Just because an orchid is vandacious, doesn't make it a Vanda. Unless, of course, it actually has been hybridized with one.;~) As per the Baker culture sheet: 'ORIGIN/HABITAT: Northeast Asia. Originally detected by Thunberg in southern Japan, plants were growing on hills hear the port city of Nagasaki on Kyushu Island. It is now known to be more widespread in Japan where it grows on the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Plants are also found on the small islands of Yakusima and Tanegasima off the southern coast of Kyushu, on Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands, and in China and Korea. N. falcata may grow on rocks, but is usually found growing epiphytically on rather small branches of deciduous trees where strong light is received in winter and early spring. Plants normally grow at an angle on the branch so that water drains away and does not collect at the base of the leaves. A grower in Japan reported that N. falcata does well mounted on the coarse bark of a persimmon tree in his garden in Yokohama. Cultural Recommendations: The following recommendations are based on averages in the habitat. They may be used as a guide for newly acquired plants whose requirements are unknown, or for plants that are not growing or flowering as well as they should. Reports from growers are included when they indicate success with conditions in cultivation that are outside the range found in the habitat. LIGHT: 2000-3600 fc. TEMPERATURES: Summer days average 78-87F (26-31C), and nights average 66-74F (19-23C), with a diurnal range of 12-13F (7C). HUMIDITY: 80-85% in summer, dropping to near 75% during the remainder of the year. WATER: Rainfall is moderate to heavy throughout the year with the wettest season occurring from spring into autumn. Heavy water should be provided for cultivated plants when they are actively growing, and they should never be allowed to dry out completely. FERTILIZER: A balanced fertilizer, mixed at 1/4-1/2 recommended strength, should be applied weekly during periods of active growth. Many growers use a fertilizer with lower nitrogen and higher phosphate in autumn. This improves blooming the next season and encourages new growths to harden before winter. Pots should be leached every few weeks to prevent salt buildup, especially when fertilizer is being applied most heavily. Plants should first be watered normally to dissolve any accumulated salts. An hour or so later, the medium is flushed with water equal to about twice the volume of the pot. Year-round leaching is important in areas with heavily mineralized water. REST PERIOD: Winter days average 53-56F (12-13C), and nights average 37-40F (3-4C), with a diurnal range of 16F (9C). The actual winter temperatures are probably not that critical since average winter minimums on Okinawa are 50-55F (10-13C), while in Yokohama the lows are 32F (0C) or below for 3 months. Conditions are even colder for a longer period in Korea. Winter rainfall is lower in the habitat, and water should be reduced for cultivated plants during this time. Even less water should be given plants that are grown in very cool conditions. Even these plants should not be allowed to become completely dry, however. The necessary conditions may be met in most growing areas by occasional early morning misting, with a light watering given every two weeks or so. Water is especially beneficial during bright, sunny weather. The clearest, brightest weather in the habitat occurs in autumn and winter. Light is highest in winter, so for cultivated plants, shading should be removed from the growing area and as much light as possible, short of burning the foliage, provided during this time of year. Fertilizer should be reduced or eliminated until conditions become warmer and watering is increased in the spring. GROWING MEDIA: Plants may be mounted on slabs of cork or tree-fern fiber, with a small pad of osmunda or sphagnum moss. If grown on slabs, high humidity must be maintained, and water must be applied at least once daily during the summer. If potted, small pots and a very open, fast draining medium should be used. Hawkes recommends osmunda or shredded tree-fern fiber tightly packed in small pots. In his American Orchid Society Bulletin article, Kichigoro Suszuki reported that this species loves moving air across its roots and must have a well-aerated medium. He recommended repotting in late winter or early spring, using fresh sphagnum moss. The roots should be wrapped with sphagnum and then screwed gently into a pot. The base of the plant should be left above the rim of the pot. While potting, the roots are easily broken. Never cut or tear off the broken or damaged roots because they are still alive. However, all dead or diseased roots should be removed before potting.' Jason Ficher: 'I let them get down to the high 50's and cut the watering down by 75%. It is not a really cool drop, I've seen the Japanese drop to 30 to 40 degrees F, but a little rest really makes a big difference. In the spring, when temps go up and light increases, they almost explode in new roots and growth.' Below is the link to the rest of the discussion about Neo's! If the link works(You know how they are here.), I highly recomend it. Otherwise... Do a search for 'Paging Jason Ficher'. I lost the link once and found it again that way. Here is a link that might be useful: Paging Jason Fischer...Japanese orchids

