Great setup, Aurora! Glad to recognize we have yet another orchids-n-hoyas nut in our mix! :-)

Congrats on mounting some plants! I do not dare so far. The daily watering / misting requirements scare me - although I love love! LOVE! that look of a plant handing off of a cork slab or something. Very "rain forest" look! You hung the mounts on the plant stand, which is great - they need all the humidity they can get. (Which is another reason I have not dipped my toes into growing mounted - I just do not have the humidity for much of the year).

That imbricata is going to look great mounted. Are you going to enclose it in an orchidarium-like setup, or just hang it like those orchids?

Cattleyas need high light to bloom, higher than most hoyas. If you can find space for them under the center of the light fixture (perhaps after they acclimate to the mount a bit) rather than by the edge where light is lower, I think they would benefit.

I've been eyeing Stanhopeas myself. I love those alien-looking elaborate complicated flowers. Yours seems too small to flower yet (I think), but by the time it's ready, make sure you have it in a basket that allows it to send a flower spike straight down through the mix and out the bottom, without a significant chance of bumping into the basket's parts and stalling. That is another reason to grow it, I think - it has such a far out growth / flowering habit!

Those two lamps, one shining red, the other white - is the red one LED and the white one fluorescent? It looks like a good setup to run comparative lighting experiments, because they seem to make such clear light circles that it's clear even on the same shelf which plants grow under which light.

Your Paphiopedilums are going crazy with buds and flowers! I am jealous! 2 or 3 times so far that I've brought home a Paph in bud, they blasted each and every single time! In one case, it might have been a reaction to the systemic I treated it with (it had mealies), but what's my excuse for the other times??? I'll get them right, eventually. Maybe.

> illustrating the importance of lighting (brightest in center, darker on the outer parts of the flat...plan on fixing that by buying another t-8 bar)

Maybe you just need a wider reflector, no? If the intensity of that red bulb is large enough to cover the area?

We might have talked about fluorescent technology before, I do not remember. T5 is a newer technology than T8. T5s are lower profile, burn cooler, are more energy efficient and produce more light per unit of power consumption. And I think the bulbs are more durable and maintain their intensity for longer than previous fluorescent technologies, where the spectrum shifts (I think) and intensity diminishes (definitely) over time.

>That imbricata is going to look great mounted. Are you going to enclose it in an orchidarium-like setup, or just hang it like those orchids?

Just going to hang it, for now, but if it starts suffering (the humidity has been hanging around 65-70% in the room, consistently), hubby has said he will make an acrylic terrarium.

>Cattleyas need high light to bloom, higher than most hoyas. If you can find space for them under the center of the light fixture (perhaps after they acclimate to the mount a bit) rather than by the edge where light is lower, I think they would benefit.

They have already bloomed this season, so where they are hanging is temporary. The empty space on the right bottom shelf is where I will be putting them, as soon as we get the other light bars.

>Yours seems too small to flower yet (I think), but by the time it's ready, make sure you have it in a basket that allows it to send a flower spike straight down through the mix and out the bottom, without a significant chance of bumping into the basket's parts and stalling.

I have two stanhopea. S. nigroviolacea is just a seedling, and I have it in a small orchid pot for now, but when it grows big enough, we have a special slotted basket for it. The larger one in the photo (S. tigrina) is bloom size, and in a 3.5 inch orchid basket with slots, not little squares, but actual slots.

>Those two lamps, one shining red, the other white - is the red one LED and the white one fluorescent? It looks like a good setup to run comparative lighting experiments, because they seem to make such clear light circles that it's clear even on the same shelf which plants grow under which light.

The red one is LED (blue/white/red) and the white one is a CFL.

>Your Paphiopedilums are going crazy with buds and flowers! I am jealous! 2 or 3 times so far that I've brought home a Paph in bud, they blasted each and every single time! In one case, it might have been a reaction to the systemic I treated it with (it had mealies), but what's my excuse for the other times??? I'll get them right, eventually. Maybe.

To be honest, I had a ton of bud blast with these as well, in the beginning. I found that both the plain leaf and the speckled leaf ones actually prefer more light than the internet leads you to believe. Also, I keep the media damp, not soggy, at all times. They get misted in the morning, and then again 20 minutes before the lights go off in the room, giving the mist ample time to evaporate.

>Maybe you just need a wider reflector, no? If the intensity of that red bulb is large enough to cover the area?

I could use a wider reflector, but since I am already planning to add the last 2 T-8 bars, I see no use in upgrading, lol.

>We might have talked about fluorescent technology before, I do not remember. T5 is a newer technology than T8. T5s are lower profile, burn cooler, are more energy efficient and produce more light per unit of power consumption. And I think the bulbs are more durable and maintain their intensity for longer than previous fluorescent technologies, where the spectrum shifts (I think) and intensity diminishes (definitely) over time.

We have talked fluorescent lighting before, and I do agree with your points. But I am using the retrofit for T-8 LED lights, so all of them are LED, just in T-8 size.

Your setup is totally awesome and I'm officially jealous...just beautiful...

Awesome husband!!!
Awesome plants!

Wow! You define the addiction to a new level. :)
Did I see a Hoya Kalimantan in the last picture? Do you mind to share the source where you got it? I checked srq Hoya but it shows it is not available. Or do you have a cutting for trade/ sale? I do not think I have anything Hoya you interested though, given that you have so many varieties. I only have the normal suspects from bbs, just started, but after seen the leaves of h. Kalimantan, it is on my wish list.
Thank you

Aurora, If you are interested in learning more about Paphs and Phrags, Olaf (I forget his last name) recently publish ebooks on Paphs and then one separately on Phrags. Since they are ebooks, they are not outrageously expensive like most good orchid books.

The are more technical than culture, but he does include one chapter on general culture. But more importantly he covers the natural locations, and therefore culture on each species. So even if you have a hybrid, you can easily find the species that make up it's background and avoid the overgeneralizations people do. (If you are interested in this, email me a hybrid name, and I'll get you the species background)

For example, it was mentioned above that Cattleyas like high light. Well. Many Cattleyas do. Some don't. Some require direct sunlight. Some prefer dappled shade, some prefer heavy shade. I find many people like to do this for Paphs as well. Well, it doesn't always work that way.

Your set-up looks lovely, I'm jealous :)

Renee

@greendale: Yes, that is Hoya sp. Kalimantan. I got it over the summer from ricnfl, an ebay member and a very nice person, very good hoya caregiver. Unfortunately, I don't have any to spare, as I had to cut mine in half due to a certain curious kitty. I am rooting the cutting, and waiting for the existing rooted plant (the one you see in the last photo) to put on new growth.

@Renee: Thanks for the info! I must buy those ebooks! Tonight, when I get home, I shall look them up on my e-reader.

> I am using the retrofit for T-8 LED lights, so all of them are LED, just in T-8 size.

Ah, yes, we did talk about that. The light from those bulbs looks good and natural in your pictures.