Location

Notes:
Like most internet businesses, OEI started as a hobby gone wild. It all started about 20 years ago with a seedling Cattleya orchid from a local nursery. Placed on a windowsill in a townhouse in Northern Virginia, the Cattleya put on a new growth and that was all it took. Ken was hooked. The quest for knowledge had begun and Ken learned of KensingtonOrchids, just a short, 30 minute drive around Washington DC. MerrittHuntington, owner of Kensington Orchids, became Ken's mentor and was always giving of his vast knowledge of orchids and the orchid world. Through NCOS, Ken met Arthor Holst - author of "The World of Catasetums". Art traveled throughout Brazil studying the native habitats of the genus Catasetenae for his yet-to-be-published book. Art invited Ken to join him on one of his trips to Brazil and they soon became friends and journeyed together on many future trips. Ken has a Bachelor of Science degree in Protozoology and was formally trained in microbiology while working on his Masters Degree, studying sulfur oxidizing bacteria along the volcanic rifts in the Pacific Ocean. Ken's training has given him the knowledge necessary to establish a laboratory where OEI germinates and grows orchid seed under controlled sterile conditions. Ken has been germinating and growing orchids from seed almost as long as he has been growing orchids. OEI was originally established to help reduce the number of orchids in Ken's collection, but somehow this has backfired and Ken's collection just seems to grow. Ken now manages a 33'X20'X13' greenhouse, a laboratory, and a grow-room with four 1000W HID lights that run on moving tracks over benches of seedling and various Catasetenae.