At this workshop club members learned about the four basics of orchid culture: temperature, water, light and fertilizer. They discovered the different types of orchids and their varying cultural requirements. The talk which included an overview of potting concepts was given by Sasha Crotty, vice president and past president of the Massachusetts Orchid Society.

Sasha has been growing orchids in a small Boston condo for eight years. With only 1000 square feet of living space, orchid real-estate was hard to come by. Fortunately this did not dampen Sasha’s orchid addiction and fostered her fascination with miniature orchids. The small orchids did not fare as well in the dry Boston winters and as the number of orchids increased, it became clear that it was time for a change. Sasha bought an aquarium and converted it into an orchidarium. The high humidity and ease of watering made both owner and orchids happier. So much so that Sasha’s home now houses two cats, 250+ orchids, 2 orchidariums and has recently seen the introduction of automated watering systems.