My Growing Space #2

[katrina]

Originally Posted by PhalPal

Harsh winters to me are like beating yourself in the head with a hammer - you do it because it feels good when you stop!!!!

Too funny!!! Good one!!

I thought So Cal was much warmer more of the year. I learn something new every day.

[Bird Song Farm]

Originally Posted by PhalPal

Harsh winters to me are like beating yourself in the head with a hammer - you do it because it feels good when you stop!!!!

Well darn, now I have to go get a new hammer for the up-comming winter!
Al

[katrina]

Originally Posted by Bird Song Farm

Well darn, now I have to go get a new hammer for the up-comming winter!
Al

Being in Maine...better get the biggest one you can find. Harsher winters up there (than OH for sure)...but....prettier fall colors. So, at least mother nature gives you a really good show prior to that monster hammer time.

[solay]

Yup. Grass is always greener somewhere else. IMO grass in Hawaii is very green. LOL!!! I'm lucky that Cyms. grow so well here in California. Winter temps hardly ever fall under 30 degrees. The GH maintenance cost is yet to be seen. This is going to be my first year and I'm hoping it won't be too bad. I'm not rich either.

[PhalPal]

I wouldn't say that the grass is always a prettier shade of green, just a different shade of green.

[Sassismom]

I finally got everything back in the house...we had snow this morning, so thought it was time. Hopefully they'll all do fine in the windows I've chosen, they both face west.

[dr_frnkblck]

Calling for snow here tonight! YUCK!

[Tommyr]

Snow? YUK!!! Keep it up there please!

[dr_frnkblck]

I hear ya, I 'm hoping it won't stick. I still am not ready to trade the grill for the snow shovel.

[Bird Song Farm]

What a lovely space for the winter Cheryl. I got my cyms in the other morning at 2 a.m. when I got up to find the temp at 30f and falling! Snow here tonight also. Yuk!

AL

[Marissa]

Here's some photos of my growing area. I am renting a back house from a friend and although there is a huge backyard and a lot of space outside I cannot use all the space, so I have most of my chids inside my room which has a glass sliding door to the backyard. My least favorites stays outside and I use the living room as a recovery room after repotting or switching to S/H

Thanks for looking

[patticake]

Marissa, NICE! What great growing areas you have. You have some great healthy looking plants there, too! Thanks for posting the shots!

[jim blanford]

VERY VERY NICE.. Marissa you have a lot of great looking plants, you'll have a lot of fun here. Jim.

[Tommyr]

Nice collection Marissa!

[Marissa]

Originally Posted by Tommyr

Nice collection Marissa!

Thanks, I just now realized I posted it in the middle of the thread.

[patticake]

No, you did fine!

[fred]

thank you for sharing your collection with us Marissa

[arleneg]

Hi Marissa,

You have nice growing area, despite the limited space. And your 'chids all look healthy!

Thanks for sharing your pics.

[patlee]

Hi Marissa, You have a couple of nice, big neos. And that one sedirea looks a lot better than mine. I have it mounted and just re-mounted today--I think the nylon stocking that was holding it to the cork was too tight. Seemed to be choking it and keeping the nutients from reaching the plant Hopefully, she will get better now.)
That door lets in so much light that it is a great asset to your plants. I did have a set up on directly on a door, but I think it would be too cold--not that you have to worry about that, LOL. Your spaces look great!!

[Celcat]

I thought it was a good time to post an update of my growing space. I did purchase quite few orchids since my last posting. Now I am using even the communal part of the building

1 & 2 - West windowsill, living room
3 - South windowsill, living room
4 - Kitchen, on top my fridge
5 - South windowsill, kitchen
6 - West windowsill. bedroom
7 - North windowsill, outside my flat in the communal corridor

As you can see, they are a bit all over the place. I do have as well some orchids in my office

[patticake]

Celine, what beautiful areas you have! Thanks for the gorgeous photos!

[katrina]

Very nice celcat!! I love the way you have them spread around the place and they are obviously very happy w/their respective homes.

[fred]

very nice Celcat
thank you for sharing with us

[solay]

Marissa and Calcat, I like your growing areas. Very nice. It's nice to have plants all around you isn't it.

[virgil]

This is where I grow my orchids. I now have about 60 , mostly Catts.

