Hardiness Zones & AHS Heat Zones - Quick Reference

[HiOrcDen]

Does anyone know of a particular website(s) which specifies these numbers for, hopefully, most or nearly all Orchids, whether for both Plant Hardiness Zones and AHS Heat Zones, or a different website(s) for each?

I suppose a website simply specifying minimum and maximum temperatures for each species might be simpler, if someone knows of such a site, and humidity requirements as well.

Thanks in advance...

[Roberta]

The closest that I have found for min/max for species are the Baker culture sheets in Orchidwiz , the individual sheets can be purchased at Orchid Culture -- Charles and Margaret Baker at a modest price (though it could add up if one wanted lots of species. For species, one of my very basic "go-to" references is the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia (IOSPE) that gives information about where the species grows. My use the information for the rather binary choice in my orchid growing - "Grows outside at my house" yes or no... the "yes" has to tolerate low temperatures near freezing (but warming up a bit during the day) and highs around 90 deg F (32 deg C) and everything else goes into the greenhouse. I have found that translates to around 1200 m - 2500 m at the equator (places like Ecuador), lower elevations as one moves to higher latitudes (north and south) This is very crude and qualitative, of course... it has however improved my success rate with species. Hybrids are a combination of species, of course (sometimes quite complex), my online source for hybrids is orchidroots.com to figure THOSE out.

So my primary go-to is the Orchidwiz database (I do have enough orchids to make the investment) but those two free sources on the web are also very helpful - with the addition of knowing what the climate is like where the given species grows.

Sorry, not a simple answer...

[camille1585]

Ditto what Roberta says. I know that not everyone can afford Orchidwiz, but IOSPE, as she also indicates, is a very valuable reference for information about species.