Have to admit, they had her targeted perfectly with the "no additional shipping charges" and 5% volume discount in addition to the 10% first time order discount. ::grin:: Have to admit to a certain amount of concern over both an article in the LA Times AND in CI pretty much panning the Electrolux, but it seems like improper use was the problem in at least ONE of those cases, and I'm not sure about the other, though I take a lot of magazine testing with a grain of salt. I don't always agree with the judging criteria, and it's amazing how often the testers make mistakes using something that's substantially different from the norm. We'll have to try it out once we get it and see how it works for us. The nice thing is that Baker's Catalogue is likely to be pretty decent about a return if we change our mind and decide that the Viking would be a better choice. I definitely like the idea of the open top on the bowl making adding ingredients etc a LOT easier than with any of the other choices... James

Cathy, I got your email but was unable to reply to it, and so I sent you an email from here so that you can reply to that with an attachment. Thanks! Dcarch, I have been collecting thermal bags for some time now, and so I have quite a collection already. I saved all the ones that Kevin brought back from Seattle when he bought the salmon, lobster, and crab. I also have gel packs that are supposed to substitute for ice packs after oral surgery, and I keep those in the freezer as well. I am planning on storing stuff in the new freezer that I will not need in case of power outage, so that I will not have to open the freezer door. Although I am storing water in there, I would remove that only as a last resort, and it's always better to have more water than necessary. We have a storage container that holds several gallons of drinking water, which is way more than we will need, and we have the hot tub, which has water that can be used for cleaning, if necessary. Oh, and I will also be storing my ice cream innards, which should also help retain cold in case of power outage. I'm going to have to sort through what I already have in the two freezer compartments that I already had. I am going to be very happy to have open space in the freezer in the kitchen again - it filled up very fast, and I need the open space for chilling things from time to time, such as chocolate molds, bowls & beaters for whipped cream, butter for pie crusts, etc. I probably will buy extra butter just to store in the freezer now. I'm going to keep flours in the kitchen freezer, and I will probably put them in plastic mayo jars. I guess they would be okay in glass containers, however. One of my main plans for the freezer was to store more vegetables so that I can eat more of those, as part of a diet plan. I also will store more fruit and eat more of that. I forgot to mention earlier (in my very long post) that Kevin and I had planned to go to the Lebanese market on Venice Blvd just down the street from Best Buy after appliance shopping, but since we had the freezer on the truck, we decided to go straight home. We managed to get the freezer unloaded and installed in the garage much more quickly than I expected and had time to go back to the Lebanese market, which has very cheap produce plus Middle Eastern specialty products. I bought a large container of Za'Atar (now I won't have to make my own) plus some garbanzo flour, fresh dill in bulk, some carob molasses, falafel seasoning mix (may not need that), more Tahini (They have a huge selection of that), and some Jallab Syrup (made with date molasses and rose flavour--their spelling), which I was unsure about and still am. I does have a strong rose flavor/fragrance but I can also taste the date flavor. I think I might like it better without the roses, but I also might get used to it. We had it on pancakes this morning. I'm going to finish making the falafel this afternoon, and I want to freeze some of the dill. I was thinking I might want to store the dill in lemon juice with some garlic, since I generally add those to dill when I use it. I also need to plan what containers to use for the freezer, and I am thinking I want to get some plastic bottles for hot sauce. I have a lot of plastic containers that I'm not using, but I thought I would save those for leftovers. I like the idea of storing index cards in freezer bags!! I'm definitely going to do that! I have a feeling that the seafood section of my freezer is going to get the most use, but I will also be on the lookout for a cheap turkey. It's going to be nice to be able to shop and not worry about freezer storage space - at least for now. I'm hoping also to be able to cut down on trips to the market. Lars

Nope, I completely missed it. Elery and I are building an island in the kitchen and my prep space is pretty much taken up with drills, hammers, tapcons, silicone adhesive. Maybe I could do a belated Pi(e) Day? I just really want to get this done before Easter, so no pie. Annie