Hi everyone! I'm excited to join this community and looking forward to connecting with other orchid growers. About me: I'm a plant writer and enthusiastic hobbyist in South Florida. I currently grow orchids in a covered pool area in which I installed overhead irrigation. I just got the green light to build a lath house or shade house along the side of the house to expand my collection, so that's why I'm here! I hope to connect with people who have dealt with similar circumstances and learn from their experience
Right now, I'm in the planning stages, but I hope to be done with the finished shade house sometime this summer. Here's what I'm thinking so far:
1. Approximate dimensions are 20 ft. x 10 ft.
2. Wood or metal? Good question! I like wood so much better, but I've had previous shade houses made from PT lumber rot to pieces.
3. I will be installing overhead irrigation.
4. Shade or lath on top? Another good question!
5. I love vandas, but I also grow cattleya, dendrobium, phals, oncidium, and I have a bunch of unnamed stragglers that made it into my collection over the years.
6. Besides orchids, I'm also enamored of aroids, ferns, and club moss.
Anyway, sorry for the long intro! I'm pretty excited about the new project and can't wait to really dig in.