[virgil]

Ok this time with photos

[SuZCC]

Beautiful plants!
What kind of lights are you using? I am in a lighting dilemma now because the light stand I wanted to order online is out of stock until Feb. (I meant this message as a reply to Fabulosa (?) who had clamp-on lights in his pics, but somehow it got out of order in the thread.)
Thanks!:-)

[fred]

I have been playing around with my cymbidium house for some time now
you can see that through other posts in this thread
this time I have my cym house how I like it
70% share cloth on the back wall and 50% shade cloth on the roof under clear laser light
also as we sit in our lounge room this is the view out of our 3 glass panel sliding back door
one good thing with this orchid house there is room for more "chids"

[patticake]

Holy Guacamole!!!! That's a gorgeous growing space! Someday.....

[Tommyr]

Originally Posted by fred

I have been playing around with my cymbidium house for some time now
you can see that through other posts in this thread
this time I have my cym house how I like it
70% share cloth on the back wall and 50% shade cloth on the roof under clear laser light
also as we sit in our lounge room this is the view out of our 3 glass panel sliding back door
one good thing with this orchid house there is room for more "chids"

VERY nice!!!

[Bird Song Farm]

I can't think of an adjective that is adequate Fred. I know you and yours must enjoy this very much. Thank you for sharing this beautiful space with us.

Al

[SuZCC]

You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream.
-Frank Zappa
Digg this Post!

Guess what SuZCC stands for? Hint: Frank Zappa...

[Tommyr]

Originally Posted by SuZCC

Guess what SuZCC stands for? Hint: Frank Zappa...

Hmmmm, not sure!

[kid a]

Well i thought i would post updated pictures of my growing area since I have alot more plants tan the last time I posted pictures.


This was the living room until the plants invaded the western exposure window. Most of these are Grandma Penguin's plants. Only three of them are mine.


On top of the dresser, this is where most of the seedlings and smaller plants are, and all the Neos.


The piano was invaded too, this is prime real estate due to the large windows to the left and the right.


Bedside growing area, lol. This area has Chauncy the tree frog, the Restrepias, temporarily the masd. for the growing project, and six of Grandma Penguin's plants on the rack.


And the mini glass house. I still have to put the fan on. I have been debating on using a deeper tray in the bottom. The small square plastic do fine but the tiny thumb clay pots keep tipping over. I also thought about adding some white fish tank gravel to the tray but i can't decide yet. This is also bedside.

[Wendy]

Some very nice growing areas here! Here are a few shots of mine. It is an 8' x 8' room in the basement. I use three HID lights...all 400 watt. One HPS, one MH and one a combo of both spectrums.

[bloomorchidguy]

Hi Kevin,

Maybe you can help me out here. I saw in your first photo of your growing area some laundry type looking baskets. They like about the size I need to repot two of my plants in. They look like they would have similar drainage qualities and a bit bigger then what I have not. Any clue to the marker of the baskets or a vendor that might have sales hear in the US?

I will attach the photos of the two plants. This is the true definition of an orchidnut to grow one of these babies! Yup if you know your plants they are photos of two Grammatophyllum speciosum. Also if anyone else has any ideas as to what to repot one of these I'd be more then happy to listen to your thoughts.

Troy

[Brooke]

Troy when I did bonsai I made my own grow out containers for trees I was looking to enlarge the trunks on.

I got large white plastic wash tub type containers, used the large circular drill bit thingee (I am so mechanical :>) for the holes in the bottom and another big drill bit as big as my finger to make holes in the sides of it for air exchange. I used needle point plastic grid things to keep the media in. The media for bonsai is much finer than most orchid media because it consists of pine bark fines and turkey grit.

If my Grammatophyllum gets that big, I obviously will be recycling those containers :>)

Brooke

[exasperatus2002]

Originally Posted by bloomorchidguy

Hi Kevin,

Maybe you can help me out here. I saw in your first photo of your growing area some laundry type looking baskets. They like about the size I need to repot two of my plants in. They look like they would have similar drainage qualities and a bit bigger then what I have not. Any clue to the marker of the baskets or a vendor that might have sales hear in the US?

I will attach the photos of the two plants. This is the true definition of an orchidnut to grow one of these babies! Yup if you know your plants they are photos of two Grammatophyllum speciosum. Also if anyone else has any ideas as to what to repot one of these I'd be more then happy to listen to your thoughts.

Troy

You can also try to make your own wooden basket for it. Like this specimen plant at my local GH. It'll make repotting easier. just pop the pins and slide the plant into the next larger basket. Less disturbance to the roots with a wooden basket.

