Hello from 19 below in Minnesota!

[19 Below!]

Thanks, good to know. Learning things already. I got two orchid books in the mail, and two more on their way. I would like to choose some that might be happy in the conditions I have....for once to try the easy way....

[estación seca]

I and others here agree this is a great book.

The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and their Culture

[Keysguy]

Welcome. Is it summer there?
Mt. Washington, NH
-37 F
Wind 96 mph
Windchill -90F

[KatieM]

Oh you've got the bug now. You definitely need more! 😉 What about masdevallia type or miltoniopsis? Milts will want a humidity tray but I sent one to my sis in Iowa a few years ago (she is notorious for killing plants) and her milt is still going strong with lots of blooms. She has it sitting on a tray with rock and water underneath to help keep the humidity up. There is nothing like a pretty blooming orchid to get you through those winter chills!

[19 Below!]

Katie...yup, I want some orchids. Looking out the windows at white, I need color. I will have to check those out and see if they might tolerate my conditions.

We will hit 25 above today....whoo hoo!

[KatieM]

The lack of color is the worst! We moved from the Midwest to Florida and I've never looked back. I hope you find some good options. They really do help with those subarctic gray doldrums. Both kinds can be a bit finicky but are fun to try. You'd probably be fine with some dendrobiums as well and an oncidium or two. Roberta wasn't kidding. We are total enablers and will help you spend your money on all things orchid 😉

[19 Below!]

I would like oncidiums, and have been reading about dendrobiums, I like toulmnia and have read that they will tolerate low humidity as long as they are watered more often. We are on a lake, so summer humidity goes the other way, and we have the AC....spring and fall are the sweet spots....all two weeks of them!

---------- Post added at 12:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 PM ----------

OH...SUB Artic? I swear I saw a polar bear!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by 19 Below!

I would like oncidiums, and have been reading about dendrobiums, I like toulmnia and have read that they will tolerate low humidity as long as they are watered more often. We are on a lake, so summer humidity goes the other way, and we have the AC....spring and fall are the sweet spots....all two weeks of them!

---------- Post added at 12:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:12 PM ----------

OH...SUB Artic? I swear I saw a polar bear!

But remember, the state flower of Minnesota is an orchid! Classic terrestrial, Cypripedium reginae - Showy Lady Slipper. Needs specific mycorrhizae in the soil, so extremely picky about where it will grow (and endangered by habitat loss)

It's a whole lot easier to create an environment for epiphytes indoors. Or indoors winter outdoor summer. Precisely because they aren't particularly intimate with their substrate as Subrosa pointed out, they aren't so fussy about the details, just requiring the basic needs for temperature, moisture, light, drainage, etc. depending on their origins. The substrate basically just holds the plant in place, but the chemical/physical/biological characteristics aren't particularly important beyond their ability to provide stability and suitable moisture retention (humid air).

[19 Below!]

Don't get me started on Cyps! I have grown them, moved with them, and photographed them in the wild. Cyps are amazing. There is a nursery in Grand Rapids, MN that grows them from seed, on my bucket list. I grow native wildflowers...the WOODLAND ones...they are harder.

It is the whole lack of humid air inside I worry about ..so need something that can tolerate those drops.

[Roberta]

Humidity needs of epiphytic orchids can be managed... suitable choice of medium can give necessary humidity in the root zone and immediate environs (where it counts), you don't have to have it everywhere. My outdoor orchids live and thrive with routine RH during the day in the 40% range, on some days it can go down to single digits. On those days, I just give an extra watering and even the more fussy Pleurothallids and such do fine. Orchids are adaptable!