Chris, you've made astounding progress! Just be careful. You will become addicted!

Thanks for that suggestion Ken, I'll take a look at that variety.

Chris, Cattleya and its alliance of plants is a huge family. There are ten's of thousands of varieties. I have had several hundred varieties and I haven't scratched the surface of what's out there.

ctcarol said: Chris, you've made astounding progress! Just be careful. You will become addicted!

Thanks Carol, I am addicted to just about everything plant wise now.

Are they usually very expensive plants Ken?

More expensive that those Phal., Chris. The commercial growers have produced so many Phalaenopsis (standard plants) and introduced so many new varieties over the last decade or two, that the market is awash in those plants. Nevertheless, they can be beautiful flowers. For me, they are simply hard to grow. Perhaps it is partially due to my very warm, very humid growing conditions April through October. Their form is generally the same, plant to plant. That's why they are called "Moth Orchids". The Cattleya Alliance flowers are every imaginable color, size, and form, and with wonderful fragrances.

Gosh, Chris, there are so many families of orchids out there (and some are wonderful, terrestrial plants). The options are truly endless.

Ken, I'll take your advice and start looking into the Cattleya orchid family.

Don't just do this on my account, Chris. There are several folks here who have vast experience growing all sorts of orchids. Ask some of them to chime in on what they think would do well for you.

Chris, Ken is right, for your conditions (hot in summer, etc.) there are probably better types. You can look for bargain orchids after Mother's Day at more than just Wal-Mart. Lowe's and grocery stores both stock up in years past. They have some other interesting varieties besides Phals, too. Just look for healthy-looking firm foliage on the orchids that are on the "death racks". Lowe's is especially good for marking down any orchids that they can't sell before the blooms are finished.

I've also had good luck with orchids from Trader Joe's. They are usually around $12. (don't know if you have a TJ's in your area) As far as types, I'd imagine anything with large pseudobulbs (fat stems underneath the leaves) might be better suited to hot and dry conditions. Hey, Daisy will probably have some suggestions, her conditions might be close to yours in summer.

Elaine, you are killing me.

If I may -
I know Chris, you have done super with your Phals. Personally I think most of the Cattleyas are easier to grow than Phals, provided you keep the bugs out. But, those are best bought from a reputable vendor rather than from the discard table of a Big Box store. Also, in the beginning it is nice to buy in bloom/bud, so you know in what season you might expect blooms. And if you love the bloom, naturally.
Personally, here in NJ, the easiest would be to buy a Fall flowering Cattleya, (C. Chocolate Drop 'Kodama' would be an example). I keep them outside over the Summer, water and fertilize along with everything else and watch the new growth appearing over the Summer. Back inside in the Fall and I will see blooms into October, November.
Some Spring flowering Cattleyas ( as example C. skinneri) might be affected if you keep them under artificial light which doesn't mimic somewhat natural light hours, that is why I recommend as a start a Fall flowering Cattleya.
Then there are some which flower year around, like Potinara Hoku Gem, a mature plant is pretty much always in bloom, mine is.
My two cents....

Thanks Elaine, I'll keep Lowe's in mind then. I've never heard of Trader Joe's until I got on this site. And you're right about our weather conditions, even with my 60% shade cloth on the greenhouse and my large Angel Trumpets up against the same side as the orchids it still gets to a 100 or so in there and it's not even summer yet.

Thank you, and everyone else, for the information and suggestions Ursula, I'm certainly getting my old brain filled with good information. Let me ask this, why is it said that Phals are so hard to grow?

Then I'll just twist the knife, Ken, and remind you about the orchids we get in Apopka for about 1/4 the price one might pay online or at a show . . . I'm pretty sure Chris is a dedicated bargain hunter like me.

I'll always buy locally first if I can because paying shipping just doesn't sit well with me. I don't buy from Home Depot because they send their orchids back to the grower when they are spent, they don't mark them down. But Lowe's I'll check the clearance racks every time I go, and they've gained a lot more business from me by marking down plants. I'll rescue orchids from Lowe's all day long for $5 each and keep an eye on their "bag babies" too because they're regularly $12 and go on sale at 'buy one get one free' once in a while.

Plus even using US Mail, the shipping costs have gone up so much now, it's not even worth it to trade plants any more. I used to trade with Alice and Mj quite often.

Chris,
I don't have a problem with Phals, if I keep them inside in the living room.
But, I move all my plants outside for the Summer, since that is simply easier for me to care for them. Despite keeping them tilted, somehow my conditions don't seem to be optimal for them, most of the time. They don't look that hot after a a couple of years of this, outside over the Summer, inside over the Winter, watered from the top down as everything else. Crickets take a bite from the leaves too.
Strangely enough, I do have a mounted mini right now, which looks nice and healthy, and is still blooming.

Perhaps one thing should be mentioned again - we all have different growing conditions and I always find the safest to explain what works for me! Which might be quite different for others in different locations and set ups.

Ursula is right on. Growing conditions are everything when it comes to successfully growing tropical plants. Like Ursula, my tropical plants go outside in March/April and they will all stay outside until November.

I don't know why, but of all the thousands of orchids I have owned, the Phal. varieties seem to attract scale. Crown rot is an ongoing issue as well. Also, slugs and snales seem to have a taste for Phal. leaves. They never seem to feast on anything else. Ursula already mentioned crickets. Again, the Phal. seems to be the attractant.

Elaine, if I had a source that was within easy driving distance like y'all do in Florida, that's where my (wholesale) purchases would be made. You are all so lucky.

So true on the growing conditions, as I mentioned above @Daisyl probably has the closest growing conditions to Chris's of any of us.

Also true on the scale, mealybugs and other munchers. I recently rescued one of my original Phals that started looking sad for no apparent reason. Lifted up one limp leaf and the back of it was nearly covered with scale! Here I thought I'd' been so diligent on bug detail last winter, too!

They do have those delicious juicy leaves that a lot of the other orchids don't have - I guess they store water and nutrients in the leaves rather than in fat pseudobulbs like the other orchids? Gotta say though, I've had no problems with snails since we installed a strip of copper across the two doorways into our pool cage.

Chris, I restarted my Orchid Obsession with rescued Phals from Lowe's...I was working there and they were giving them to me for a dollar apiece..I couldn't see them going in the dumpster and I figured the clay pot they came with was worth a buck. Most I resuscitated , but others were too far gone...and you've got a pretty good idea now of just how much effort it takes to salvage one or 20! Then, I got a greenhouse...and almost immediately the entire Phal collection took a nosedive. I can grow them perfectly fine in the house...but outside (as everyone else has noted) they are next to impossible. My Catts were happy as clams in the greenhouse and seem even happier living outside here in mid Florida. Now, I treat Phals as an annual houseplant..and don't ever look at them on line or at a show or store. Treat yourself to one luxury next time you want to reward yourself for good behavior ...buy a healthy Catt...either on line..Ken has a selection and I can personally vouch for Kawamoto Orchids in Hawaii. They have excellent healthy plants at fair prices, considering the 2 day shipping costs are included.

Would any of these be a good purchase? I'm going to have to count on everyone here to set me straight http://carmelaorchids.net/stor...