I am on the West coast of Florida, and so far I have had success with plants that come from local nurseries. Currently I grow phals, catts, den's, (the usuals) encyclia, tolumnia, vanda, oncidiums, gram's....the list goes on. You will want to keep your potting mixes on the dryer side. I buy the normal bags of mix you find at big box stores, I store it in a clear plastic bin (keeps out bugs, and you can see the contents). I shake the bin so the large pieces stay up top, and what goes to the bottom is used for phals. You will want to pick up some driftwood or some spare pieces of wood and anything that loses roots in your dryest mix, you will mount. And as you will see some of the others do...down here you can even mount the hardier orchids on a tree or two. Molly Taco recently posted pictures of her plants in bloom that are attached to trees. If you look around your local area and find an orchid nursery; they will help you select a few easy growing plants to start with. I also find the local botanical garden master gardeners are a wealth of information on orchids. For now my number one grower, bloomer has been med. sized cattleya and my C. Maxima species. I recently bought an alba Maxima and it put on three growths already in a few months. Hope this helps...