Eek! My fiance turned off the heat!

[butterfly_muse]

What the subject says. =( My fiance turned off the heat on Saturday, and apparently never turned it back on. It was nice over the weekend so I didn't notice, but this morning I woke up and it was 63 degrees in my house! Probably lower over by the window where the orchids live. =( Their leaves were very cold and the only orchid that had flowers ...its flowers were droopy and sad looking.

I immediately turned on the heat and opened the vents, but I am afraid it may have hurt the orchids. Is there anything I can do to check whether or not they are okay? They weren't discolored or anything, just cold and droopy flowers. No leaves drooping/curling, being sad..they're perky and happy...but... Is there anything else I should do besides having turned the heat back on? Is there anything I can do from now on to ensure this doesn't happen again (besides being paranoid and checking my thermostat from now on O_O)?

Thanks.

[The Orchid Boy]

Phals can tolerate low temperatures. They should be ok, I don't know if you could check them, just wait and see.

[Gail]

I think you'll be fine. I lower my heat to 64* at night and none of my plants have a problem. Just let the house warm up and hopefully that one will perk up.

[cutie_monster]

what kind of orchids are they? if they're phals, they'll prolly be fine. i have phals and during fall & winter our house gets mid 60's at night, prolly mid to low 60's by the windows where they sit. the leaves do get cold to the touch, but so far, they haven't suffered any adverse effects. our daytime winter house temps are 71-72. i dont know about the flowers but the plants themselves will prolly be alright (so far mine are flourishing at those temps). a few more nights like that may even initiate them to spike again. thats just my 2 cents, but since i'm still a newbie to orchids, maybe somebody else can offer you better advice.

[SlipperGirl]

As everyone has said your orchids will be fine if the flowers are drooping then your plants may have bud blast, what are your temps usually at?

[Leafmite]

Our house is in the sixties all winter. Even the theobroma cacao is fine with this. Our furnace fan failed yesterday morning and temps dropped into the lower fifties and everyone is still fine (the repair man just left). No need to worry about the plants at least but sometimes the flowers/buds don't make it when there is a sudden temperature drop.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If it never went below 55 F, where the orchids are, the plants themselves are fine.

The flowers you said that were drooping, sound like they may blast.

[butterfly_muse]

I am not exactly sure what bud blast is, I have seen the term a lot though. The flowers are actually less droopy and more happy now (I just got home) than they were this morning..which is good. What is bud blast, exactly, and what causes it?

They are phals..Our daytime temps in winter are usually between 68 and 72, so...I'm glad they will be okay, lol.

[SlipperGirl]

Bud blast is when the flowers on your orchid fall off before they opened or before they were done blooming.

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by mothorchidgirl

Bud blast is when the flowers on your orchid fall off before they opened or before they were done blooming.

Gotcha. I assume bloom time is however long the orchid's flowers stay open? I've had this one for three weeks and it was in bloom when I got it and had a few blooms that opened shortly after I got it.

What is the normal bloom time for phals?