For a few weeks already I have been watching like a hawk for new spikes,
knowing that I was very close to the halfway point, and today it has been
reached:

As of today, over half of my orchids (24 out of 47) are either in bloom, in
bud, or in spike! I am counting as in spike only those orchids that either
have initiated a new spike (and where there is no doubt in my mind that it
is a spike) or that are showing new activity on an old spike, but not ones
that have a green old spike that is not currently active.

Furthermore of the 24 orchids currently in bloom/bud/spike in my condo only
5 were bought recently enough so that their activity is not due to the
conditions at my place. So I guess my orchids really love the new condo
where I moved in the beginning of August. :-) Mostly the humidity in this
place is naturally quite high. We have not turned on the heating yet, so
that will bring the humidity down of course, but the humidity in one of my
two growing areas currently fluctuates between 63-90%. As a result I am now
watering the orchids much less frequently than before, since they rarely
approach dry. I may have to repot more of my orchids into clay pots, since
some of the watering schedules are becoming ridiculously long, like a month
between waterings -- and occasionally I have noticed a bit of mold on moss
or a bit of rot on leaf (which I have been meticulously cutting out), but
these problems have so far been occasional only. Since we have not turned
the heat on yet, and the nights have been cool in the Washington DC area,
the temperature in the window, where many of my orchids live, has been min
56 and max 75 degrees Fahrenheit, which has caused all this spiking.

It's an exciting time here.

Joanna