Yes it has a drainage place in the center of the floor. Your plants are all so healthy looking and so many of them. A greenhouse would really make things easier especially if you are working long hours.

Yes James, we have wifi! And yes, we have a pool. Instead of money we will work you for the trade. Your orchids look very happy and healthy. Your greenhouse sounds like a timely idea. If possible build it bigger than you need. I wish my growing space was big enough to have a table and chairs to accommodate dinner for 4. That way if your labor trade is effective dinner then is included. Something to think about when you build yours. If you have plans on the new greenhouse, please share your thoughts.

PS. The pool adds a couple of degrees to the air on cold days. When the temps dip the water will lose a little heat but be much warmer than the air on a cold morning. 2 or 3 degrees. Orchids benefit.

Over night stays for trades? Sounds like a plan to me!!

Everyone's areas look amazing. I hope to get home in time to take some pics in the natural light.

Shirley, when you are having breakfast in the orchid room, please send us a picture. I bet it would be easy to smile for that shot. Do you think a humidifier in the winter would be a benefit? Or is the fountain enough? My guess is you experience below 32. Which means a lot of drying heat.

There is a wall fountain too so I don't feel the need for a humidifier. It did get 32 and below this winter but humidity stayed around 55 and is much higher now. The room is about 12 ft high on the house side so the heater/cooler vent is up high and the fan is in front of it so probably disperses the heat/cooling more evenly because of that.

My growing/work area is my garden. I have terrestrials and epiphytes. The only potted orchids I have are some deciduous Spathoglottis which will soon be in the ground anyway.

Here is my main indoor growing area:

I still have a month before I completely set up the outdoor space.

Nice collection. Thanks for sharing. They all look healthy and happy. And I know have carefully created an envied collection. I do not know if I could manage that many plants in your zone. A great effort. And great results.

Shirley, I'd sit at that lovely table with a nice glass of wine. Forget breakfast!

I'd fix a tray of nice cheeses and a great bottle of wine and just enjoy the quiet and beauty. Love your grow area!

Harvey, I don't understand why you heat and cool. You live further south of where I live. I have never moved any of my orchids inside (except to enjoy the flowers), certainly do not heat nor cover them no matter how cold it gets. The cold temps are only for a few hours at night. The sun blazes in the morning.

Maybe because I grew in NY for 20 years, I learned the drop in temp didn't bother the orchids at all. They all grew and flowered and never missed a beat.

Only long periods of cold which goes on day and night create problems. Not a cold night with warm days. There had never been any frost in Sarasota since I moved here. I don't move the Vandas either. No one does here in Sarasota.

But, I love your grow area! Your plants are beautiful.

Darlene, you are a champ! What a great grow area and you are the light professional! You grow beautiful orchids and I am so impressed by how well you grow your plants. Great job!

I'll take photos of my grow area, which is so crowded. I am moving more and more plants outside because they are all too crowded. I wish I could make a larger grow area and keep trying to figure out a way to do that. Because of lighting and the size of my yard, I need professional help trying to figure out where to build it.

Jane

Jane, I heat to the highest required temps for the most cold sensitive. That being said, this year I had only one episode that required heat for just a few days. And the 2 previous years was not much colder. But before that I would start heating in November. And heat into March. My tropical Australians would not die but the flower production would be much less. And that holds true for many that would not die but produce less. I grow for flowers not survival of the plants. I have a few that never get heated. And it has not been cold enough the last 3 years to initiate blooms on my Den. speciosum var hillii. Normal conditions would bloom it. I'm waiting. The terete vandas are too big to move but are the most bullit proof orchids I know. They tolerate high 20's to 100. I have many in the landscape on trees. On occasion some have died from the cold and clearly have produced much less flowers. Those in the landscape are my canaries in the coal mine. So Jane, my canaries prove it is better for me to heat. Even though I get the benefit of the Gulfstream moderating my weather and you don't I still heat under 50.

Breakfast would be the routine. Dinners and cocktails on the right occasions....

Darlene I love your set up. Many years ago I grew African Violets under lights and still would like that as a way for growing orchids. At my age (82) the greenhouse is a lot less work and I so much enjoy my orchids. Jane &Harvey no time to sit and enjoy right now. I am going to try to add a shelf behind my fountain today but it will depend on if I am still able to turn on my water faucet if I do. Should be good exercise though.

