You don't mention your growing conditions. Do you have good windows? What exposure? You are in zone 5? Can your plant go outside in summer?

Lots of variables to consider. These are generally easy plants to grow in the right conditions. I grew one in NY for over 10 years. It went outside in summer, spent the winter in front of a large window. No additional light over winter.

We now live in Florida and it grows on our screened patio in full sun. I actually got better flowering in NY than I do in Florida. Sounds strange, but I think it liked the cool winters. Living in Florida has caused some fungal issues likely due to the high humidity.

Who knows. I have it on a wood dolly so I can roll it around. Very large, about 5 feet tall and wide. Like a shrub.

Depending on your growing conditions, it should be fine for a few years. It is a slow grower so you can worry about it in a few years.

Jane

If you have not seen pics of janes five footer in bloom, just ask or do a search on this forum. It is awesome!!!

As an indoor grower with limited space and who had this plant 4-5 years ago, I have this suggestion: Grow it for 2-3 years and hope to get a few blooms. After that it will be so large that you will want to give/sell/trade/compost it and use it's old space to grow 5-10 other orchids. I can't recall ever getting blooms on mine while indoors, so for me it definitely was not worth the size/space issue for the few blooms I got.

As far as artificial light, look for a 27+ watt LED flood with a wide beam and put it @ 24" over the plant. That should work until it gets to be 3' tall and 3' wide or so :)

Good luck,

Bob

I agree with Bob. If you can't summer it outdoors you probably won't get many blooms. The trick I used was to leave it out until it got quite cool. The drop in night temps trigger spiking. I didn't bring it back in until I got spikes.

I grew out the spikes indoors under floor lamps and bright windows.

Not sure what I would do with it if I still lived in NY. I would probably do what Bob said. It would have been sold to someone with a greenhouse.

In Florida I can let it grow on. Its full of spikes now and will probably bloom in a few weeks. Much later than NY as the temps do not drop here until Nov.

I can't bring it to shows anymore because its too big to transport.

This is not a plant for indoor growers in cold climates unless they have a greenhouse.

Jane