The simple answer is to join the Jax. Orchid Society. That group of people are the most qualified group there is on the subject. Besides the answer to your question there are many other benefits. You could just show up as a guest. See what you think....

. I'm not much on group joining but I can do that as a guest once.

This post was edited by bea2014 on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 21:59

. I'm not much on group joining but I can that as a guest once.

Bea, When you say you are building a green-house that opens up a lot of possibilities.
Are you going to heat it in winter
Usually fans are needed that run 24/7
Are you going to instal a misting system
What percentage shade-cloth are you going to put on the hail guard
and so on.
Looked up the climate for "JAX" It snows there???? Never snows here. Different place, different problems.

Arthur bite your tongue. LOL. I moved down here to get away from snow!!!

Seriously though yes on heat because Dec-Feb we get temps in the 40s and some nights in the 30s. This year we had 32 one night in Nov. Yes on fans. Prob no misting system - too expensive and humidity down here averages 75-80 %. Dont know percentage on shade cloth yet. I live in the woods and only the front of the greenhouse will get sun. The rest will be in shade appropriate for phals and ferns which is the bulk of my collection. I will have to wait and see how bright the light coming in is.

And I will still keep my lights/humidifier/temp set up in the in-house plantroom in case I am too chicken to leave the orchids out during the 95 degree summer days.

This post was edited by bea2014 on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 21:57

The object of the exercise should be to place your glass-House/Green House in the sunniest possible position in your yard and then adjust the shading according to the season and the orchids you are trying to grow.

There is no such thing as an empty orchid house. Ferns and whatever are forced to make way for more and more orchids.

I know growers who have 3000 even 5000 orchids.

That maxim about the sunniest spot possible applies particularly to winter, you want the sun to lift day temps.

Got the snow bit from the university of google. I too hate snow, one of the happiest days of my life was when I sold my Ski Club share to my son for a nominal amount. Yippee, no more horrible white stuff.

Lol Arthur - you and me both. I am very happy never to see snow or cold weather again.

As for the greenhouse that is what I'm doing right now - deciding which is the sunniest spot in my yard to build it. I figure I can always add shade but not sun.

Lucky for me I do well with phals which will work well since my direct sun area is limited. I also have a few cats and an onc. For these is what I'm working on the sun angle.

This post was edited by bea2014 on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 12:53