[davetheorchidaddict]

I enjoyed going through this thread and picked up some ideas that I can use. One thing that really impressed me was all the room some of greenhouses, and how neat they were I have not had that much room since I first built mine. There are over 350 plants in this little 12 x 12 space, mounting helps get more in, I keep saying I am going to quit buying but like a typical addict I always have room for one more.

[kmarch]

Thank you so much everyone for continuing to contribute to this thread. I get a new idea for placement arrangement or something nearly every time I visit this thread! It's fantastic how much I learn from just seeing how others grow their plants, especially things I would never have thought of.

I was wondering if some of those who posted eary on in the thread could come back and comment on how (or if) their spaces have evolved over the years? Why the changes were made, what the results have been, etc.

[fred]

good idea Kevin

I have added more shelves to my side orchid house mostly to make more room for more orchids as any good "Geek" would lol
but one shelf I have made about 6 inches from the floor to keep the orchids Masdevallias and Sarcochilus out of the heat I find at this time of the year ( summer ) that the Masdevallias and Sarcochilus do well with temps slightly cooler than on the first shelf that is about 4 foot high
plus the lower shelf is more shaded than the higher one

[PhalPal]

Really good idea Kevin. I have also learned a great deal from this site, not to mention it is just plain interesting to see how creative and/or devious some of us can be.

When I first posted to this thread I was growing on my kitchen windowsill. Now, one short year later, I have an outdoor shadehouse, potted Cymbidiums all over the patio, and a converted guest room taken over by orchids growing under T5 lights.

We bought an inflatable mattress for our guests - just like what we get when we visit family.

[arleneg]

In the past 18 months, I've replaced one table with a shelf unit (like the first one I got) and added lights.

No pics for now, since I haven't had a chance to clean out the orchid room. My dead pile has increased the last few months... I'll try to get a pic after I clean it out during the christmas break.

[Anton]

I just think you are all sick, addicted people, fancy having that many plants in a small space, I just don't know how you all do it.

LUCKILY I don't have that addiction.

Fred great to see how far you have come with your Cym house, well done mate.

Cynthia once told me "A GH is always a work in progress", how right she was.

I have given up on mine, NO MORE ROOM, and after Xmas I'll be building a 6m x 4m x 4m high warm house for my babies based on the way Willowbanks has designed his. (see below)

[fred]

great to see Anton
mate if it was not for that stretch of water I would come over and help you

yeah I agree and thanks for your kind words regarding my cym house
I was never really happy with it though ( the old cym house) because I still had birds in one side of the cym house.
another reason as to why I was not happy with my old cym house it was to hard to get to with having birds also, the birds went the work began the old house was way too closed in for cyms
as we can now see with all the shade cloth lots more room easy to get to the chids
I agree with what Cynthia has said as well mate "always a work in progress"

the things we do for orchids

[FLBob]

Here's a shot of where I grow most of my orchids, this in inside the lanai.

[cassier]

This is my inside growing space. Paphs on the shelving and minis in the terrarium.

[patticake]

Very nice, Cassie! Now you have more space to fill there....

[cassier]

Yes, lots of extra space for more babies.

[PhalPal]

Very nice Cassier!!!! You have lots of room for growth! (no pun intended)

Everybody - if you have a Linens and Things store near you that is going out of business, go check out the steel racks/store fixtures they are selling for $30! They look just like cassiers but are six feet wide and five feet high. I bought three to organize my garage but I just may find a better use for them since I am also redesigning my orchid room. hmmmmm.......

[kid a]

Cassie, How did you rig up your computer fan??? I had mine runing off of 9v batteries but they don't even last a day and I can't find an adapter with the adjustable power things on it with the right kind of plugs to wire it too. PS the tank looks great!

[dr_frnkblck]

Hey Wendy- How do you keep your cat from munching on those tasty leaves? That would look like a giant salad to my cat!

[PhalPal]

I have SIX cats and I rarely get a nibble on my leaves and they have full access to the orchid room. They do like to smell flowers however and like to position themselves near the fans for a little cool down. I always have six little helpers when I am putzing around my orchids.

Have you tried some of the 'kitty grass' you can grow for cats and get her to chew on that?????

[jay]

Kortney - I have a CPU fan in my mini greenhouse. I took an adapter from some random device I no longer had and spliced the wires to connect to the fan. A little heat shrink later and I have a small relatively quite fan.

