Ditto- But I'm just Mentioning my Perrinial Type Plants, that I have Kept Not just going for many yrs but Super Big in size as what they are from their Original warm yr round Orgins/County. I did it just as a Challange , Test to see and its worked and being Cheap . While saved the Money ( Ave $100) Rebuying them every year, I paid for it in Time and Effort .. and have you ever seen "Spikes" 4-5 ft Tall, like Mini Palm Trees? Or the same 5 ft tall Gerrainiums? or 6 ft accross Asparagus Plants? Not only blow the minds of Family and friends vistiing, but I bring one of them to our Annual-late Summer Garden show in town and have won an award every yr these past 5 yrs..Nobody has a Such Large ones as I have ! Especially all the Women & Pro's that have been doing Gardening alot longer than I have. I got One Pro Gardening Business doing the same now and they are catching up with the size of mine now! Went into their lace last Feb. and saw them in their Place/Atrium....selling for $100-$150 each! Germs 5x bigger than the usual $25 baskets with Stalks the size of Small Tree trunks! Takes Loopers to cut them or a hand saw! Just like Growing those 500-1,000 Lb Pumpkins! I grew them too for 5 yrs ! my Biggest was only 465 lbs..but started the Annual Largest Privately -Locally Grown Pumpkin contest in our town ! This Season? the Biggest was 678 lbs! by some 83 yr old Woman, that nursed it like it was one of her Grandkids, she said..! And since we're a Lake Resort town? The Great Pumpkin Boat Race was held this Yr for the 1st time too! 8 entered to win the $100 1st prize, $50/2nd and $25 for 3rd and Alot of Laughs! by the Jaycees! Special Prize ribbon went for the sexiest Owner- a 61 yr old former Playboy Bunny woman ( The Playboy Club Resort was in our town ), she did that job for its last 2 yrs in business here and She still looked GREAT in her Old Bunny Costume no less! Maybe she let out alittle In the Butt and alittle more support in the chest and wore a Wig, but her Bunny Tail & Ears were very cute & Sexy! ;-)

Hi Susan, Regarding Zygos, I will limit my observations to my plants. I grow Zygo species only. I don't think that rot is a problem with more mature growth in Zygos. My experience has been that water getting into the crown of a very young growth is especially dangerous when there is inadequate air movement. Rot is likely. I don't concern myself too much with the plants left outdoors in the rain. Rot happens. Zygopetalum sends out far greater numbers of new growths than other orchids, Cattleya e.g. When the plants are indoors, I water early in the morning. I have a fan "on", 24/7. Air movement isn't an issue. The spotting in Zygo leaves has been a source of comment from "experts" for many years. From the reading that I have done over the years, I think that the source of spotting is a naturally occurring biological agent which is not harmful to the plants. I hesitate to call the spotting a problem. I have noticed that the spotting becomes more pronounced in weakened, darkly colored plants. I have also noticed that the spotting is reduced in strong plants with light green colored leaves. Regardless of whether a plant is strong or weak, spotting is commonly found in all. I have purchased plants bred within the USA. I have imported a few from Brasil. My observations are the same regardless of the source. Can Zygos be found without the spotting? I don't know. It doesn't concern me. If the plant is vigorous and the flowers are numerous, bold and colorful, then I don't care! I'd like to add an additional note about Zygos. I have repeatedly seen it written that Zygos flower once per year. Yes, in some years that is true. I have also had exceptional years with frequent flowering from the same plant/same pot, almost non-stop for months. The flowering is often stimulated by cooler temps at a particular stage of growth. When the conditions are optimal, flowering happens! My brief anecdotes represent past performance which is not a guarantee of future results. Future flowering will fluctuate. Of course, what happens in Md may not happen elsewhere. :-) --Stitz--

I have mixed feelings — they provide more use of our porch than if we’d just gone with a screened porch. This year we started opening only the bottom panels and using our ceiling fan. The ventilation was excellent and they were easy to open and close. However, I miss the big open effect of opening them down from the top. To close them when they were opened from the top, my husband had to use a stepstool and, at 5’4”, I couldn’t close them completely. After having them for 5 years we still haven’t tackled cleaning the vinyl so our view is getting more blurry — we’re afraid something will break. In retrospect, I wish we’d originally paid the extra $15-$20k for windows and winterizing so we could enjoy the room year-round — to retrofit now would probably cost 2-3 times that amount. Live and learn!

Tyler, so how is it going with the cooktop/hood? We are planning a remodel and considering a similar situation. We are in Florida, so I’d like to avoid MUA if possible as it is painfully humid and hot AF here 360 days of the year and one of my main goals of this remodel is to keep the hot air out. We have an older 1959 home, 94” ceilings. Our kitchen designer wants to put a 36” wolf gas range-style cooktop in front of a 104” window with a 6” backsplash/ledge using a wolf or zephyr 48” ceiling mounted hood at 600 or 700 CFM. So if the cooktop lands at 36”, that puts the vent 4’8”away from the countertop on the ceiling. I’m looking for functionality of suckage (sorry, I never made it past geometry into trig, so “suckage” is as good as it gets for me—lol) and if I have to use a different island hood that hangs 36” above the cooktop, so be it. I’m curious how it’s going for you, especially cleaning the window after cooking. Is it a daily chore or weekly? (I don’t see the window as a cleaning issue, when I cook, most of the splatter winds up on me or flies sideways, but rarely backward—but I’ve been wrong before, and I’ll be wrong again). I just don’t want to make the hood mistake. Any and all input is appreciated ;)