here is a good link about growing your orchids in a semi hydroponics enviroment. After doing quite a bit of research on this I decided to give this a try and I have to admit I was amazed at the difference in some of my plants. I now transplant everything into it right after bringing them home or as soon as the flowers have been spent, I have some that are in bud that have been transplanted and never skipped a beat.
http://www.firstrays.com/PDF/No_Longer_a_Killer.pdf
here is a link to Ray Barkalow site called First Ray Orchids
http://www.firstrays.com/
another site on growing in sh
http://www.growinhydro.com/4436.html
and one more selling supplies
http://www.creativehydroponics.com/
alot of rays articles he ask that they not be reposted so I will respect his wishes. He does state that this is not a cure all to growing your orchids you still need to provide proper light, temp, and humidity,but this is a good place to start with the watering problems and what fertilizer to go with as the msu fertilizer is designed for ro or rain water and another for well water (not softened water)