Newbie!
 

I have a few questions about my environment and hope to get some
suggestions from others who grow in similar conditions.

The house where I plan to keep my orchid(s) is occupied by 2 naughty
cats so I will be using the basement.
It's an old house so the basement is pretty humid, although I may have
to make some adjustments to the daytime
temperature and of course the lighting.

So, does anyone have any experience or advice for basement growing?
I'm thinking about using florescenct
lighting because I've read it works pretty well and is economical.
Should I try a different kind of lighting that would
also raise the temperature? Any specific orchids that will do better
down there than others?

On other things, I have only purchased one beautiful orchid, "dancing
lady"-I think that's oncidium (sp?), for a
new family friend while visiting in Florida (I live in Maryland). I'm
back home now and quite worried about the
flower because I didn't find out until after I gave the gift that she's
really... lazy, for lack of a better word. I hope
it doesn't die

You'll need to supplement the light quite a bit in your basement, and that
alone will probably drive the temperatures up sufficiently for most of the
year.

Fluorescents are fine, but your brighter-growing genera, including your new
oncidium, will need to be quite close to the bulbs.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Mandy" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a few questions about my environment and hope to get some
suggestions from others who grow in similar conditions.

The house where I plan to keep my orchid(s) is occupied by 2 naughty
cats so I will be using the basement.
It's an old house so the basement is pretty humid, although I may have
to make some adjustments to the daytime
temperature and of course the lighting.

So, does anyone have any experience or advice for basement growing?
I'm thinking about using florescenct
lighting because I've read it works pretty well and is economical.
Should I try a different kind of lighting that would
also raise the temperature? Any specific orchids that will do better
down there than others?

On other things, I have only purchased one beautiful orchid, "dancing
lady"-I think that's oncidium (sp?), for a
new family friend while visiting in Florida (I live in Maryland). I'm
back home now and quite worried about the
flower because I didn't find out until after I gave the gift that she's
really... lazy, for lack of a better word. I hope
it doesn't die