A Very Nit Picky Cooler Temperature Care Question

[Ginger9899]

I live in SW Florida where winter is usually very mild and nothing compared to north. But, every year I go through the same conundrums about moving orchids inside or not. I move inside with prolonged lows much below the minimums of the orchids and do know to not let them get wet and cold.

My question is in situations like this weekend, should I bother moving them all in for one or 2 nights, or should it be safe to leave them out for a night or 2 in too low a temp. The temps here are in the 80's F during the day, and mid to low 60's F at night. But, Saturday night we are supposed to have a low of 47F, highs in the 70's, and Sunday low of 54F, then the rest of the week back up to lows in the 60's. I have these orchids:

Cattleyas
Dendrobium phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis
Tolumnia
Oncidiums (unknown, Odontoglossum, and Miltonia)
Fermosa type Dendrobium (Frosty Dawn)
a new Maxillaria tenuifolia
a new Rhynchostylis gigantea.

I also have a Dendrobium nobile but I know that can take it.

Thank you for your opinions. I hate to keep moving them in and out but don't know if the one or two days will really bother any enough.

[WhiteRabbit]

I wouldn't think that a short period of slightly under 50 should trouble any. I don't have Phals outside, but a few warmer growers of mine have taken a few nights of lows in upper 40s.

I do have a number of Catt, Onc, and Vanda alliance that stay outside (sheltered) with lows below 40 for short periods.

Max ten has known cold tolerance, for sure.

Den-phals, and Phals are the ones I would lean towards being more cautious with low temps.

I move my plants a lot depending on weather. Even just moving to a sheltered spot, against the house, can make a difference.

[Ginger9899]

Thanks for that, I'm leaning towards letting them be for a night or 2. They are in a screen porch, the phals actually hanging against the house. That being said, I don't want to mess with dragging them in for a night but when I walk out late Saturday night and think I'm freezing to death I'll may drag them back in with me anyway lol.

[tucker85]

I live in Fort Lauderdale so the temperatures are about the same. First of all, temperatures inside a screen porch are a couple of degrees warmer than outside. The screen holds some warmth in and the concrete patio absorbs heat during the day and radiates it at night. I leave my cattleyas outdoors year-round but it's important to protect them from the wind during our cold spells. If it's going down into the lower 40's I would place them against a wall or someplace where they're out of the wind. I don't think it's going to be cold enough this weekend to cause any damage. With stronger cold fronts, I bring vandas and phalaenopsis indoors if it's going below 50, especially if the daytime temp will be low also.

[CA2FLxplant]

So glad you asked this question as I was wondering the same thing. *whew*: