Last night, the ghost orchid came to mind so I searched eBay to see what was available, nothing! I find this very surprising since eBay has always had a number of ghost orchid plants available, usually people re-selling Oak Hill Gardens plants. I then noticed that Oak Hill Garden is no longer offering this species (at least on the website) and it had for at least 11 years. I then did a ghost orchid search on here and came across this thread. So, I bought one from Orchids Limited, figuring, like the op, that I may have better luck with a larger one. I ordered the $50 size, which is stated to have a 6-8 cm root span. I noticed you ordered the $35 one (website says 4-5 cm root span) and you said the roots are actually 18 cm long?! It would be great to get a much larger plant than described.
My history with the ghost orchid. I have ordered one of the little clusters on a stick from Oak Hill Gardens several times since 2003 or so. Each time I have ended up losing them. The roots either seem to dry out, despite frequent watering or shrivel up one-by one. The one that I have had survive for a bit longer were destroyed by a squirrel eating the new part of the root. I gave a seedling to my dad back in 2003 and he hung it against the trunk of an oak tree and maybe watered it once a week but I largely forgot about it. In summer 2004 I noticed it had grown a 2 inch healthy root against the cork mount and looked like it was thriving. Well, he gave it to me and a squirrel destroyed it! I plan on keeping this new specimen in an aluminum cage over a dish of water in the back yard from April to November and in a terrarium setup during winter. I have high hopes that this setup will be successful with a large plant.
As far as humidity, the plant my dad had was just exposed to normal FL weather, which in the summer is humidity 70-100% at night and around 50-60% in the afternoon before the storms. It was also outside for the mild 2003-2004 winter as well and did fine. Based on this, I am thinking humidity that dips below 70-90% is not necessarily certain death (but certainly is ideal).
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