Just saying Hi to everyone here!

[Stallena]

I am completely new here and I am relatively new in the Orchids world - two and a half years so far. Having 35 orchids total and that's my limit set upon me by my husband's kind request )) - He loves me having this hobby though..
Anyways, I just wanted to seek for some advice from more experienced orchid lovers and here I am trying to be social so that you all would like me and help me to make my orchids look even better!
And my name is Elena...

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

There is a wealth of information in the old threads. Have a look at the Forums accessible from the left yellow menu. If you can't find an answer to your question people here will be happy to help.

[Roberta]

Elena -
Welcome! You have come to a great place for learning from the collective experience and knowledge of lots of orchid lovers who grow under a variety of conditions. Let us know where you live, and a bit about your growing conditions when you ask questions, it will help in getting much more accurate advice. (We are all enablers... you might discover that you "need" to expand that limit...)

[rbarata]

Welcome Elena!

[Stallena]

Thank you all so much for having me here!
I live in South Alabama, hot and humid in summer and so much better in winter ))
All my orchids live inside, except one Dendrobium Nobile who really enjoys outside weather.
I am having Phalaenopsises, of course, Den-Phals, Cattleyas, Zygos, Oncidiums and one little cute Samurai orchid. I have some ups and downs with them, some go unfortunately and some new ones come in. During all this time I have grown orchids I looked into some old posts when I was having issues and i got lots of help from you guys, so thanks a lot.
I am not sure if I can post any pictures here and when I can do it (I was under impression that I have to post so many times to be able to do it)... because those questions that I have might require me to post a pisture or two...

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Stallena

I am not sure if I can post any pictures here and when I can do it (I was under impression that I have to post so many times to be able to do it)... because those questions that I have might require me to post a pisture or two...

While the "conventional wisdom" is that you need 5 posts before you can post photos (but you have 2 already so not a hard target to hit) I have seen photos from new users that seem to have not had any problem. There are various approaches that people use (comments in various places) but the straightforward way is to "Go Advanced" from the Quick Reply dialog box, scroll down to "Manage Attachments". That will pop up another window, where you can select up to 10 photos, when you're done click "Upload", then go ahead and submit your post. (Make sure that your browser allows pop-ups for the Orchidboard site)

[estación seca]

Most of the plants you mentioned would be much happier outside in the Alabama summer - if the deer don't get them. The Zygopetalum is a cool grower that can't take that heat. Some Oncidiums won't like that heat, but most will. Your Phalaenopsis will surprise you with how much they grow in hot, humid shade outside.

The plants you mentioned have different light requirements, too. That will be important when they're outside.

[Mountaineer370]

Welcome to the Orchid Board, Elena!

[Leafmite]

Hello and welcome!
I actually imposed my own limit on how many orchids to grow as I found caring for a large collection was more work than fun for me.

[orchidman77]

Welcome Elena! I hope your husband will understand that you will probably exceed 35 plants within the year once the hobby starts, it's impossible to stop. I agree with Leafmite, you'll likely find that caring for too many plants is more trouble than it's worth. I'm a little over 200 at the moment (about half are small babies out of flask) and I'm sure that I'll want to pare down when they start growing large!

Anyway, welcome to the OB!

David