Newbie, kinda sorta!

[ElenaMarie]

Everyone!

What a fantastic board! I've learned lots just browsing about.

I am a long-time outdoor gardener of both veggies and ornamentals in South Carolina. Alas, my outdoor gardening days have come to a sad end. I've moved to orchids to satisfy my RDA of green, growing and blooming things.

I tried orchids once, back in the early 1990s before the internet became, well, The Internet. I was very successful in keeping the foliage going but never got any blooms after the initial spike was gone. Let's face it, orchid foliage isn't exactly the most beautiful ornamentation. After several bloomless years I gave it up.

I know now what I did wrong--it's easier to specify what I did right!--and am trying again. I have one Phalaenopsis that has grown and rebloomed in my care for the past two years and I've added two more in the past week (I may post pics of them in a different thread--I have no clue what kind of Phals they are.) I've also created a niche for them in the house and have high hopes.

I'd dearly love to acquire a Miltoniopsis! I'm thinking I need to gain more experience with the Phals before attempting a more challenging genus but that's my goal--success with a Miltoniopsis. My growing environment isn't particularly suited to other genuses of orchids, or at least none that I know of.

So anyway, many thanks to everyone who has shared their experience and knowledge here. I've already learned a lot and look forward to learning a lot more!