On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 10:19:06 +0100, Reka
wrote:

The following article comes from a Wichita newspaper, with the title
mentioning Martha Stewart. What do you growers out there think of these
suggestions, meant for beginners?
I myself am having a terrible time with L. pumila. #*§%$!!!

This strikes me as not an article that would be helpful to beginners,
but one in which the author is trying to show off how much they know
when he /she really doesn't know much. Much too much focus on
temperature while ignoring other culture issues which are more
important for the beginner who is probably going to be growing inside
anyway. Recommending species, especially individual species, is also
a poor idea. Not only are they harder to acquire, they are also often
less forgiving than hybrids. Beginners really need culture info for
the commonly available mass market orchids - den, phal, oncidium, and
paph hybrids. Yes, such articles are mundane and I'm sure the author
didn't want to write yet another such article, but I think any
beginner who purchased the orchids mention here would be disillusioned
pretty quickly. They just aren't beginner orchids.

deg