*sigh* I'm actually kind of embarrassed about this story...I can be such a doormat. I bought my first orchid last week. I went in to see my florist friend at his work (grocery store floral shop) and saw a beautiful yellow and pink Phal (the only one that wasn't pink or white) and fell in love with it. Their entire shipment had come in with chilling injury so they were marked down about 50%. I resisted at first, but then a few days later he called to tell me "my" orchid was still there, so I decided it was fate and drove up there. I never did actually examine the entire plant, just paid and left. My friend mentioned I would want to pick up some orchid food, but they were out so I stopped at a local orchid shop nearby to pick some up and get some advice. We got to talking and I decided to run out to the car to get it and when I brought it in, the owners looked at it and started fretting over what they thought was fungus (in addition to the cold damage). Well, to make a long story short, the gal convinced me to let them re-pot it and sent it back with her employee. She told me to go back with her if I wanted to watch and the owners left for lunch. At one point, the front door opened and she turned her head to look and broke the flower stalk off. I really didn't know what to say or do! It was a genuine accident and so I gave her the benefit of the doubt, figuring she would offer to do something for me, like not charge me for the pot. Nope, she just apologized and otherwise blew it off. I realize it probably wasn't her place to make that kind of call, but if it had been me in her shoes I would have at least referred the customer to the owner or just taken care of it and worried about covering my butt with the boss some other way. In retrospect, if I would have pulled my head out of my butt for two seconds I could have avoided the whole fiasco. I got all nervous and lost all my confidence, in part because I've convinced myself to be scared of growing orchids (and I'm a doormat). *sad*

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

I do give away the common whites/yellows or the varieties that have been given to me, but I have other varieties (Gulf Stream, Hilo Beauty, Moragne #23, Vera Cruz Rose, Cancun Pink, Pu'u Kahea, Brea (not well known, from Jack Morgan), Kamiyama Rainbow, Plastic Pink, Nebel's Rainbow and on and on and on....) that I paid for as cuttings from mostly reputable and a few shady places. I run up quite the bill every spring with new plants and all the fertilizers that the plants need...DH hasn't said anything yet, but if our roles were reversed I would put the kibosh to the plumeria habit if I saw the bills coming in and stuff going out for free! Fortunately I sold a few bigger trees and that gave me the go ahead to bring in some more cuttings. :-) chuy,email me and let me know what you're looking for, I'm in North OC.

I have always been interested in training animals. I have enjoyed clicker training my donkeys, but the first animal I trained with a clicker was in 1972 when I was going to school to be a vet tech. We had to teach a conditioned response to an animal and I taught a cat to sit up. I had read long ago that animals don't reason, but I think they do, at least to some extent. One of my dogs is a terrier of some kind. She looks like a cross between a scottie and a dachshund or maybe a schnauzer and a dachshund. She has a long body and short legs but a square-ish head and a rough coat. I found her dumped on the road...when she was about five months old, so I don't really know anything about her. Except she is stubborn. Every time I would leave, she would follow my truck out the gate. I couldn't send her back. If I forgot to put her inside, she would get out and run down the road when I left. My other dogs go back when I tell them. There are 3 gates to go through and it is time consuming and aggravating to have her run off and I had to go catch her and bring her back to the house. So, I put a big crate by my gate with a pad for her to lay on and a water bowl. It was in the shade. If she followed me out the gate, I caught her and put her in the crate. I didn't think that would break her of it, but it saved me from having to take her back to the house, especially if I was in a hurry and short on time. I only had to do that a couple of times and when I told her to go back....she did it. She never followed the truck again. It's like putting the bulldog in the trailer for chasing the mule to excess. She recognizes that she did wrong. I am more of a cat person.....but my vet asked me if I would be willing to raise 7 orphan puppies (like I had so much free time. LOL) The reason he asked me, he knows I can tube feed, and the puppies were weak. His tech was already raising a litter of pups and a litter of kittens. Some other women were supposed to take a couple of the puppies to raise but that fell through and they brought them all to me. So far I have just found a home for one. I haven't really tried very hard because I am picky who gets them. I bottle fed the little stinkers for 3 weeks and you bond with them. You have to be so careful who gets an animal because there is so much meanness in the world. I always wanted to train my donkeys and take them around to nursing homes, etc. to do tricks for the residents. I would love to train the puppies to do some tricks too. I know how much I would miss my animals if I had to live where I couldn't have them any more. So that is something I have been thinking about doing....if I end up keeping some of the pups. Well, I already know I am keeping two of them.....................