[kid a]

Have you seen my greenhouse for the masd.? yet? Lol it was a great idea! how do i know what to attach the red wire to and the Black wire to? (I'm an electrical retard, lol) Here is the thread on the greenhouse thing that shows the fan. My Masd herraardurae project plant update thread

[cassier]

Phalpal, my husband has had this fan for a number of years. He used to have it on his salt water aquariums. All he did was hook it up to a cord that has an electrical plug. It works very well.

I was thinking about getting a gecko for the space after we got rid of the snake. Well some how I ended up with an outside gecko in the terrarium. My husband did not put him there. I think he came in through the house some how. I once found one in my bed!
I felt so bad for him that I bought him some crickets.

[dounoharm]

hi ya'll, i am a newbie too...i live in nc, and i have a greenhouse crammed full of orchids of all sorts, which i love to peices...i tend to do very well with them all, i have a couple stubborn ones tho. i am a true orchid addict, and i spend most of my time cruising thru the greenhouse doing this and that. i am happy to be here and enjoy reading about other peoples setups and orchid problems...the more i read the more i learn about my own orchids....glad to meet you all!

[dounoharm]

this is part of my greenhouse, which is i kit i bought and put together last year with my family helping...we all worked very hard to complete it, but it was happy work and we enjoyed it as well as each others company...i am grateful to my family for thier assistance and support! my greenhouse is in central north carolina.
i covered the greenhouse with a solar pool blanket this year to try to cut some of the heating costs, i havent got the final figure on that, as to how much savings i will acheive...i heat with propane...i hand water everything, using tap water, and fertilize every week...
i grow quite a varied selection of orchids, featuring mainly cattleyas and mini catts, dens, phals, and paphs....and a little bit of everything else...
Attachment 16485

Attachment 16486

Attachment 16487
i have been growing orchids for 30 years, sometimes in a greenhouse, mostly in my house, moving a lot over the years, some plants made it, some plants didnt...it was a dream to finally get a greenhouse.... i have a decent idea of good greenhouse growing techniques....and a decent idea of good orchid growing techniques, so everything seems to get along quite well....

[dr_frnkblck]

Originally Posted by PhalPal

I have SIX cats and I rarely get a nibble on my leaves and they have full access to the orchid room. They do like to smell flowers however and like to position themselves near the fans for a little cool down. I always have six little helpers when I am putzing around my orchids.

Have you tried some of the 'kitty grass' you can grow for cats and get her to chew on that?????

oh yeah he eats kitty grass like nobody''s business. A pot of cat grass lasts a week if I'm lucky. He eats spider plant pups like their popcorn. If you pull a couple dead leaves off a plant and throw them in the garbage, he'll knock over the can and dig them out. I swear he's a reincarnated vegetarian. He doesn't bother thicker leaved plants like Phals but anything philodendron size or smaller he thinks is his salad bar!

[Wendy]

This is a great thread!

I don't have a problem witth my cats chewing on the plants. All three came to me as kittens and have been raised with me watering and caring for the orchids with them in the room. The only thing that 'tempts' them are Phrag leaves but they have never done any damage.

Here is a photo of Gregory eyeing up Phrag Grande...he didn't do anything but he did notice those oh-so-tempting dangly petals. As you can see by my avatar, Gregory loves getting in on the photo shoots. I added one with Cattleya dormaniana as well.

[RPfeiffer]

Hi Everyone! Well I am sitting here on a layover at an airport and thought I would post a few pictures for you all to see of my growing areas. They are from November of 2008 and of course all three are much fuller now! I really need to do some down sizing of the collection when the weather warms up since it is taking me to long to do the weekly watering....I have become a slave to my babies. Of course it will be hard since I am not willing to let go of certain ones....lol. Anyways....this will give you an idea of what my grow area is like in my basement. Hope you all enjoy! Oh...and excuse the orchids laying at the bottom of the Grand Cayman Orchidarium.....I had just received those from a friend and hadn't had a chance to pot them yet...lol.

[fred]

Becca
I have just merged your thread into this one along with all the other growing spaces the "geeks" have
thank you for sharing with us
very nice

[PhalPal]

Wendy - Gregory is adorable. I love it when my cats sniff the flowers!
Becca - Nice growing area!!!! I look forward to seeing some of your blooms.

