Hi All, I live in Cambridge and grow mostly species in a 12x8, 6 foot high at the eaves polycarbonate greenhouse. It is divided with a sliding door into a cool section (min 8-10c) and an intermediate one (min 14-16c. I also have a small (2x2x3foot) extra heated mini greenhouse inside the intermediate section where I try to grow a few hothouse plants (min 5c hotter). Two thirds of my plants are in pots and the rest mounted.

Although I do have a few hybrids, I mostly grow miniature, small and medium sized species with a decided preference for Australasian (lots of Dendrobiums, quite a lot of Coelogynes and Vandas) - although I have been unable to resist African and American ones too. I am retired so have a fair bit of time to spend trying to understand and grow well what I have. Watering each plant individually takes forever!

I fell for Orchids as a child - I was born and spent my early years in Sarawak (Borneo), hence my preference for orchids from that part of the world.

I am also fascinated by the psychology of this hobby (looking at myself) as it seems to give me things on many levels: Caring for plants; excitement at growth; aesthetics of beautiful things; short term and long term satisfaction (e.g. repotting, a years growth etc,). There is a scientific and intellectual satisfaction in learning about the needs of a particular species, experimenting with different ways to grow, different media and mounts, fertilizers, airflow, light, temperature, humidity, watering methods, annual cycles etc.; engineering aspects - the structures in and on which we grow, heating, thermostats, benches and shelves etc.

I also get a lot of joy from visiting with other orchid lovers and find there is always something new to be learned. I look forward to the end of lockdown!