I have a small hobby 6x8 greenhouse. It is heated but I keep it too cool in the winter for most of my collection. So that's what you see under the lights. I have another 30 or so in the greenhouse (mostly dends). They are waking up from their winter slumber now.

I love the light and warmth of my grow room over the dreary months. It really lifts my spirits. But its a lot of work. Each year I say I am going to downsize. Maybe this will be the year. I have an access of Cattleyas...

I guess I might as well show the other end of the spectrum. This is nothing like the beautiful areas above.

At least there's an okay view off the balcony.

Looks like your plants get good light so that is the main thing. What a view!

I would trade with you for that light and that view.

The balcony faces south, so yes, lots of light.

My very unglamorous Phalaenopsis growing area. But they're very happy there.

Where I grow my epiphytes (mostly Hoyas), but also a few orchids.

What a large beautiful growing area and beautiful plants.

Adam, y.our growing area is unique. I like the design of it. What are the measurements? Is it totally enclosed? Your plants seem to love it. I'd have had a difficult time parting with those cattleyas. They are beautiful!.

I'm not 100% on the measurements, but i think it's 12m x 2m. It basically encompasses the entire western side of the house. It's open at the bottom along the neighbours fence abd at the ends, but there is an asbestos fence at each end which partially encloses it and serves as a bit of a wind break.

This is only a recent addition. It replaces the rotten old wooden pergola with horrible green shade cloth with a big, inconvenient gap that was responsible for a lot of scorching. Since switching to beige the growth and flowering has improved markedly.

Adam, where in the world do you live? Thanks Harvey

I live just south of Perth, Western Australia.

Oh,wow everyone!allof your growing areas are just fantastic,I'm just drooling!ive looked here multiple times for ideas.i have a 12' by 16' plant room with many house plants,orchids,vio,ears,succulents etc.it has an east window,large west slider,and two solatubes.i still have a hard time getting cats to bloom.theyre in east window.anyway,thanks for the eye candy!

Hi Adam,I'm wondering,do you have the shade cloth on the top,can't tell for sure?also what are your low temps in winter?

Hi Maria. Yes the shade cloth is on top. Its secured by screws and metal strapping. Our lowest temps are around 2°C in spring on clear nights. Its usually around 10-12.

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_009977.shtml

Maria, do you put your orchids outdoors over summer? I grew Catts in NY and put them out as soon as the weather settled. They bloomed indoors over winter in a West window.

Here's mine.

My plants are all over the place. I have a large screened patio (lanai) where I keep my orchids which I give the most care to. All the others are hanging outdoor under trees or on benches under trees.

I only have photos of the orchids inside the screened patio.

This shot is the right side. It faces primarily East but gets West sun until about 2pm. These are under shade cloth I had put on the top of the screening. Mostly lower light orchids.

This is a shot from left to right. Left side is mostly facing East with some West sun in the afternoon. It gets the highest light because it is less shaded by a large tree outside.

I have a large Pacharia Tree potted on the patio. I hauled it from NY when we moved. I hang smaller orchids from its branches.

This shot shows the large Pacharia tree with some small baskets hanging from it. You can also see the shade cloth over the grow area beyond. The shade cloth is only over that area. .

I have lots of grow areas outside. I find the orchids do better inside the patio because I spend more time around them.

Jane

Looks like a very productive grow area. Your past pictures of flowers confirms that. Thanks for sharing.

What a beautiful growing area Jane. Beautiful plants too.

hi Adam,thanks for the temps info.Where I love it can get into the mid to low 20s F in cooler months.

Jane your patio area is amazing and the plants look great. Yes I do put all the orchids out doors starting in spring.while we have had lots of rain all fall and winter and even lately,last week we dropped to 31F. I'm afraid to put them out until it stays consistently 45F or higher. They went out last year on May 5th. They come in around Oct. 20th.

Hi trying to post a pic here of my plant room,never done it before,here goes...

Beautiful area and beautiful plants.

Hi Maria, what a nice collection. How do you water with a finished floor? It must be a lot of work. How long does it take?

Hi Shirley,thanks for the complement.

