. Speaking of which, I should probably stop claiming I've figured out what kind of buggers I have because I obviously haven't. If I sound too sure about things, it's only because I am trying -- and failing -- to be brief, not because I actually know what I am talking about. So here is my dilemma: I think I need to know what bugs I am dealing with so I can decide on the right intervention. But I don't have any actual bugs on the plant to identify -- the ones in the pics were in the humidity tray, not on the Phal, and they were found before the last repotting when I soaked the mix and the roots in Physan 20. Most instructions for any treatment I have seen include a step where you decide whether it's helping or whether the bugs have come back which I can't do as is. Would it be a good idea to get some sticky traps and place them around the plant to hopefully capture some culprits? The alternative would be to go in blind with some sort of nuclear option which scares me because my first priority is the health of the orchid. Oh, and I am dropping out of the see-my-garden arms race. I am just not worthy. Yet! :)