I was in Home Depot today, buying things I needed for working on the new house, when I happened to go by the orchid display. Did any (or all) of you know that Home Depot has lovely orchids? I see them there all the time. I've always thought they were gorgeous but figured they were picky and hard to grow.

There was a man looking at these beautiful flowers so of course I had to say something to him, "Aren't they beautiful?" or something of that sort. And before you know it we were talking about orchids. He sounded like HE (unlike ME) knew what he was talking about.

So I asked him a question about orchid culture, then another and one thing let to another and next thing you know he was showing me one particular orchid and saying "This sure is a beauty, you should buy it" and next thing you know it was in my cart. Then he was telling me how orchids don't like to be alone so you really need at least two. Then, all of a sudden there were (not two) three of them in my cart.

Then this nice orchid lover was hunting for orchid fertilizer for me, then for all the right gear to give orchids just the sort of environment they love.

They need to be in a smallish pot (they grow in bark chips) and a little rootbound. The pots need to be up on a grate (use a light diffuser with 1/4 inch square sections) that is set in a flat container (the ones you use to start seeds in are perfect) and you need to keep the water level just to the top of the grate (orchids like moisture coming up from below and don't EVER water them on the leaves if you are pouring water from above).

Give them 16 hours of grow lights a day and talk to them a lot and you can expect mature orchids to bloom as often as 3-4 times a year. Fertilize lightly - a scant 1/4 teaspoon of orchid (approx 30-10-10 mix) fertilizer in a gallon of water once a week.

So, I am a new orchid owner, and I have a feeling that 3 probably won't be the end of it! Does anyone else here on the MN forum grow orchids? If you do, I'd love to see them. Here are my three beauties!

By the way, the nice fellow that I met at Home Depot lives in Rapid City (SD) and he tells me that you can't run down to Home Depot and pick up orchids there. He actually has to mail order his, because no one carries them locally.