Here's my take. I know we all have our preferences but I never blame a medium for problems. That is just me. Here again, however, we have a testimonial from someone who deciding that their mix is too 'soggy' repots into something more open but then experiences continued problems now perhaps due to too dry conditions leading to brittle, dead, roots that don't develop. The unassisted (by artificial light) west window is at once too much light and too little! Your area can see frequent clouds and I suspect an atlas would show your locale receiving less than 180 clear days out of 365. IMO this is too little for good growth of anything but 'low light' species. OTOH when the sun 'is' shining and temps are up in the mid-80's possibly higher that is too much, even I admit that. The only recourse is to shade away the worst of the natural light. What is left will not cause heat stress or scorch but neither will it be able to put size into a p-bulb. The difference must be made up artificially. If someone knows of another way I would like to hear it. When orchids stall, sulk or otherwise go on strike the reason will always be found outside of the pot. Too litttle (rarely too much) light, too little or too much heat, too little or too much ventilation... external causatives. Water 1x/wk for a plastic pot, 2x/wk for a clay pot regardless of what is in it and call it good! Do not spray or mist or otherwise try to 'top up' orchid pots. That way lies madness and also root rot. With experience will come the ability to experiment in ways that will not harm your plants. Until then its best to follow some rules. They won't always be a perfect fit but they work for quite a lot of growers new and old. H

Annie . . . Thank you for your info. Well . . . I believe they are brugs, but until I see a bloom, I won't know for sure. But the previous owner (who gave them up because she had to move into a situation where she could not take them with her) said they were Angel Trumpets. After finding this site, I asked her which direction the flowers grow and she said down, so I enlightened her about Brugs vs Daturas which she did not know. She says that one of them is salmon colored, one is peach, and one is yellow, but I don't remember which is which. As I stated before, she said that she has never smelled anything from hers. I will be waiting for your pics. As for my neighbor and her problem with baby brugs popping up all over her lawn, hers was definitely a brug because the huge yellow flowers hung down over her fence and, because her backyard runs along a narrow, one-way alley that is heavily used by neighborhood vehicle traffic, people complained that the flowers kept hitting their cars. As a matter of fact, I got all the way to work one day, got out of my car, and found a blossom stuck to my car antenna. I got the impression that the babies were more like runners than seeds. I was just over there and she is still pulling them up as she sees them. Karyn . . . thank you for the pics. The leaves on one of mine (the one with the partially severed Y) looks like your first picture. Some of the larger, lower leaves are somewhat jagged (sort of like a big pointsettia leaf as Annie described), but not all of them are like that. I can't see enough of the leaf in your second picture, but the flower sure is beautiful!! I will spend some time looking at pictures that people have posted on this site to try and get some idea of what I really have. Annie . . . How do you smell the leaves? Do I have to snap them? crush them? I get very close to mine because I am constantly looking for evidence of blooms, and I have not detected any smell at all. My leaves are all smooth . . . none of the plants have hairy leaves. If someone could tell me how to post pictures, I will do that and maybe someone can help me identify exactly which I have. Oh if I could only get a bloom!!

PerfectMemory, It's perfectly normal to feel mad at losing your mom. Grief can take many forms and sometimes bring out in us a person we don't even recognize. But I wanted to talk to you about life not being pointless. Nobel Prize winner and Nazy Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once called it 'the most important question a human has to face: Why are we here?'. Think about our capabilities and the use of our brain, we barely scratch the surface. We only use a small fraction of our brain yet we have done so much. It's true, our present life span allows us barely to scratch the surface of what we are designed to do. Think about the beginning, I know you may not be a believer in God but hear me out, God created mankind as an expression of his love and surrounded us with beauty and plenty under peaceful conditions. The first humans were given a fulfilling and meaningful assignment: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is living upon the earth." (Genesis 3:8,9) Things did not immediately work out as Jehovah purposed, for we are here, the poor choice of our first parents we have inherited sin and death. NEVERTHELESS God's original purpose for mankind WILL be fulfilled. Few things are more distressing to the human spirit than the thought that life has no meaning, no purpose. But, if you make careful observation of the natural world, you will see that the mind-boggling complexities found in nature, from unicellular organisms to galactic clusters millions of light years away, tell us of an intelligent Designer, or Creator. "For God's invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world's creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable". (Romans 1:20) Regarding us humans, we have an inborn desire to live and to know the meaning of life and seeking those answers is part of being human. We were not created to die, and because things changed and we are now here God has given us the hope of seeing of loved ones again in perfect conditions to restore His original purpose. The thought of seeing them again is the hope that Jesus gave us when he was on earth and resurrected some who had died, Jesus was only giving us a preview of what was to come in the future in a much grander scale. We WILL see our loved ones again. The Bible can answer all of our questions it's just a matter of looking. There is no tradition there, no lies, no imperfect human reasoning, just pure, loving guidance. I can assure you that if you look, you will find. Much love, Ada

You are just teasing us!! ;o) If you don't stop, I'm gonna post another picture of my cute kid begging me for a puppy. Georgia is just too far from Utah for a weekend road trip, though. If/when we do get a dog, it will likely be from the shelter like our cats. We had a lost dog in our garage last night, but only for a short time as he had tags w/phone number. Owner came very soon. He was high energy! He destroyed a beach ball in our garage, and had a lot of fun doing it too! He must keep his family on their toes. I don't know why I find all the lost dogs. Do you think someone's trying to tell me something?