I could not agree with you more, Carol. Though the growers and then the big box stores sell beautifully blooming phalaenopsis, their bottom-line is profit. That can be a good or a bad thing, depending on the end-result. IF the growers would ONLY include good growing instructions and WARNINGS, that would solve a lot of problems with these plants. Why don't they just do these easy and cheap things to at least give the buyer a good chance to grow and have their plants re-bloom, year-after-year?
Again, I have dozens of these and they simply don't die. Other than some baby ones, those I am growing from plugs or flasks, every single one of my phalaenopsis plants are now outside, under my trees. I can assure you, since I have done this for years, they will flourish outside. They will get rained on, will get some early morning dew and will have lows between 45 and 80 and highs between 70 and 100. They will sometimes be subjected to strong winds and extremely heavy rain (we get a lot of thunderstorms) and certainly will be visited by insects and the occasional bird and squirrel. And I will still water them with a hose ("gentle-rain" attachment) weekly, or more often in hot, dry weather. None of these things are supposed to be GOOD for growing them. Just call me lucky LOL. Of course, you and I know its not luck. Mine are in the right pots, in the right medium, get good light, humidity, frequent, diluted fertilizing, and good air movement. The exact same things that every other orchid needs to grow well. None of this is rocket science and I am certainly neither more skilled nor smarter than anyone else out there who grows orchids. Notice that none of these conditions require a greenhouse. Call me naïve, but I truly think practically anyone, anywhere can successfully grow orchids. Sure, a grower living in a basement apartment in New York City, may need supplemental light (how about Gro lights?), perhaps a humidity tray or two, and a fan, but it is doable.
Tarev, you have hit the nail on the head. Good air movement is an absolute necessity when growing orchids. I had a guy to came to the house yesterday to purchase some vegetable plants and he wanted to see my orchids. He said he had just built a small greenhouse and had never grown an orchid. Of course, most of mine are now outside but I still have quite a few that haven't been moved outside yet. My "Orchid" greenhouse is small, only 10x12', but there are four fans in that one greenhouse. He was surprised at the number of fans and the fact that they all ran six hours in the colder months and 10 hours in the warmer months. I told him I had no mold, no mildew, no algae, and no pest problems and that I felt like this was due to the air movement. I don't know that's the reason, but in my head, it is.
I mention the "ice-cube method" simply because lots of people actually do that, and I guess some have good results watering that way. I am not about to tell someone that they are ignorant watering that way when they have a plant(s) that is healthy. Most of the people I speak to are ladies, and I have been married long enough to know not to belittle them! LOL
