Shirley - thanks for the pic! That actually looks pretty great to me! I think if you prune off a few more of the lowest branches so you can see more of the form of the culms that it will be beautiful! Thanks Katkin and Carol for the advice on caladiums. I've had pretty good success with them in other parts of my yard. They multiply like crazy in the summer, and so far the die off rate in winter has been minimal. I did a test caladium in the treefern area last year, and it quadrupled in bulb size and all came back. And those red ones in the front actually are all extras that I pulled out of the area by the bench. I don't seem to have problems with rot in the winter since the soil is so sandy. But I was wondering if winter temperature plays a part too. Since I acquired mine, we have had mild winters. But regardless, these are just the cheap home depot bulbs, so even if I have replace them some years, I agree, they are pretty enough to be worth it.

Tropic I've grown Vandas for many years but generally in the usual ways .Slat baskets ,in the shadehouse with winter protection .The above pic in the palms was bits and pieces of various ones that I moved out there several years ago. They are terete/stap and hybrids as well as some epidendrums Have had terrific growth but not much flowering but they were small pieces and I suspect too much shade but the palms have grown considerably so I think that problem is resolved During cold I cover with a temporary tent made of frost cloth usually when temps fall below 45 have always used tap water on all my plants including the orchids Though a bit hard and alkaline I think it's okay generally the rainfall is enough.. I think this summer I'll see much better results . This winter has been about average low has been 39 and way above normal rainfall in fact too much lol I;m expecting great improvement this summer lol I have catts. epicatts dends, and phals attached to the trees . While they do survive easy to see that they are stressed so the numbers and quality of the flowers is less. My shadehouse is in need of serious repair and feel I'm getting too old for that so decided to try some experiments with the plants . Have always wanted an "epiphyte" garden and caution (good sense} is being replaced with experiments lol Thanks for the pix!!! gary

Hi I have the same experience with mine. Starts off doing great then will start to brown,New fronds are weak and undeveloped. I move it to the outdoor terrarium and it's growing like gangbusters lol. Haven't been able to figure out the difference between the two locations particullarly in winter. Of course the indoor one has artificial light whlle the outdoor one has only natural light. But there are 3 layers of epi's above it not to mention the lattice on the roof and is completely shaded from 10 on during winter. To my mind it should be doing just the opposite.lol I also grow maidenhairs in tree-fern fiber along with Cattleya orchids suspended from the roof. No matter what I do they will go dormant during winter.No matter what temps or humidity I maintain. Come spring they start growing again.lol. I was so sure that they would grow well in the indoor terrarium where everything is so controlled. Gary

Hi Sandy. I have not had experience trying to overwinter Bananas, Hedychiums, Ti Leaves (Cordyline), ALocasia, Colocasia or Xanthosoma. The only time I grew Ti's indoors they suffered greatly from dry air. I found they did better out in the cold than in the warm house, and eventually planted them out. They do get knocked back a bit sometimes in a freeze, but regrow normally in the warm season. These plants are hardy here where I live and are all planted out in the ground. But your system sounds like it should be more than enough to keep all those happy. Before we moved to this house and I had my greenhouse built, I managed to overwinter over 40 pots and tubs of Heliconia of many different species, and 400 orchids, in my house and in my garage, using artificial light when needed and of course heating the garage. Orchids are not particularly hard to keep going in the winter. Many people grow indoors as a matter of course. Some orchids are easier to grow indoors that others. Vandas and other large monopodials would be mure difficult to care for than, say, Phals, but if you are willing to put forth the effort you can do it. I grow mainly Vandas and different vandaceous plants like Mokaras, Renantheras, Arachnis, Aerides, etc. This class of plants generally needs the most light to set blooms and that can be a challenge for indoor growers. So can watering, as they tend to make huge trails of long hanging roots. Lots of indoor growers water their plants in the shower. I grow almost 100% of my orchids either mounted or in media that is almost completely open (ie I don't use bark, I use wine corks, open slat baskets, aliflor, crushed treefern, etc) so its possible for me to water with a simple spray bottle if I need to and hang plants in windows etc. For heliconias, you can amend the potting media by using a combo of bagged orchid bark, or bagged nutshells or peanut hulls, or bagged small shred mulch plus sharp sand plus perlite plus peat. But these plants do need some organic matter in the soil as well as ultra good drainage. If you feel like you have to fertilize your plants, use a slow release granular fertilizer, one application for the entire winter season, rather than trying to use a water soluble. And try to use a LOW NITROGEN fertilizer, like maybe a "bloom special" type, for 2 reasons: If you try to fertilize with a water soluble, you risk a salt buildup in the pots, that you would have to leach out eventually. The amount of water needed to leach the pots would probably not go well with your indoor environment. The fertilizer may burn the plants if there isn't enough light for the plants to effectively utilize it. Plus, you don't want to promote a huge amount of leafy green growth that you will have to tax yourself to move out later on. Your goal over winter is just to keep your plants alive and healthy enough to go back out in Spring and resume their "normal lives". I fertilize my plants over the course of the winter in the greenhouse with water soluble 10-50-10, maybe every month instead of every week, but mine are planted in the ground and getting huge amounts of natural light...also, many heliconias are winter or late spring bloomers and need the food to look good. Daylength is altered here of course, days are getting shorter so that has an impact on greenhouse grown plants where as you can control the light you give. I would not automatically assume that the heliconia you are having problems with has shrivelled up because it was too dry. You might want to unpot it and check its roots to make certain that you have notlost them to predation my insects, that the rhizomes are firm and intact and not being eaten by something or infected with fungus, etc. If everything looks okay, repot, trim and carry on. If you see pests and/or fungus, make a slurry of Captan powdered fungicide (enough to really cloud the water) mixed with a tablespoon of a systemic pesticide like Cygon 2E or Orthene and a Tablespoon of water soluble fertilizer like Miracle Grow in a gallon of water soak the roots and rhizomes for about 30 minutes, repot in fresh soil, then use the soaking water as a soil drench to water the plant in its new soil. WHen I get a pest infestation on my indoor plants, we have enough really warm (over 60F) winter days for me to be able to haul the plants outside and really spray them down with either an oil apray or Orthene. Since you don;t have that luxury, it would be a good idea to keep a spray bottle of something like Neem Oil on hand and spray any infestations as soon as you see them and every 7 days after that while the plants are indoors. Neem is non-toxic and also has fungicidal properties, AND the added bonus of smelling somewhat like citrus.