My experience is with Phlaenopsis which are happy in my east facing window. They are planted in wood chips and I water them once a week with tepid water which contains a very dilute amount of fertilizer. I use enough water so that it runs out of the bottom of the pot into a plastic shallow container that I then empty. I occasionally take them to the sink and wash off the plant and run water through the potting mix to remove any build up of fertilizer salts. I see nice plants just coming into bloom at the nurseries and super markets. Great plants if you can get them before they have been on display to long. I have them on a long table and have a sheet of plastic under them on the table which I wet with a spray bottle a couple of times a day to increase humidity. African Violets do well here also.

Paul, in my opionion, when it comes to growing any tropical plant in the home, an east exposure is the best, followed by south, west, and north. North generally just won't get enough light for plants to flourish and the mid-late afternoon sun in a west exposure is just too strong and will "sunburn" the plants. Ken in Mississippi

I guess I'm coming from the other end of the spectrum - I'm trying to find a way of keeping my orchids hydrated in 20% humidity. It doesn't seem like any of the guidelines apply to the desert - I'm probably watering about twice a week and still have pleated leaves.

Sheryl, unless your plants are outside, your house will have about the same humidity as any other. We have central air/heat here, and there is practically no humidity inside the house, regardless of the season. Our heating and air-conditioning wrings all the humidity out. I remember my grandmother, sixty years ago, keeping a large pan of water on her stove during the fall and winter months, keeping the water just under boiling, to raise the humidity.

I just mist my "inside-the-house" orchids every few days and water them well every week or so. Also, my plastic or clay pots sit in decorative ceramic orchid pots with built-in saucers. The saucers are below the level of the pots so the pots cannot touch those saucers. I keep the saucers full of water to raise the humidity around my plants. The growing conditions of my outside plants, whether in the greenhouse during the winter months, or hanging under trees during the spring, summer, and early fall, is a whole different ballgame. Lots and lots of humidity here in Mississippi for those outside plants. Ken

Humidity certainly does change things. Thanks!

So right! Humidity is the #1 key ingredient in the recipe for orchids. You have a big challenge growing orchids in places like Utah and Arizona. I like Paul's methods very well.

My daughter lives in Salt Lake City, and her husband bought her an orchid for Valentine's day. I told her to do almost exactly what Paul described above, to help her orchid to thrive. Sadly, she does not have a good east-facing window, but her plant is near a small window that faces south, but has enough of an overhang to let in good light but no direct sun.

Really? You would say number one? That's interesting...

Have you heard anything about vase culture? I ran across it in a forum somewhere, from a guy in Salt Lk city. I have to wonder if that isn't what I should be doing instead of all of this watering.