Hi I am Lyn

[Tindomul]

Welcome to the Orchid Board Lyn! I don't think you can get any better than Florida really. Well, maybe Hawaii, or Puerto Rico. maybe

[lyn]

Thanks for all of your WONDERFUL WELCOMES! Everyone is sleeping now and I am an insomniac which is a problem that happens with shiftwork Anyway it is wonderful to know that I can communicate with other orchid fans even though I cannot attend society meetings with my present employment. I am thinking about potting some cattleyas this spring in Dyna Roc. Does anyone have any experiance with this medium? Thanks Lyn

[Bolero]

Welcome to the forum. It's heaps of fun and there's plenty to learn.

I also have a lot of catt's so I look forward to hearing from you about your plants.

[lyn]

I just got my plants from Ecuadore. I got Cattleya Rex, Warscewiczii, Mendellii and Chocoenses. They sent them bareroot and they just came from thier spring in Ecuadore so I know they are in shock although they look healthy. I just hope I can keep them that way. I plan on getting others to cross with them so I can send seed pods to Troy Meyers orchid lab. If the seed are viable he sends you a free flask but only species orchids. He has a great website at troymeyers.com. I have purchased some seedlings from him. They are small but healthy and come from seed sent to him by people all over the country. Allot of beautiful photos of parent plants on this sight if you are into species.

[lyn]

Sue, How do you keep your orchids warm in the winter?

[cb977]

Hi Lyn, I have almost all of my 'chids in aliflor which is basically the same thing as Dyna-Rock. Only the paphs, the vanilla, the ludisia and Phaius tankerville are in other mediums and the vandas are hanging either in a basket or on their own.

As for winter, we only get a few nights where the temps drop to the low 40s or high 30s, very uncommon though.
For now, we make use of the hurricane shutters we bought for the house. When deciding where the shutters would go in case of a hurricane, we chose to enclose the entire lanai, giving us an extra 'room' rather than putting them up against the windows in back.

We've traded in a number of the heavy metal ones for clear panels and use them to block off the end area of the lanai. All the 'chids get moved into that area on those nights it's expected to get cold. Baically, we have 2 'walls' made up of the panels, the third wall is actually my bedroom sliders and the fourth side is enclosed by hanging a large heavy tarp across the opening. I have a heater that has a thermostat so I set it for 50 degrees and when the temps drop lower than that, the heater goes on.
(I have a few pictures of the clear panels in their setup, in my gallery)

I'm waiting patiently for the construction of my sun room to begin. It will be an extension of the screen cage around the pool that will have horizontal sliding windows, and 2 skylights. For most of the year, the windows will be out of their frames but when next winter comes, they'll go back in and I can close up the room at night, opening the windows during the day when the temps are normal.

[lyn]

Hi Susan, Thanks for all the info on the way you do it! I also want a sunroom but the way our house is on this small lot with all of the shade trees the only semi sunny spot is not connected to the house. We have a screen enclosure around the pool where I have been moving them in and out when the temps go below 60 which is a real pain but a labor of LOVE. I plan to build a freestanding greenhouse next summer but for now I have some on clothes racks I bought in southfacing windows and some have to tough it out with low light in the garage except for a couple of hours when I open the garage door. They say where there is a will there is a way and I believe it! I looked at your pictures and really enjoyed them. Someday I hope to add a photo album but for now it is all about winter survival. You gave me enough bravery to count them admitting to140 so I did. I counted 109 including seedlings and have 4 more on the way in the mail. My husband may have me Baker Acted! :If he does I will try to post my jailhouse address so we can write! Maybe I will have computer access but if they are trying to break my addiction maybe not!

[cb977]

The husbands may act like they're not into the 'chids but don't let that fool ya...I catch mine walking around doing the inspections when he thinks I'm not looking

Before the sun room can be started, we need to have a seawall built because the side of the house that the room is going on is a big hill. They're suppoed to start that this week I'll believe that when the trucks arrive!

Please make sure we have a way to keep in contact you while you're "away", okay?

[lyn]

We went to the orchid society dinner the other night and he told me he would buy me two orchids if we could leave early! Well I gave in and my cattleya Jenmanii and encyclia chapedensis is on it's way. He sure knows how to sweet talk me!!

[cb977]

Don't let him fool ya...he really wanted two more 'chids!