Seasun, a south window is great, but 5 feet away is too far. You are not giving your phal enough light and it will decline into death if you leave it where it is. Orchids take some time to die, so you'll think you're doing fine, doing ok, maybe not growing like it should. Oh NO!!! What happened to my beautiful orchid???? Here's how where to put the phal figures: phals need about 1000 footcandles of light to grow and bloom. *Outside* at high noon = app 10,000 FC. You are never getting anything near that indoors because of the ceiling and roof of the house cutting off that directly overhead sun. All you are getting is the slanting sun, of much less than 10,000FC. Cut in half by the window glass and screen. Cut in half again *for every foot away from the window*. At 5 feet from your south window you are giving it *100FC or less* by my fairly generous estimate of what your south window actually lets in. In St Louis, I can keep phals *in* a south window with no damage, just far enough from the pane for a shade to slide down. Start moving it closer to the window. The first day move it to about 2 feet from the window. Leave it there a day or two, feeling the leaves where the sun falls on them (if it does). If they are hot, it's too much light, move at least 6" further away. If barely warm or cool, move closer. Repeat above, moving it 6" closer to the window every couple of days til you are at the place where nearer the window = leaves are hot (or it's in the window). There's been a lot of discussion with newbies about how much light to give phals here lately. Mostly newbies wanting to argue for keeping it on an inside wall in a bookcase where it looks great, more experienced growers arguing for more light, LOTS more. Your phal will love you if you do a search for these threads. Use the search function and put in something lilike "phal + light". If you leave it where it is and it dies in 6 months, put it down to needing to learn things the hard way. Actually that's how most of us learned this lesson.

Do you know if all 10 of your orchids need Intermediate temperatures? If so, 65-70F should be fine. Other indoor variables are light, RH (relative humidity), and air movement. Do you know what each of your orchids needs and if their winter location provides these? If all of them grow in Phal conditions, you're good. As for temperatures, as Jane said, windows can leak cold air. Here in Minnesota, I cover the glass inside with 3M clear plastic film (no financial interest): # Indoor 5-Window Insulator Kit # Insulates five 3 x 5 ft. indoor windows # 62 in. x 210 in. clear film # 1/2 in. x 27.7 yd. tape # Performs like an extra storm window # Shrinks tight for clear-as-glass results # Reduces condensation & stops cold drafts # Helps reduce heating costs & save energy Online, the Mills Fleet Farm price, for example, is $12.79. Other brands may be less expensive. My orchids are in a bedroom. The 4' x 4' windows face E/SE, and putting film on them keeps the room warmer, keeps RH higher, and cuts down on the need for the little space heater. All winter, there's a fan going for air movement, and there's supplemental lighting from an LED and CFLs. For a couple of years, I didn't get around to putting film on, and the orchids didn't do as well the rest of the year. In S. Carolina, the insulation may not be as critical. Hope this helps, WhiteCat8 Here is a link that might be useful: Scotch Indoor 5-Window Insulator Kit

Thanks for your notes Kitty and Dave Problem it is, to give you much information as I don't know much about it Just looked at all the pieces stacked up on the patio in back of the house. I was reading some that important to begin with is a good base to sit it all on Maybe dig down ten inches I was thinking and put in a gravel base Up here in southern Ontario, we get lots of cold and frost of course in the ground. I agree he needs someone knowledgeable to come in and look over the materials. It isn't glass though, Graham said, but plastic of some sort, but looks like glass. There are sheets of styrofoam that I don't know where they go. I wish I would have seen it before it was taken down. They did not take pictures of it before dismantling . He will not be leaving the project undone as he is a fussy guy and keeps his yard and property beautiful I fear though if it isn't done right, there will be lots of problems later He has fellows to help him do the work, friends etc. But ... Maybe your are right Kitty I will look for a book on the subject.

It really depends on what you want the misters to do. Do you want them to act as a cooling mechanism to cool down the entire greenhouse? (flash evaporation). If that is the case, then you will need to set them along the entire length of the GH for an even distribution. Depending on the humidity inside the GH, the mist could all evaporate before any of them even touch the plants. This is generally the goal, as the idea is to cool down the GH without getting the plants wet. The misters will also add humidity to the GH interior. However, with adequate ventilation the moisture would be drawn out along with the warm air and replaced by outside air. This would require frequent mister activation to keep the humidity up. Under certain conditions in the GH, the humidity could be high enough that not all of the mist can evaporate and will eventually land on the plants. Unless an orchid is in an open mount or empty slat basket, they would not appreciate being directly in the path of misting/sprinkler systems. Most orchid roots need a dry period in between watering and the frequent exposure to water from the mister/sprinkler would prevent this from happening. **This is just based on the typical frequency of mister activations which could be anywhere from every 10 minutes to every 2 hours - or maybe even continuous operation for several hours. If you mist less frequently, then it might not be a problem.**