plantfreak, It's interesting how gardeners always envy gardeners in other parts of the world. We grow quite a few tropical plants and orchids in our house. They are a struggle to keep healthy and we are thrilled when one of the orchids bloom. Then we'll travel somewhere in a more southern climate and see the same plants neglected but thriving in someone's yard or along the roadside. I remember when I was a young lad and saw my first palm tree. It was magical. We went up and touched the bark and had our photo taken. You ask when cyps flower in our region. Firstly 'our region' is quite large and the ecology varies quite a bit. In my garden the Yellow slippers bloom around the middle of June. The Sparrow Eggs maybe a week before. Both stay in bloom for a long time. I have some Yellow slippers on the north side of the house that aren't in bloom until the fourth week of June. In the wild it is much more variable. The Sparrow Eggs are in bloom anywhere starting from the first week of June in lower elevations to the first week of July at higher elevations. The same with the yellows but a week later. The wild C. montanums are often only out in mid July because they are found in areas of deeper snow cover and the growing season starts later. The C. montanums, however, can be out earlier at lower elevations (especially across the border in the province of British Columbia). The most prolific orchid in our region is the Calypso. They come out in the millions of clumps starting about June 10 or so. They can be found all along the coniferous forest that runs along the eastern base of the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Especially from the latitude of Calgary northwards. Among the white spruces there's often Calypsos opening their blooms beside the remnants of snow patches...very similar to how crocuses will open with snow still on the ground in the garden.

I have pictures of the plumie, lots of them. She's got blooms and managed to keep them for the trip home. ;) Last night was heavenly having her inside in the living room. Haha! I just love the scent. As for that POS Ford... You're so right, it coulda been a commercial! Gosh, I thought she was going to blow a gasket, literally, She being the MIL. When it broke down the second time, the third? Well... all she could do was laugh and smirk then say that at least we were close to home. *chuckles* Close to home for her maybe, but certainly not for my husband & I as we live 2 1/2hrs away from her. I'll go finish uploading photos and add descriptions, so you can enjoy a good laugh and some beautiful images. ;) ~Tina, enjoying being home very much so!

Old topic but wanted to share my input. I'm growing hydroponic tomatoes (various strains) at university in a lab setting (indoors under HID lights) and outdoors in a greenhouse. In one of my greenhouse NFT systems, i recently had a similar problem on 1 tomato plant (total 9 plants that share the same res and tubes). But im gonna try to diagnose your issue by mentioning what others missed out on. 1 major cause of leaf curl is compaction of root system (i.e. roots are compressed or dont have enough space to expand). This risk is exacerbated in hydroponic systems that use tubes. This was the problem i had and had to replace tubes with square tubings that have a liftable top. Once you have access to roots, you must seperate them strand by strand (i.e. so they arent sticking together). In your setup, this risk will further be exacerbated because you filled the entire pvc tube with hydroton (right?). Remove hydroton from tube and place the plant in a net cup with hydroton. Nitrogen burns usually cause browning/yellowing of leaves (similar to sun/heat burn) and not purpling. Test your solution for each chemical if possible, or use a commonly employed aggregated measuring device that shows total concentration in ppm (dont let it exceed 2500). In my system, only one plant was affected. Coincidentally, it was the largest of all plants with the most root mass. I let another normal one grow to its size to see whether it would undergo the same problem, and it did. Viral and bacterial infections that cause leaf roll usually cause it to roll up. Same with the physiological roll. If your leafs roll down AND if your stems bend, this is caused by a diminishing turgor pressure (read: not enough water reaching afflicted area). Mist several times when lights are off (no photosysnthesis) and observe increasing turgor pressure (unbending). Or, untangle roots and remove hydroton from from pipes. I tested various growing methods including fully and partially submerged roots. They all work but a submerged root cannot intake oxygen; it has to borrow oxygen from another part of the plant (i.e. a root part that isnt submerged or above ground stem). This requires energy for transportion and isnt the most efficient (optimal) way for growth and cellular processes. Lastly, an airstone in the reservoir is useless unless the reservoir is completely airtight all the way up to the plant holes. Better to keep small airstones in the pipes right under the plant roots. Those that say aerating the res prevents bacterial development.. is false. If you dont have air in res, you will get anaerobic bacteria (they grow/accumulate slowly but acidify the solution); if you have air in res, you get aerobic bacteria (not acidifying but grow extremely fast). Most bacteria prefer aerobic environments for optimum growth.

I also have lady slippers on my property, and the critters get them from time to time. Sometimes they just disappear, only to return a few years later, so I guess the "rest" thing is accurate. Also, when I find them on other properties around here, they are mainly in pine needle duff in fairly dry areas of very acidic soils. I still have the acid soils, but many pine trees are dying out and have been replaced with hardwoods. Maybe that is a problem for you, too? As for light exposure, I have seen them in bright sunlight up in the mountains and in both light and deep shade in the Piedmont, so I don't think that is the cause. They are the most temperamental of the terrestrial orchids...just attended a presentation about US orchids, and the speaker said they are the most difficult to keep going. Good luck.