New to orchids & this forum

[orchidsinjersey]

Hello,
New to orchid growing & to this forum. Have 1 vanilla orchid, huge (it was a gift) and 4 phals/ phal crosses. Currently everything is outside, will be bringing in come Labor Day. Any other NE orchid growers here? Hints for dealing with keeping them warm and energy costs manageable will be welcome.

[mayres]

Hello and welcome from the other side of the country! Your comment "keeping them warm" struck a cord in my thoughts. I have had a number of phals that for the first year went through the last winter with me. I like to keep my house cool to save on energy costs and my phals basically went into hibernation until spring. They did neither grow or die - could have been plastic and you would have not known the difference! :-) So, I'm also trying to decide how to deal with this for the coming winter. I grow them under fluorescent lights and am considering making an enclosure inside an unused bedroom - sort of a poor mans greenhouse inside of my house - in a minor way. A space heater and a fan along with about 70 orchids - should be an interesting experiment? You could try something similar in a smaller way - you might even be able to use the heat coming from a light bulb(s) to keep them happy? Just a thought.......mike

[orchidsinjersey]

Hi Mike, Thanks for the suggestions, we can use the help. If they go dormant in winter, that's OK. who could blame them?
Beverly