Any help appreciated

Possibly my next purchase.

Good morning eveyone, I am attempting to grow orchids here in the Tampa area of Florida. I am disabled and live in a small trailer. I plan on raising the orchids in my living area which as lots of indirect light. I keep my ac set at 76.
My 1st orchid is a Bulbophyllum blumei and I think future ones will also be Bulbophyllums But I have very little knowledge about raising them, so any comments/help will be appreciated. I am also on a very limited income and can only buy 1 plant a month,I cannot invest in ay sort of equipment so should I just forget about this project?
Thanx in advance, Frank.

Living in Florida, your equipment investment should be minimal. A basic book, like, Complete Guide to Orchids by Ortho Books would give you enough basic information as well as lots of help from all the knowledgeable people on this forum (me, not included) and you have a huge natural greenhouse....you live in Florida! I used to be just down the street from you in Ft Myers....wish I was still there rather than Michigan! So go ahead and enjoy....

Go for it , I have a few Bulbos. they are in approx. Phal. light am. sun is fine if not hot . Where you are could probably move them outside in the spring and hang in a tree or set on a table will have to shade them from the sun, I know it can get hot , was there one year for vacation , almost cooked what little brain cells I have lol .
I have never lived in Fl. so hate to say a lot . Gin

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Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together.

Definitely go for it. You have the heat, humidity and sun to grow orchids. If you buy what you can afford and take care of easily you should be ok. Don't forget to post here often. you'll get lots of good info here. We also love pics.

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It always rains after a dry spell !:

Thank you all for the encouragement, I need it! The photos were taken by my daughter at Selby Gardens in Sarasota on a recent
visit there. This is collage I made of Selby Gardens, a very beautiful place to visit, we are going again on sunday.

Good luck with them, they are ones I have not tried yet. They seem to require a lot of humidity if I am correct. Read as much as you can, and keep us posted.

Hi Frank, that's a beautiful picture of Paphiopedilum spicerianum. This is one of the easier to grow 'slipper orchids', so named because of the slipper/pouch (in this case heart shaped.. have I mentioned it's a beauty???)

living in florida, guess it's gonna be fairly warm, but if you keep your AC at that temp, it should be ok... the humidity will be an issue, AC's tend to dry things out... so might be a good idea to place the orchid pot over a saucer with pebbles and water (don't let the water touch the pot itself though).

good luck with your new hobby! and hope you get lots and lots of enjoyment from these beautiful plants!

cheers
tim

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once upon a time, in the faraway land of Oz, lived a fellow who surrounded himself with slipper orchids that the menfolk, the womenfolk and children alike called him P.o.P!

That's a cute paph you have a picture of, are you going to try paphs?

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Diane

"NA BEAN DO'N CHAT GUN LAMHAINN"

I'm really curious to know what program you used to do the collage? It's a really neat pic.

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It always rains after a dry spell !:

for all th encuragement
To: Bench72, Diane, Yes I ill try the Paph. As A child growing up in New Hampshire I remember the lady slippers in the shady/wet areas of our property, so beautiful they were.

Ischel1 here is another collage I did at: Microsoft Picture It Express 7.0.
I will try and put my site of my daughters photos and art work here again, nothing there is for sale its just for people to visit and enjoy. We will be going back to Selby Garden on sunday to see the new born blossoms.