Hi, I'm not a real authority on phrags- I'm actually just beginning to get seriously interested in this genus. There are some slipper forums that can give you better, proven advice than I can offer, and here are some links that you should check out- http://www.slipperorchids.info/ http://www.slipperorchidforum.com/forum/index.php http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/index.php I can't seem to find the link which lists the water lovers vs the drier-preferrers, but the folks at the above links can easily help you with that. fman- AFAIK, yours is water lover. And many phrags want higher light levels. 1-2 ft from an eastern window will *not* do it for your plant. If that's where you want to keep it, you should add supplemental light (some CFLs would be nice). A saucer of CLEAN water (as Komi pointed out) is a good idea, but be dedicated about the 'clean', and change it 2-3X/week. I can't help but to fuss, so I am willing to dump the water daily (I don't but I would). What else do you grow and bloom? Do you like to water or forget to water? Do you have a preferred media to grow in? Clara- My adult phrag mix is a little larger than a seedling mix, and it has a little bit of everything: CHC, chopped sphag, small lava rock, med perlite, chopped tree fern, ground cork, med/sml bark, tiny sea shells, (maybe lime or bone meal), charcoal, and maybe/maybe not other stuff. It's a mix that drains well, holds some water (but since my phrags sit in saucers of water, the media doesn't need to retain much water on it's own). My seedling phrag mix is the same, just smaller pieces of the same stuff. As Brooke said, many people grow theirs in s/h. I haven't tried that, but might soon. If you're having problems with your phrags, my experience is to add more light if you can, but also make sure that they have the water level appropriate for your plant. I can't bloom catts, and I know that my light is clearly less that catt-level, FWIW. But phrags typically need a lot more than paph light to really succeed. Carolyn

To give different aspect on an experience with 1000bulbs: I ordered from them on-line and when mine arrived I did not think 1 of the 4 85's worked, as when I screwed it into a known good working brooder fixture it would not light. I called 1000bulbs and explained the problem, they sent me a replacment with no hassles and asked that I keep the non-working bulb incase the manufacturer might want to have it sent back for inspection. The new bulb arrived it worked and all was well. After finding out I did not need to return the non-working bulb, I tried it in another fixture (I had bought larger brooder lamps after seeing the length of the 85's) and it worked??? I went back to the original brooder lamp I tried it in and low and behold, the 'shallower pan' portion of the brooder lamp was not allowing the bulb to be fully screwed in. So long story short, 1000bulbs was great to me in this instance and I got a freebie in kind of a bad way ;-) I will say that having replaced my 400watt MH HID with 4 85's has helped my plants in that area. Not because there's more lumens or less heat, but because I can actually get the lights much closer (thanks Clara!) to the plants now and they seem to be liking that change. So 20,000+ lumens at @4"-6" inches away, seems to be doing better for me than 36,000+ was at @10"-16" and futher once you get away from being directly under the single light... The footprint of my CFL lights are now spread across an 18" x 48" area, whereas with the HID it was about 12" x 18". I use about the same wattage as before, but I think I use it much more effeciently now. IMO: Overall better coverage with the CFL's and cheaper purchase-wise and energy/heat-wise. I like 'em!!! Bob

My mom has them in her garden, and they spread to about 2 feet square. I like the color and the fact that they are shorter than other types. I unfortunately can't grow them in my garden because my soil has too much clay and other plants crowding around.

Sorry, but I doubt you'll find cuttings of the type you describe locally. Maybe you're new to Hoyas, but they don't bloom all that fast & w/ large leaves it may be even longer. I haven't yet bloomed any of my larger leafed Hoyas..