Cold? Something to think about.

[james mickelso]

How cold can most orchids withstand without any detrimental effects? That depends. Some orchids can take temps down into the 30's, some down into the 40's, and some don't like temps below the 50's. One of the conditions that can help an orchid survive when the temps get cold is how dry the media is. How much moisture they have in their roots. My GH gets down into the 30's for a few months every winter and my plants do ok. The cattleyas even continue to grow new pbulbs. But I don't water as much either. The past few weeks it has been down into the low 40's from about 10pm until about 8 or 9 am. I keep them on the dry side and they do well and flower well too. When the temps drop, keep them a little dry and they will be ok. Here's how cold mine get. The phals spikes are still elongating, the noid cattleya on the top shelf is still elongating, all the mounted orchids are still growing new pbulbs. My advice is to not worry too much about cold as long as you keep them on the dry side. Oh, and we are having dry santa anas right now. Humidity is down into the teens and single digits. It warms into the 60's during the day.

[slc]

Nice! I'm very new to the hobby and was concerned about my plants being in the coolest room in our house. I can stop worrying about my Catts now. Thanks!

[Brooke]

I hope you don't suffer the losses you had last year. Low temps and wet roots will definitely wreck havoc to some orchids. May the orchids gods smile on you this year!

Brooke

[Leafmite]

I have found that many orchids and tropical plants will take an hour or two in the thirties (or high twenties) for a night or two as long as they are covered and daytime temperatures are much warmer but I usually bring into the home the ones that I would really regret losing just to be on the safe side. Temperatures outside of the acceptable range may not kill plants but it can stress them and lessen their resistance to disease/pests.

[james mickelso]

Yeah that phal I had in the sphagnum moss in backet really went quickly. So far this year it has been drier and not as cold (33*f) as it was last year. Other than that one phal all else did very well. It has been down to 36*f this winter but only for a couple hours late. Couple days did stay in the low 50*f but it was dry. I've got a few more catts and phals getting ready to bloom.

[tucker85]

I grow my orchids outdoors and I've found that temperatures into the 40's doesn't hurt most orchids unless they're exposed to the wind. Cold winds can cause damage very quickly. Also my vandas can't handle cold at all. A night or two in the 40's will cause many of my vandas to drop a lot of their leaves.

[theanalyst]

Good information to know! I would like to expose some to the outdoors this spring, and it is helpful to know when I can put them outside in cooler temps.

[RandomGemini]

For those of you growing outdoors in cooler climates, how do you keep your orchids from getting drafts? I lost blooms on my both of my paphs due to them catching drafts. One from being too close to a window and I think the other happened when I transported it home.