Dealing with Texas heat in a hobby greenhouse

[JMLand]

I guess I should just be happy my greenhouse stays cooler than outside. I was hoping to grow some more cooler climate orchids. But keeping the greenhouse at 85 when its 98 in the shade is probably good enough lol.

[fotofashion]

Yes, I finally gave up on cool weather orchids after I killed practically all my thin leaved varieties. It is not worth it neither in the money spent nor the effort to keep them alive (if I only could). Once you accept the reality of your conditions over which you have little or no control it is easier to make decisions as to what you will buy.
Beverly A.

[james mickelso]

HD sells a small air conditioning unit which would go right well with your GH. I had one of those Harbor Freight poly carbonate units about 8X10 and it would be just right with that small unit. I forget the btu's it put out but I had it for cooling my dark room where it would regularly get over 100*f in summer. Cooled it down to AROUND 60*F. Cost around $100. Just plug it in. Has multiple temp settings.

[RJSquirrel]

when you got a little rinky dink greenhouse you dont put much more than rinky dink into it ...

If I had a more permanent structure like a 14 x 20 Im suddenly needing , I would have AC in it and it would also have triple wall frosted poly not single ply clear poly. There are a lot of factors that go into how much do you want to spend or how much can you spend on your orchid hutches. Or what you can do to cool off for what you want to grow. You can do anything you want of course.
Ive looked at the nice swamp coolers they sell around 500 bucks online. Im still looking at em too

Lots of water in the meantime....for this C.walkeriana var.coerulea 'Monte Azul' that put out 8 new bulbs in the heat.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

Lots of water in the meantime....for this C.walkeriana var.coerulea 'Monte Azul' that put out 8 new bulbs in the heat.

Yep, Cattleya growth is explosive in the heat! They truly thrive in the warm Texas summers.

[james mickelso]

Send an email to gublers orchids in Landers, Ca. They can also give you tips on growing in the heat. They are up in the high desert here in Calif. where it gets around 100+ in the summertime. They've been in the orchid growing business since the 40's. Very nice people too. I have a cattleya which was named after one of their grand daughters.

[Leisurely]

Shade cloth stretched above the greenhouse or lowered a few inches inside is reported to work fairly well.

If you are growing warm growing plants, even 95 is not too hot for short periods. If you are not growing warmth tolerant plants, you should not be growing them in a greenhouse or outside in Texas. Just too hot.

[james mickelso]

If you have a lot of orchids in there I would opt for the small air conditioning unit from HD. Here's a pic. The unit is very small but my dark room was about 6 x 12 and it really brought down the temps nicely. The electrical cost for running it for a couple hours 2 or 3 times a week was around $8-$10 a month. Just run it for a couple hrs a day when the temps get to 90* and here's a shot of my fan which really moves the air around and would help with the temp too.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Leisurely

If you are growing warm growing plants, even 95 is not too hot for short periods. If you are not growing warmth tolerant plants, you should not be growing them in a greenhouse or outside in Texas. Just too hot.

Na, the Catts do fine with high temps over 95. Mine are outside for summer in the Texas heat with no problems. They just need good shadecloth that blocks 60-70% of direct sun and a good soaking each day.

[fotofashion]

James: A swamp cooler is nice where the humidity is low. That is not the case here in Texas. Our humidity is very high. I wish we could use a swamp cooler. It would be much more economical than AC.
Meanwhile, my plants spend the summer outdoors.
Beverly A.