Our Orchids

Our display at the 2006 Maryland Orchid Society Show

How we got "bitten" by the Orchid Bug:

     My husband Steven and I, met in 1998 in Aikido class.  In 2000, when we bought our first house, a few months later, we purchased our first orchid, a nameless dendrobium, from Home  Depot.  We had always been interested in orchids, having seen photos in magazines, so we thought that one little orchid couldn't hurt, we'd give it a try.  Little did we know then that we had sparked an obsession.  Shortly, that little dendrobium was joined by a few phalaenopsis.  We soon realized that we didn't have enough windowsill space, so we built our first light rack.  The first was a simple rack from the hardware store with fluorescent lights hung from each rack above the plants.  It worked very well for the phals, but we could not get the dendrobiums to bloom.  At around that time, we met Tom and Gary of The Little Greenhouse, who gave us wonderful advice on setting up a proper growing area, and introduced us to the Maryland Orchid Society, where we met other growers who used primarily light systems.   
     The first incarnation was 10' x 12' and consisted of racks of phals lit with full spectrum fluorescent lights, and a 500 watt HPS/MH combination light for the cattleyas and dendrobiums.  This was our first real success.  It was in these conditions that our first plant grew and got an award:  Paphiopedilum Angela 'River's End' AM/AOS.  Soon the room had a reverse osmosis water filter added, but within a few months, we decided to expand, and moved the room to the opposite end of the basement, and increased its size (12' x 18'), while installing a ventilation system that would allow us to control the temperatures more accurately.  2 more HPS lights were added for the ever-growing high light section. 
      By May of 2006, we had received 3 more awards:  2 HCCs (Paphiopedilum Hsinying Silver Charm 'River's End' and Tol. Baby Joy 'River's End') and an FCC (Ryncholaelia glauca 'River's End')
    However, we had begun looking for a new house, and in June of 2006, we found the perfect home, and moved the entire collection to a temporary area under lights in the garage (the collection at this point is estimated at  ~700 plants, many in compots.  We have now begun construction of what we hope is the permanent home for our plants-- our first greenhouse.  As the construction progresses, I hope to add a page showing the steps of construction of the greenhouse.