New Member Intro / Brief Bio . . .

[Epicatt2]

Hello All,

I joined the Orchid Board today. I have been growing orchids since 1962, when I was in high school which, at this writing, adds up to 49 years. [whew!]

I'm in west central Florida, Tampa, that is.

I grew for many years out-of-doors here but now finally have had a greenhouse (12 x 20 feet) for the past four years. It was a major re-learning experience to grow orchids inside!

Neo-american tropical species are my preference, plus various hybrids of Laeliinae (Cattleyas); Encyclia species and intergeneric hybrids of them; Stanhopeas; Sobralias; and various other unusual species.

Retired after 35 years working for a local State University I now spend half the year in Costa Rica, to escape the steamy sauna of our Florida summertime months.

Have OrchidWiz but haven't been able to get it to work on my Mac yet, even tho I have an emulator and Word7 in place and operational. [sigh]

I've had a number of hobbies over the years but none has ever stuck like orchids have. Growing orchids keeps me constantly learning things related to them in many and various disciplines.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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[CTB]

Welcome to the Orchid Board, hope you have lots to share with us. We're a great bunch of helpful interesting people. Enjoy!!

[Paul Mc]

Welcome aboard!!!!

[ronaldhanko]

Paul,
If you can't get Orchidwiz to work, call Alex and he'll do everything he can to get you operational. They are very helpful there.

[Junebug]

Welcome aboard, Paul. Six months in Costa Rica sounds like a dream of an escape, but who minds the chids while you're gone?

[Epicatt2]

Originally Posted by Junebug

Six months in Costa Rica sounds like a dream of an escape, but who minds the chids while you're gone?

Hi Junebug,

I'm very lucky that I have a neighbor that is a plant lover and who waters the greenhouse while I'm away in exchange for seeing what blooms.

I make sure that the plants are all sprayed for pests and have been regularly fertilized before I leave so there will be blooms for him to enjoy.

Alas, my apartment in Alajuela (Costa Rica) has no direct sunlight; not enough to grow an afticanviolet, so I have no orchids there, but do attend the local orchid shows which in many ways makes up for not being able to have any orchids there. At the varius CR orchid shows one will see many orchid species in the exhibits that you never dreamed to see live and outside of a picture book!

Cheers!

Paul M.
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PS - My avatar is Slc. June Bug. How serendipitous!
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[Bud]

WELCOME ABOARD !
I envy your location(zone 10a) and you have a GH!
Then you get to go to Costa Rica where orcids in nature are abundant...
you can grow any orchid you want.

[Epicatt2]

Originally Posted by Bud

WELCOME ABOARD !... you get to go to Costa Rica where orcids in nature are abundant...
you can grow any orchid you want.

Alas Bud, I really don't.

Please see my previous post.

I did buy some 2-inch seedlings of Brassavola nodosa about three years ago and with no place to put them finally took them to a friend's house and tied them onto three citrus trees in his back yard.

This past September I was at his house again and went out back and looked. There were three of the eight I had mounted in those trees still alive and one actually had a flower on it!

In all fairness, my friend knows nothing about taking care of orchids and so the nodosas all had to fend for themselves. Even so it's impressive that three of 'em survived with zero care for three years, thanx most likely just to being in the tropics of CR.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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[Junebug]

PS - My avatar is Slc. June Bug. How serendipitous!
That's refreshing. Usually the name is associated with an ugly looking beetle.

[Merlyn]

Good to see another class of '65-er !!!