[davetheorchidaddict]

I knew that my greenhouse had more space than I would ever need when I built it, what do you think. Mounting has help make more room since I can hang most of them, it is better organized this year than it was last year, hanging helped.

[Tommyr]

Originally Posted by davetheorchidaddict

I knew that my greenhouse had more space than I would ever need when I built it, what do you think. Mounting has help make more room since I can hang most of them, it is better organized this year than it was last year, hanging helped.

WOW! Just WOW!

[katrina]

Originally Posted by dr_frnkblck

oh yeah he eats kitty grass like nobody''s business. A pot of cat grass lasts a week if I'm lucky. He eats spider plant pups like their popcorn. If you pull a couple dead leaves off a plant and throw them in the garbage, he'll knock over the can and dig them out. I swear he's a reincarnated vegetarian. He doesn't bother thicker leaved plants like Phals but anything philodendron size or smaller he thinks is his salad bar!

Doc -- I feel your pain! I have one kitty (of the 3) that is just like your little guy. Except mine will tackle the thicker leaved plants such as phals and catts. Stinker! Oh, and, he only chews on the perfect leaves. Just recently got a couple of tips of one of my Little Stars and chewed a brand new leaf off of a recovering Doritis. Mind you, that Doritis only had one perfect leaf...not no more.

I've set up some kitty-proofing w/nylon meshing secured around the shelves but it never fails...he will still find ways in. Even if I don't see him doing it...I eventually see his handy work...chews up the very tips then moves onto the next plant or leaf.

He was raised around plants...never failed...he's always chewed on them. And, yes, I've tried everything from cat grass to cayenne pepper to squirt bottles and squirt guns...nothing keeps him out of them except my keeping an eye on him....or locking him in a separate room.


OOPS....almost forgot to mention...I really like this thread too. Lots of great ideas and lots of great growing spaces!! Never fails to amaze me...the things we'll do to accommodate our 'chids. No matter the space...g/h, living room, window sill, whatever....we'll figure out a way to squeeze in one (or 10) more - LOL!.

[girishgkulkarni]

Very Nice Post.... Gives a lot of Ideas

[crittermom]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newby on this forum, but here is a pic of my space. I live in Colorado, which has warm dry summers and really cold dry winters. So far, I have never grown any orchids outside. I live in a basement apartment with only a few windows, so all my orchids are grown under fluorescent shop lights, each shelf with 4-40 watt bulbs. I have plastic wrap (the shrink wrap you put on your windows in the winter) around 3 sides of the shelves to keep the humidity up. So far, so good! The aquaria on top house my cornsnake and my Northern Blue tongue skink! I look forward to learning for all you experienced keepers on here!

[dounoharm]

nice setup crittermom! they all look healthy and happy!

[patticake]

To the last few who posted...AWESOME!! Thanks!

[lynda]

Originally Posted by FLBob

Here's a shot of where I grow most of my orchids, this in inside the lanai.

How how neat and pretty your arrangement is, what do you do if the temp drops (you can't possibly take all those plants inside)

[FLBob]

Originally Posted by lynda

How how neat and pretty your arrangement is, what do you do if the temp drops (you can't possibly take all those plants inside)

Lynda, I have in fact taken many of those plants inside over the past week.
Here's some of the lot indoors...




But not everyone made it in side
The plants that I have under the liveoak got brought into the lanai. I've built a bit of a visqueen screen and supply "heat" with lights.

[myorchid]

I thought I would update my growing space as I have increased my collection, quite a bit.

I have tried to squeeze as many orchids in a small space as possible!!

1. South window with additional light for the gray Washington days, it has the Neo's, my two Andree Millar crosses, and two Angraecums.
2. Cymbidiums inside for the winter, once the weather gets better, they will go back out. I think two of them have a spike or growth.
3. Kitchen window, east facing, Phals, Paphs, Phrag and my mounted orchids.
4. Half wall that has east/west facing and a skylight above. I also have additional light and a fan. Mostly Paphs, Oncidium, Masdies. This is one half
5. This is the other half
6. Quilt room, west facing, I have some on the windowsill mostly Den's.
7. Also the quilt room, but these are bigger and are under the light, I also have a fan. Large Sharry Baby, a Catt, SLC and a large Den.

I have a growing space at my office, too. I grow under lights and have a fan and a small fountain also.

I will post a pic of that later this week.

[PhalPal]

April you really have it worked out!!! You are now a true Geek!

[myorchid]

I am so happy to be a geek!