Nora, I just checked my 40 W 48 in bulbs- I seem to have a mix of 'Natural' light, 'Daylight deluxe' (both Philips), and Sylvania cool white. Hard to tell from the bulbs exactly what all 4 are. I think I strive for the closest to daylight/natural light that I can get, but I know that I re-search the forums before I buy each time, to get whatever is considered to be the best color of light. My HD is somewhat limited, so I have bought also from Lowes on the rare occasion that I go there - hence the questionable mix. Well, from what I know, phals, masdies, restrepias, pleuros, zootrophions, lepanthes are all lower light, so fluorescent will work for you. Some Angs are hi light lovers, others tolerate lower light, so look into your specifics. I think cirros will take the lower light, my galeandra baueri blooms wonderfully under fluorescents. I could never get a cochleanthes to bloom (which doesn't mean much) I have a paphinia on it's way to me, so I hope they like fluorescents! And I think stelis is another lower light tolerant plant. Hmmm, perfection gave great advice- utility type fluorescents won't make you completely happy in the end. They're great, but supplement them with some good CFLs. the light they add to a focused area is amazing! Carolyn

Greencurls, thanks for starting this thread. RH here is usually in the mid-teens to low 30%, and it'd be terrific not to have to soak the mounties every day. 2 of the 3 remaining mounties are down in a wide-mouthed, clear glass cannister w/ stones and water in the bottom, but they don't touch the water. Kevin, my rambling Trichoceros antennifer on a 10" slender tree fern pole didn't make it, maybe because I couldn't keep it wet enough. The pole was in a clay pot & anchored by stones, but perhaps it needed to be soaked daily, rather than have water poured over it. Maybe choose plants that are happy on shorter & smaller pieces. Do you still have to water yours daily? Soak? Spray? Pour water through them? Speaking of which - Liz, your friend's upside-down-pot method sounds intriguing. So, do you know if she just keeps the saucer filled, rather than having to water the Psychopsis every day? Kevin, were you the one who covered an upside-down clay pot w/ sphag, attached mounties, and put the pot in a saucer of water? Or did I make that up? :) It'd be so much fun to have a whole new shopping category after all these years. Thanks, WC8

You dogs! The link below was 3rd in the search for front-opening terrariums. The site gives detailed instructions on making a gorgeous vivarium, complete w/ water dripping down the back wall. Waaaa. Not a good time to be between jobs in a rotten economy. The site for a local place says they have new and used tanks, and they carry at least one of the front-opening brands. Michigoose - good to hear from you. The leak sounds awful, plus you probably had damage to the whole area, huh? Calvin, ouch - watch those wires. :) Glad you weren’t hurt. I’ve seen the little umbrella things for the foggers for about $4 online. Maybe they’re available locally, too. Earlier, I bought a $5 aquarium suction tube @ Petco that was supposed to be self-starting - you pumped a bulb at the end of the tube or something, but it didn’t work. Maybe a real aquarium place would have a real one. Yeah, Kevin, you’ve got that self-suck suction thing (oops - that sounds bad) down to a science NOW, but how many alcoholic beverages did you down along the learning curve?? Hmmmm…? Also, for $16.99, Black Jungle has a 9-outlet dripper manifold for a drip wall terrarium. Intriguing. ‘Course, then you haveta buy the thingie that gets the water back up to the manifold…. http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BJTS&Product_Code=M-9&Category_Code=W Gary, too bad about your huge aquarium biting the dust. Can you cut it up and make 2 smaller tanks? Q, the Black Jungle site says gallon capacity is estimated and that you need to go by dimensions, although they give the # of gallons for most tanks. Well, this tank project is now the latest orchid obsession. What I get for asking you guys innocent questions. Thanks, I think (I know) - WC8 Here is a link that might be useful: Tank heaven

I need to defend SBOE. Most of the Catt crosses are either young seedlings who should bloom in 3 years or 2 bbulbs of a mature plant which also should bloom in 3 years. If you get there first thing in the morning, any day, as they restock at night, and carefully look at each plant in a given group, you will usually find a couple that are 1 year ahead of the pack, 2 bbulbs plus a new growth. That plant will bloom in 2 years. I usually try to get there at 8 AM Friday morning, this year I could not get there until Saturday AM but found nice plants never the less. Some of the Pleuros and the plants in that group often are already in bloom and will give a full head of flowers in a year. Depends on your desire for quick results. I prefer 20 of these to 6 or 7 larger plants. Since I have been doing this for a number of years, as I mount or pot this year's purchases, flowers are popping up on plants I got there 3 years ago and had forgotten about until they surprise you with a bloom. Do that twice a year for a number of years and the surprises keep on popping up. For 'REAL' orchid shopping I would not go there during a show. On any weekday during the year, the personal attention at SBOE and Cal Orchids right across the street is superb. No mass $7.50 table but expert advice and a great selection of obviously more expensive plants. I usually shop for a group, tell James at Cal Orchids "Let's look at Pescatore today" or Wayne at SBOE "Good day for Lycaste" and you get a selection of their best. Large enough purchases will get you the usual discount. The $7.50 table is like an exiting swap meet, no comparison to 'real orchid shopping' but I would not miss it. Nick