Thank you Howard, and again, corymbosa, for adding additional thoughts. Howard -- I like to avoid pots as much as possible in my collection, but there are cases when they are, of course, necessary. Most dens and catts I have in clay slatted pots with arcillite, to provide good drainage and maximize air flow. However, I believe that clay and Den. falcorostrum may not be a good combination, because it sounds like it prefers a gentle "evenness" to the dampness the roots encounter -- which clay pots do not easily provide. They're either very wet, or very dry, with little "in-between" time. My experience with plastic pots (as the plant is now contained) is that especially with organic mixes, plastic pots remain much too wet inside, given the necessary watering practices within a moderate-sized mixed collection to keep everything "happy". Without fail, every single plant I've ever received from a nursery potted in plastic ALWAYS has an excessive amount of rotted roots. I don't have the luxury of watering things differently, so, I adjust the type of mix, pot, mount, etc., to compensate for the even dispersal of water. (I have hung a temporary plastic curtain to keep my nobile dendrobium and Cyrtopodium punctatum dry during the winter months.) I have a ramshackle greenhouse made of a 2x4 frame with UV-resistant greenhouse fabric stapled to it. Because of the compromises of such a flimsy design, I can't exhaust very well, and temperatures can soar up to 105F (40.5C) in the summer (90s near the floor) during the warmer months. In the winter, I try to button it up tight and double-insulate with a second interior layer of plastic, so that my 1500-watt heater can keep things from freezing. I have to watch carefully, because when the sun hits it during the day and I have it tightly closed, temps will shoot back up to 100F unless I prop open the door. It's a nightmare, but I'm trying to make it work until I can build a better one. I know too well the benefits of humidity, which is one of the reasons I have to compromise with the tightness of the enclosure. If I open it up more to help it cool off, I let the often extremely low outside humidity in, which is bad when coupled with air movement. So, I was thinking during the warmer months I'd bring the falcorostrum inside, although, the A/C will cause it to dry out quickly. (I also keep a Holcoglossum amesianum indoors for the same reason.) However, I don't want to make this a "precedent", because the care required for orchids such as these indoors is more than I want to do for more than one or two. Corymbosa -- it would definitely simplify things if I could trust this orchid outside, but our conditions are anything but moderate, even though we get quite cold during the winter. The worst part is the extreme dryness when it hasn't rained in a while. You wouldn't expect that with us living so near the Gulf of Mexico, but I've taken readings as low as 18% in the springtime. Even when things are damp after a rain, we never approach the humidity I would expect in one of your temperate rainforests. My proposed greenhouse is going to have an active "chiller" to cool and humidify incoming air (my own design), with a solar floor to help heating in the winter. Thermostats instead of timers, so things will be more precisely controlled. I believe I can keep midday daytime temps even in the hottest months below 85F (29C) and better than 75% humidity. I'm not too concerned about the nighttime winter temps -- my collection has gone down to 32F (outside temps into the low 20s) with no ill effects. But the solar floor will certainly ease the expense of running the heater constantly, and I won't have to live in fear of the heater failing and losing my collection. Thanks for finding that reference about mounting falcorostrum. I have the best luck with my collection when things are mounted or in baskets, and it's my preferred method of culture. I'm loathe to experiment with falcorostrum, though! I remember another member, CharlesB, growing his specimen in a large basket, but I don't know the details. I think that's the way Aussie "Keith" grew his too, as well as in rotting logs on the ground...although I can't remember the exact details. His outdoor conditions were pretty close to perfect, so it actually wasn't very helpful for me to try to relate his setup to mine, because he didn't have to modify his growing conditions that much. Thanks again! Bruce

I'm sure you are going to laugh at me but what is vacuum tubes and what do they do for heating? Not to chance the subject but i was on another forum and they were talking at cheap seed starting heat mat. Most of them were taking Xmas rope lights (indoor/outdoor use)and putting them into sand ( just enough to cover them) and then setting the flats with potting mix and seeds on top of the sand. This was to help heat the soil the seeds were in. Theses light were to help maintain 70-80 degree needed to germinate seed. What i want to know is can these rope light really put out that much heat? They just seem so small and inefficient to me. and maybe this is a down right stupid thing to be think but if those rope lights work like they say. why couldn't i used them in my raised bed (like the soil cables). I'm only going to primely use the raised bed to start seeds in because i can't grow in them in the winter. Does my thought seem WAY out of this world or is it workable. East

. I don't have any first-hand knowledge . . . but will point out a few possible issues . . . They all need to be wired together in some fashion . . . that's a bunch of wires somewhere. And they need to come inside the place somewhere . . meaning holes . . not the thing you want to put very many of on your roof. Also, accessability in the event of maintnance / fixing; will likely be more difficult. Solar panels get hot. Put them on as a roof; and temps will be even higher than a free standing panel; either on the roof or in the yard. High temps make life difficult and shorter for ANY material. Any solar panel needs direct sunlight to come near putting out rated power. Rooftops are many times shaded considerably for long periods of the day . . in an effort to keep a place cooler. If you live in a climate with snow; there's another problem to deal with . . . Panels / cells also put out max output when directly facing the sun . . . both vertically and horizontally. While facing solar south all the time deals reasonably well for the horizontal orientation; most roof angles are NOT ideal for any solar panel. At best; you'll only be at optimum angle two days a year. More likely; you will never be very close to optimum angles, output suffers increasingly as you go farther away from optimum. I've got two arrays in my front yard . . fixed at solar south; and get tilted vertically about 6 times a year to keep them around optimum angle during various times of the year. The sun "moves" vertically in the sky about 46 degrees throughout the year. Your roof doesn't . . . . I'm not trying to knock the product / concept; but even if the product itself is perfect and lasts a long time; there are these other factors that will greatly impede power / benefit you will get from them . . . . Bob

Thanks Jule and Bern! Julie, first of all, it is great to hear from you! Yes, the golf course will be out of service for quite a while I'm sure, I just wish I could have gotten a picture of it when the deep water hit it, but that part of town was cut off and I would have had to drive miles around to get to that side, but I had things to do. I helped the 90 year old man that lives across from me about a mile away, the last two days, but I don't have a picture of his house to post, maybe later. The picture of the barn that Bern commented on is the next property over from this man and that was his house, he lived in that barndominium or whatever they call them now. I think that is great that people in Wisconsin, and people all over the USA, are sending donations and much needed items here. I guess there are still a whole lot of good people out there yet. :) The "Road May Flood" sign kind of says it all. The underpass is about a block long, and it was flooded on the other side all the way to the river bridge which is another 2 blocks away. Bern, that guy with the pole barn house already got flooded in the rains we had back in April. In fact, there was more damage from that rain in the rural areas than this hurricane rain. In that rain, I had water in my whole yard and under my entire house. Good thing my house is on blocks otherwise it would have been damaged by that high water. Anyway, that pole barn man had just finished building a levy or berm about ten days before the storm hit, to keep water away from his house, and then this happened to him. In April, the electric company was leasing his land to store trucks and old light poles, the 60 footers, on his property. There were about 60 of those huge long light poles that floated away never to be seen again, not to mention the ruined trucks and dozers and other equipment. The man had an RV, a school bus, and a tractor and frontend loader, which were all ruined. I have a few more pictures, but if you go on YouTube and type in La Grange Flood or Columbus Texas Flood, you will see aerial video clips of the massive water coverage. BTW, to whom it may concern, I'm having problems with my email account so I haven't been able to access it for about 2 weeks now, just saying... Thanks again everyone and I will see what other pics I have. Stay safe everyone.