HELP! Will I have to leave my orchids behind?

[georgiabelle]

Originally Posted by gngrhill

Window are GREAT. I have now 8 Phals in spike or bloom on windowsills, and 2 Oncidiums in spike also on window sills. You should be ok with what you have. If you have problems with humidity, a small room size humidifier will get you up around 50 to 60 percent which is plenty for most orchids.

YAY! So the babies will come with me!!! I worry that their spikes won't be as magnificent, I have 4 phals in spike that I bought discounted because they weren't in bloom, I'll have at least a 3 foot spike before she's finished.

[gngrhill]

Originally Posted by georgiabelle

YAY! So the babies will come with me!!! I worry that their spikes won't be as magnificent, I have 4 phals in spike that I bought discounted because they weren't in bloom, I'll have at least a 3 foot spike before she's finished.

I would love to see a picture of your Phals

[georgiabelle]

Originally Posted by gngrhill

I would love to see a picture of your Phals

I'll take some photos tomorrow! I have some in bloom right now, and I'll take a picture of the spikes as well! I'm extremely excited for when they decide to bloom :-)

[georgiabelle]

gngrhill! Here are a few of my orchids!


Here is the top level!


here's one of the spikes


and another!

There are a few more, but those are the biggest ones right now :-)

[gngrhill]

congratulations..They are beautiful !

[desertanimal]

I think, once you get there, your worries may change from whether your orchid spikes will be as big to whether you can drag yourself out of bed in the morning. But maybe that's just me and my SAD. Get some lights. In the winter, i drink my coffee sitting beside my lit orchids, looking at them under their lights. I only have LEDs and it's the brightest spot in the house in the winter.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by georgiabelle

YAY! So the babies will come with me!!! I worry that their spikes won't be as magnificent, I have 4 phals in spike that I bought discounted because they weren't in bloom, I'll have at least a 3 foot spike before she's finished.

I wouldn't worry about that. I live even further north than NY (Netherlands) and the winters are even more dreary, but my orchids (mostly Phals and Oncs) all spike beautifully, with high bloom counts. I don't have artificial lighting, but my plants soak up the sun in the spring-summer, and it seems to give them all the energy they need to bloom in the winter.
Maybe you'll have a few less blooms, but regular feeding/watering and good light will make up for leaving that perfect FL climate.

[gardengirl13]

You'll love it up here!! Will you be staying through summers? If you're renting an apt and like I'd suggest doing that, get a summer job at the school. I worked for a college up until recently (my husband still works there) and they have a decent amt of summer jobs. This way you're not moving them back and forth a lot over the next 4 years.

I want to move to the finger lakes so bad!! I LOVE that area! Too bad none of the college libraries over there are hiring for what my husband does or I'd pester him to apply! We live in the hudson valley right now and the zones are similar due to the lakes (and the river for us). My orchids love the windows here. I did have to add lights to the higher light chids but that's due to moving from a place with good windows to one with not so good windows. I lost all my catts and ency doing the move. But the lower light guys are doing very well. Try to find a place with good eastern windows and all the ones in your photos will love you! If you want check out my thread here in the windowsill section, I talk a lot about everything.

[Optimist]

There is quite a lot of humidity in the north east and midwest due to rivers, lakes, the ocean in places. I would be more worried about moving to Arizona, but even there, people get really good results.

[Shep]

Hi-
I would take all of your orchids and see what happens. While I think some of the advice that you need to be space conscious is accurate, you're also about to enter a time in your life where having a giant Vanda may be inconvenient, it isn't the end of the world. It's actually kind of cool.

I kept a bunch of tropical fish when I was in college and wound up having a roommate who was equally into fish. We had something like 600 gallons of actively running aquariums at once.

I can't think of another time in my life when that would have been more reasonable.