I'm new to Vegas (not quite a year here), and to container gardening (in an apt. now instead of the house I had back in NM) but I do frequent two nurseries that are fairly convenient to my location - and so far, so good. They are Star Nursery on West Charleston and Cimaron Rd, and Plant World, also on West Charleston but a little closer in towards town between Jones Blvd and Decatur. You'll probably want to get seeds started ASAP - we're going to start warming up quickly here in the Mojave.

So....here is how I have digested all this info: (BTW, when I went three yrs without repotting, it was because I did not know any better and I have NO IDEA how I got so lucky with such hardy and healthy plants. They were all 7 bucks from Costco!!! All have been repotted since and most have lived on and bloomed.) Yes - light and root rot seem to be my issues. So, I am tracking the light and moving plants around. Was not ready for harsh autumn sun low in the sky. Watering...am "listening" to my orchids more now. The Yellow Boy that was in root rot crisis...had a nice little trim of his roots and potted him shallow in clean medium. Happy plant! Blooms are busting out all over now and the one scary, curly leaf is just ready to fall off. My sad Vanda that was under-watered for so long....drum roll please....has 2 new leaves AND 2 new spikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gee, amazing what some water can do :o) I love the idea of creating a monthly calendar and index cards for each plant to keep track...that is right up my alley and I think it will be important in assimilating information and making sure each has what it needs. I do not plan on mounting any of my orchids at this time. I have cats, so mounted orchids are just cats toys waiting to have their roots ripped off! I love having my vanda as a hanging orchid and will likely stik with Phals and Cids from here forward. Fertilizer and lights (artificial) still have me a bit stumped, but I know there is tons of info available here for me to search. I love the simple and basic stuff best and am happy to have the tip on peroxide. I have mostly clay pots but have plastic liners...considering removing the plastic as an aid to prevent root rot. Thanks for that tip. Water quality: well, I use the same water as the guy down the road who has prize winning orchids, so I am guessing it is OK, but I have learned to heat it in the microwave for a few seconds first and my plants really seem to like that. I will likely join the Cape Fear Orchid Society, but thanks for the tip on AOS...think I will look in to that too. I have reviewed the recommended books and added a couple to my christmas list. Light light light...that is where I am going to direct my focus next. THANK YOU...ALL of you! :o)

Hi Michael, another zone 5 PA brug lover here, Johnstown, PA! I am not experienced with them like others are here so cannot address the pruning for treelike growth but can share my wintering indoor experiences. Got my first brug 5 years ago and overwintered it in a growing state for 3 of them. After the initial shock of the environment change resulting in a massive leaf loss, we had no problems until Feb or March. Then I would inevitably end up with a whitefly and/or spider mite infestation that I had to battle. This was lessoned somewhat if I ran a humidifier constantly and misted the plant a time or two a week. Unfortunately this resulted in a dampness in the living and dining rooms so I then moved them to a basement bathroom. But this had the problem of no windows so I had to rig up plant lights on timers....and still run the humidifier. You know that old saying out of sight out of mind? It's true, I didn't see the plants all the time and so had a tough time remembering to water them regularly..... So for the past 2 years I have left them go dormant in the garage. My brug was very large, 5 feet tall and probably 4 feet across so it created other problems in the house. The garage also suffers from all the plants coming in for the winter (6 pots of canna, hibiscus, 4 or 5 pots of taro, jasmine and more) but we adjust to it. This year I thought I lost my original brug but lucked out and it came back so I am not sure what I am going to do this year. I have a couple of new ones that I bought, they are still managable from the size standpoint so I think they may overwinter in the bay window this year and I will mist them daily.

I can only assume that the 10 or more 55 Qt bags I bought this year must be a local mix or something then. Maybe it varies in different parts of the country which I believe it states on the bag. Mine has quite a bit of pine Bark fines in it already, in fact it looks like more bark (some of it very fine though)than anything else. Next is Peat then the "coir" and the Perlite. It can have up to 60% pine bark and compost according to the MSDS. All the bags I have gotten seem to have about that percentage. In 15+ gallon pots it seems to work very well for me, and in the 380 Qt Vegtrug it works great. Also in my part of the country blight is rampant regardless what mix you start it in unless you grow in a temp/humidity controlled greenhouse. The insane humidity here is a perfect breeding ground for it and spreads like wild fire. In zone 5 you are correct, not that much blight there. Craig Lehoullier just a couple miles from me just pulled all but about 30 of his 212 plants last week mostly because of blight. MGMC works just fine as long as you use large containers so that the perched water is not that much of a problem. I am going to pull my first 2 tomato plants probably within the next week, I will take pictures of where the perched water is in the container. I do plan on amending this years MGMC with a few bags of Orchid Mix next year which is nothing but perfect size pine bark fines and small charcoal and fired ceramic bits just to loosen it up just a bit more. But as long as you use at least 15+ gallon pots you should be fine with straight MGMC, at least what I get here in NC. I water my plants every single day unless it just rained. When over 100 degrees sometimes 2 even 3X a day. The 3rd time is mostly just to cool the roots. But I have never had any problems with this MGMC it drains quite good in large pots, the plants take a nice big drink, it drains right on out except for the bottom 2-3" is soaked the rest is just moist. All of my plants have done great in it. Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Lettuce, Mint, Rosemary, Bok Choy, Blueberries plus all my wifes flowers all planted in MGMC all are doing great. So I cant complain about it, even though I do think for "Tomatoes" that it should be amended with more Pine Bark and maybe some vermiculite, Perlite or what ever to lighten it up some.