Cold!!!!!!

[Pilot]

Hi All--

Last night we got down below zero here in Colorado. Of course, this is when my thermostat in my solarium decides is an appropriate time to die. My hi-lo thermometer read 50 degrees F exactly. So I got out a fan and started sending warmed (62degree) air into the room from my main room while I fixed the stat and got out a space heater to turn on full blast! Thankfully, I have a 360° fireplace so I got wood burning now, too.

My question is, how badly did my warm-growing phals-- bellinas, speciosa, purple martin etc-- get hurt by this???? Thankfully, they do live on seedling mats but even in the orchid ICU I have a seedling in, it read 60. So without a cover, my guess is the plants were at best 55°. For how long? I don't know, sadly. I only have a hi-lo device, not one that records over time. I will keep these guys as warm as I can while we suffer through this intense cold but if anyone has any input or suggestions, I'm all ears....or eyes as the case is.

I should mention, I also grow in s/h...arg! So evaporative cooling could have made things worse, those I don't think there was much evaporation going on as there is a humidifier going in the room, too. But it is Colorado...so it is dry!

[BobInBonita]

You're probably fine. Outside in SW FL we have gotten temps into the mid 30's - at which point I have some damaged dends and possibly phals. Everything had previously made it through low 40's without an issue. All my Catts and Vandas have all made it through without a problem. In another thread, the King gave a good list of temperature tolerance by species. He also commented that (I'm paraphrasing - not quoting, so forgive any errors) well grown plants will tolerate cold better than stressed plants, and that gradual adaptation is better than sudden change. If you search the forum, there's been a lot of discussion lately (some in the FL social group you might need to join to get to.

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by BobInBonita

You're probably fine. Outside in SW FL we have gotten temps into the mid 30's - at which point I have some damaged dends and possibly phals. Everything had previously made it through low 40's without an issue. All my Catts and Vandas have all made it through without a problem. In another thread, the King gave a good list of temperature tolerance by species. He also commented that (I'm paraphrasing - not quoting, so forgive any errors) well grown plants will tolerate cold better than stressed plants, and that gradual adaptation is better than sudden change. If you search the forum, there's been a lot of discussion lately (some in the FL social group you might need to join to get to.

Thank you Bob, I will read up on that. I have over 35 spikes right now on these phals and I would hate to lose them. But thankfully, all of them are very very healthy-- strong-growing and they're coming off a very strong growing season into flowering so I will bank on the fact that it didn't dip too much below 50 if at all and that my plants are healthy.

How is it, though, that things like this happen when they are needed the least? LOL Nothing extreme about a thermostat working inside a home in normal parameters. I could see it breaking if things got really bad, such as a power outage or something to that effect, but no...just poor craftmanship from Country X that made the device.

The only dend I have was in the main room of the house, as its in bloom, so I have no worries there. Some plants-- non-orchids-- are near windows and on sills, but they are succulents and are currently dry.

Only other plants are the vandaceous orchids and only one is a vanda..the others have falcata blood in them that probably enjoying being chilly. I'll be moving the Vanda into the main room until the solarium is warmer.

Thanks again, Bob.

[DManley]

I just went through a 19 hour power outage in Michigan a couple of weeks ago with temps in the single digits. Many of my orchids got well below 60 for a half a day or so until I was able to get power restored. We have a woodstove in one room of the house, so I kept dragging orchids into the room with the stove as long as the family would let me. My Oncidiums probably stayed above 60 or so, but my phals and dendrobiums got a good bit colder. My Sharry baby had a couple of buds left on its last spike, and they blasted. The only other plant in bud was a Nobile hybrid which was totally unphased by the whole thing.

I would guess that they should survive. A room cools fairly slowly, not like a draft that chills things down immediately. If they were getting that cold every day for a few days, I would start to worry, but I have had a chilly night or two and my phals have bounced right through it. (They love it when they are getting ready to spike, but not so much when they are in bud) I would guess that if the plants are healthy, they should be okay, but I am not a Phal expert by any means. (My phals are mostly NOIDs, but they have survived my bouncing temps to bloom) Good luck to you and your spikes, and have a great (And warm) new year!
Dave

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by DManley

I just went through a 19 hour power outage in Michigan a couple of weeks ago with temps in the single digits. Many of my orchids got well below 60 for a half a day or so until I was able to get power restored. We have a woodstove in one room of the house, so I kept dragging orchids into the room with the stove as long as the family would let me. My Oncidiums probably stayed above 60 or so, but my phals and dendrobiums got a good bit colder. My Sharry baby had a couple of buds left on its last spike, and they blasted. The only other plant in bud was a Nobile hybrid which was totally unphased by the whole thing.

I would guess that they should survive. A room cools fairly slowly, not like a draft that chills things down immediately. If they were getting that cold every day for a few days, I would start to worry, but I have had a chilly night or two and my phals have bounced right through it. (They love it when they are getting ready to spike, but not so much when they are in bud) I would guess that if the plants are healthy, they should be okay, but I am not a Phal expert by any means. (My phals are mostly NOIDs, but they have survived my bouncing temps to bloom) Good luck to you and your spikes, and have a great (And warm) new year!
Dave

Thanks, Dave, for taking the time to tell of your experience. Bud blast is what I'm worried about but the only two actually opening buds right now are two of my strongest growing phals-- so I hope they won't blast. The one, my largest and a NOID, bud blasted last year simply because I moved it. I suppose it could have been something else but it coincided with moving it to a location where it could be appreciated more. So no idea what to expect this time. My Phal Pauline is amazing though, I'm sure and hopeful she'll keep all of her buds. Everyone else in spike isn't to the point of opening buds yet, though they're getting close!

My hi-lo thermometer was in a location where I felt it would be indicative of a sort of "worst case" scenario-- meaning, if it were 50° there, it was unlikely to be colder elsewhere in the room. The problem becomes, though, is that with a solarium, with so many windows, you get those pockets of air of various temps and even with two ceiling fans moving, you can feel a difference in temps. With that said, the heat couldn't have been off for too long. It was 50° on the nose and when I found it, it was only minutes later a space heater was on and I swapped out the thermostat's batteries and restored heat. Its all baseboard heat and hot water as the source-- it can heat up pretty fast given the chance. With that said, regular night time temps bottom out at 60°-- and at least to me, 50 isn't that much worse so...here's to hoping!

Thanks again and Happy (Warm) New Years to you too!