Hi everyone,

My name is Eric Hunt, 32, male, living with partner of 4.5 years in the
Mission District of San Francisco, CA.

I've been growing orchids almost 5 years. Right now I am growing half in a
north-facing bay window and half under lights in my kitchen. Kitchen light
setup is sub-par, but that's not my main focus now. Bay window is much more
successful - Dendrobium ionopsis is just coming into bloom with several
dozen inflorescences and I had a spectacular blooming of Dendrobium forbesii
just finish. Oncidium leucochilum bloomed nicely for me this year in the
window. Trying to get Neofinetia falcata to bloom, but I'm learning my
day-night temp differential may not be high enough. Masdevallia mystica
under lights tends to bloom on and off when it feels like it, the rest just
sit there, so we won't mention names. =)

My biggest orchid accomplishment was a 3 week trip to Ecuador this past
January to see orchids in the wild. Best two encounters: two different cliff
faces covered in dozens of blooming Phrag. besseae and encountering a large
Anguloa virginalis in full bloom in secondary forest. I ran into fellow
r.g.o. member Danny in Quito at the end of the trip, btw.

I am a member of the San Francisco Orchid Society as well as the Bay Area
and National Pleurothallid Alliance and am an avid supporter of The Orchid
Digest.

My biggest orchid-related effort is my orchid species photography website -
www.orchidphotos.org. I spend untold amounts of time taking the photos and
placing them online for everyone to enjoy. I post many of the photos over on
the UseNet group alt.binaries.pictures.orchids - so come over there to enjoy
photos of orchids.

I am the president of OrchidMania, Inc., an all-volunteer orchid-based
nonprofit in San Francisco. We have a greenhouse in San Francisco where we
maintain a permanent collection of species orchids and take care of donated
orchids of all kinds. I get most of my orchid culture fix by working in the
OM greenhouse.

We sell the donated orchids at the World's Largest Orchid Garage Sale over
Mother's Day Weekend in May, as well as throughout the year directly from
the greenhouse. All the net proceeds are donated to grassroots HIV/AIDS
groups in Northern California, Thailand, and Colombia. This is our 15th year
and my 4th year with OrchidMania. www.orchids.org

Thanks for listening!

-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org