Harvey,thanks.i water very carefully,lol.for the plants in center and some around the walls,I water with a pitcher.the orchids in the window,violets,and succulents I carry to the kitchen to water. The room is around 68 F in the cooler months so don't have to water as often. The orchids and succ.will be going outdoors any day now.I also have a shed with a south facing slider that's full of succulents,epiphyllums and a brugmansia that needs to be emptied in a few days. Yeah,keeps me busy but I like doing it.

Hi, Your growing areas is awesome guys and i LOVED it, This is my green house in winter and in summer in the fog.

Thanks for sharing Fereydoon. Looks like a lot of happy orchids. Where in the world do you live? Is it foggy a lot?

Maria, it appears to be an effort that really is a labor of love. Bringing them outside is getting to be time to do that soon I guess.

Thank you, I live in Tehran, Iran but the fog is not natural, i use ultra sonic humidifier system.

Orchids in a vey dry climate. And doing well! A big challenge that you are up for. Well done! Do you have any orchid friends? Can you buy orchids in Tehran?

That yellow oncidium is outstanding and beautiful !

Thank you Harvey and Shirley. We have a orchid society "IOS" and i'm a member. you can buy orchids here yes but mostly phal, cym, dend, catt, paph, vanda and oncidiums hybrids and most of the orchids species is imported from Thailand but the south american species are rare here, growing orchids is little tricky here but so far my orchids are healthy :)

Wow! This is cool seeing everyone's growing sites. Indeed, Fereydoon. Wonderful job. The fog is a great set up. Your orchids look great.

My area is not as elegant and certainly not tidy growing under the shade of large trees, but, it has worked for many years. Wasn't sure I wanted to show after seeing others neat and organized grow spots. Well, here it is.

During winter the orchids get full cool sun. As it gets hotter and dryer the trees leaf out and the shade comes. Some do get scorched and I hose the areas down at least once a day. Twice or thrice during horrible summer heat.
One side tiered benches

Other side of walkway.

A lot of zygopetalums on this side pushing out new growth. Mary Eliz Bohn seems very happy and has bloomed 3 times in 14 months and it's division twice. My newest cutie is the Sarcochilus next to Mary.

There's another side that has convalescing laelias (my favorites) in 8 inch pots. This is a constant redesigning project.

A very nice collection. Very interesting about your growing space and the accommodating tree. Thanks for sharing.

Like your outside shelving and growing area. I grow inside but still have the tree shading to contend with so that's where the phals go.

Great setup. You are lucky you have such a great tree! What kind of tree?

I have a large oak where I tried to grow orchids under but lost the battle to squirrels who love the acorns. They think nothing about tossing my pots all over as they run up the tree.

Your plants look happy and healthy!

Jane

Hi everyone! Thank you!

Jane, Oooooh, don't get me started on squirrels. I wish I could contract eagle hitmen to deal with them.... they've ruined many an orange with one bite, chewed up many succulent leaves, then spit out the leaf in disgust and do it again the next day. The bigger hoodlums are raccoons that decided the center of all my bromeliads have hidden treats. The carnage! Plant parts everywhere and, yes. Orchids and succulents thrown down to the ground. Haven't figured out how to deter these furry gangsters.....

My trees....there are 3 trees sort of fighting for canopy space. A guava above the Mary Eliz B bench. A large Australian Umbrella tree that blocks the afternoon Western sun somewhat and a 20 year old Chinese Elm I am annoyed with. They have leafed out and the shelter in heat waves is appreciated, but, they all need taming. Saving pennies for arborist.....

I enjoy seeing how simply growing spaces are organized, including yours'. Love how your phalie is happy in the tree! I used to have a few laelias growing on an apricot tree, now long gone.

Ariel, how humid is your climate? Seems the orchids would be happy year round.

I'm right on the ocean, so even in the winter (no rain from November to June), it stays fairly humid. It hasn't gotten humid yet & I think today was around 70%. It is almost 10 pm now & it is 78%. The problems for me are sun (I have zero shade) and heat (lowest high is low 70s F & lowest lows around 60 F). Forested areas & locations higher in the mountains are more conducive, but I make do.

I recall summers along the coast are incredibly humid. I know plants and orchids must appreciate the moist air. I found it hard to adapt to, but then, I'm no orchid. ;]
Yes, there's always a bit of adjusting our little spaces to create a micro-climate our plants thrive in. Looks like you're plants are in good hands.