From green house to....???

[peeper]

Hello! I just picked up quite a score of Orchids this morning from a guy nearby, all of his 'chids are greenhouse kept and, well, I don't want to mess these up. I have been working on an indoor artificial light setup, and most of these are obviously too large for that at this point, until I upgrade... or add more lights, and another shelf.

ANYway... My temps in my house are around 80 right now, I like my house warm for the plants and fish. Most of my windows are SUPER bright, but I'm wondering if I'm going to shock them bringing them into the house out of the 100+ degree weather, and maybe under lights. I have 6500k lights (use them for the live planted fish tanks, so I was already prepared), and at this point have 2 fixtures, both with around 70 watts of light, in T8s. Any suggestions?

I'm going to post pics in the lounge of these pretties! It was like Christmas!

[Wjs2nd]

The only big change can be the humidity. Green houses usually have more humidity then a house. Of course you fish tank maybe help a little with ambient air humidity. Unless some one is growing some kind of desert green house, a green house never gets to 100+. 80 should be fine for the summer and a little cooler for the winter.

[peeper]

Oh thank you! I have another shelf in the shed that I'm going to go pull into the house, and set up the other lights.

[Wjs2nd]

There is a section on the forums for people who grow indoors, like you and I. For most indoor grows it's the humidity that can be the battle but most plants adapt well.

[quiltergal]

I think how well they do depends a lot on what kind of orchids they are. Some adapt fairly well to becoming house plants. Others....not so much.

[Claire25]

Just wanted to wish you luck, peeper, and to second what others have said about humidity. I bet you will do very well with your setup. Post some pics of your haul when you can!

Claire

[peeper]

Thank you all! I think that I have the humidity in there under control, It almost hits you like a wall when you walk in there!

I got a 13 orchids on my hual today, Quit a few NoID Dendrobiums, and 2 NoID Phals, as well as the same with 2 cattleyas that were lookin a little rough as they where in one awkward area of his greenhouse and didn't get watered like they should have. I figured that since I'm already nursing quit a few back to health anyway, why not! One is a HUGE Epi. Cinnabarinum, and it's got kieki's all over the place! One Cat. Hailstorm, a Jewel orchid and a Pot. Burana Beauty "burana"

all in all... a steal!!! I only paid a $100 for them and he wanted to me take more, but I just didn't have the room in my car! He told me to fill up the trunk too... all for the same price. He was trying to thin out his duplicates in the greenhouse. I'm definately going back once I have a little more room!!!

Here's a few pics... of some of them...

[Daethen]

WOW!!! Those are already specimens!! What is his address, I would about be willing to drive down from WI to take advantage of that.

[peeper]

I KNOW!!! I was Shocked when I showed up and saw what he was wanting to get rid of... I will go back and grab a few more, but I have to get another shelf!!!

Only one Problem... ANTS! and I have NO ants in my plants... or my pants. but now I do... in both places. Any cures!? I tried to soak the baskets that they are in, but of course, now they are all over the plant themselves, and now... ME! I keep finding them. Please help!!!

[Claire25]

Those are gorgeous! Regarding the dreaded ANTS, I sometimes find that they like to take up residence in my orchids when I have the plants summering outdoors, usually in orchids that are grown on the dry side in bark. (Probably because of the comparative dryness and the presence of many spaces for their nests!) What works for me is to water my ant-infested orchids heavily shortly before bringing them indoors for the winter, keeping them moister than usual until I'm sure I've evicted the critters. It never takes more than 2 or 3 such watering cycles for them to move on...