Cyndi,
Oh oh, you confirm some of my fears in your description of what your son
would do to the orchids. Let's hope that my son is more like your daughter.
:-)
Joanna

"John" wrote in message
ups.com...
We have 2 kids, and until last month had about 40 orchids. Our 4 year
old helped us take care of the orchids since she was about 3 and is a
very careful with them. She loves to water (with a turkey baster) and
to help repot them. She LOVES going to shows too!

BUT, our 21 month old son started being difficult with the orchids as
soon as he could stand up -- about 10 months. He took out the tags
(irritating - so I labeled the pots with magic marker instead), he
unpotted several orchids (AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!! We lost 5 orchids
this way), pulled and broke off leaves and a very promising keiki,
pulled on the light cords, turned the humidifier off/on, up/down, etc.
He has put the media (spag. moss or husks) into his mouth, but usually
spit them out (or I'd catch him and make him spit them out). I finally
took all of the big pieces out. And he even chewed on the bigger
leaves of the phalenopses(?) and cattleyas. Other than aggravation, no
problems with his health.

Finally, in desperation my husband (the true orchid enthusiast) built a
wood case (about 5 feet long, 3 feet wide, 6 feet high) that he covered
with chicken wire (for circulation) to house our orchids that contained
the lights, humidifier, and 4 shelves for the orchids and the supplies,
with doors that open for watering (with 2 locks on them when he learned
to open the first lock). S-hooks, placed about 5 feet high) are great
for quite a while for locking cabinets, doors, closets, etc. (We even
put one on our bathroom door when he kept unrolling all of the toilet
paper!) At about 18 months he pulled a chair over to the case and
crawled all over it, trying to get in. We were able to park it right in
front of a window, and put 4 light fixtures in it. Unfortunately, we
had to sell all of our orchids before our move to Kansas last month,
and we sold the case too and I can't find a single picture of it.

We kept the plant food/fertilizer/etc in a sealed plastic container on
the bottom shelf of the case - those big flat ones for underbed storage
worked great.

Overall, you are right on about what you need to do. And you're doing
great job, Mom!

Cyndi