Power is out and it's cold!

[vpsihop@hotmail.com]

So I boxed up the orchids, and I'm taking them over a friend's house, not sure when the power is coming back on.

All of them should be ok, but makes me curious about cold damage and how long can different orchids can be cold and cold extremes.

I own phals, paphs, dens, hybrid oncids, psychopsis, tolumnia, neostylis

How cold can they get? A couple days under 40F I'm sure they'd be in trouble.

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[jkofferdahl]

What an awful situation. I hope power is quickly restored!

I can't speak for all of your plants, but possibly a couple. Obviously you don't want any getting as cold as 40. With the Phals, it depends. The really big ones are used to warmth and could start to show damage fairly quickly in temperatures below 55, though would not do well below about 60 or even 65. True miniatures like thailandica, lowii, etc., are considerably more cool-tolerant, and will usually be perfectly happy if nights don't get lower than about 55, though they don't tolerate high temperatures as well as the big boys. I've also been keeping my so-called mini-hybrids in cooler areas and they're quite happy. It's not a rule or anything, but you can generally presume that the larger the Phal's leaf, the more warmth it wants.

Psychopsis are tough, tough plants. I'm not going to speak to temperatures, but will do so anecdotally. They prefer temperatures very similar to larger Phals, but I think they're more cold-tolerant. Several years ago I ordered three of them from a grower in New England. The order was placed in January, so naturally I ordered a heat pack. The zip code on the shipping label was incorrect, though, and the US Post Office imploded. The package was "lost" for quite literally a full month, so spent all of February (winter in Georgia) in a cold warehouse. When they finally were "found" and so delivered, I feared the worst; but when I opened the box my plants were hale and hardy. Perhaps a bit dry but otherwise quite good. Within a month of that arrival the first spiked and within three months all three were spiked.

I once accidentally left a very, very large Cattleya on my front porch overnight on a night that the temperature went down to about 31. It should, by all reason, have been killed by that night but I never even found any damage.

Now, all of this is essentially verbose meaninglessness. I don't think any of the plants you mention would be very happy in temperature below about 55, and would suffer if it got much lower. Brief exposure (being boxed and transported in cold) shouldn't be a problem. "A couple of days under 40" and they'll be carrion, sadly.

[vpsihop@hotmail.com]

Great post, thank you. Coldest in the house it got was 63F, took them outside in 42F into a warm car and then dropped them at my friend's, hopefully not to stressed out. Probably need a small generator for times like this

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[Leafmite]

I hope you get power soon. I do not know where you live but temperatures here in Ohio are about to take a dive again. Pipes freezing and bursting would be an issue here.

If you haven't called your electricity company, it is always good to let them know.

I have lost power for eight to ten hours during the winter but it was not long enough for the temperatures inside the home to drop below forty-five. My plants were all fine. It prompted the big box store Phals I had at the time to spike. A few days in the winter, though, would be pretty bad.

[vpsihop@hotmail.com]

Over 600K people without power, I'm in SE Michigan, probably gonna be cold, no power for awhile

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[Leafmite]

Oh, that is bad. We were out of electricity once for a couple of days during the summer but that hasn't happened for a while. Winter is a terrible time for this to happen. I hope you get your electricity soon.

Your orchids should all be fine. It is good, though, that you had somewhere warm to take them and not too many to move. If the outage was more temporary, makeshift greenhouses with buckets of hot water for heat (if one has a gas hot water tank) work nicely.

[bil]

My condolences. It's everyone's nightmare, a long power outage in the winter with your whole collection hanging in the balance.

Hope it all comes good.

I'm debating getting a butane gas heater as a backup should it happen here. Trouble is, the condensation is a swine.

[Dollythehun]

That was a good choice. You got the brunt of that windstorm I assume? I'm west of you.

[dounoharm]

i understand the ache of this fear. earlier this winter, our gas company let the main line into our town gunk up and so NO ONE HAD NAT GAS! everyone here in texas runs on natural gas! and it has NEVER COLLAPSED like it did this time.

I have a large collection of cattleyas phals paphs and lots of different orchids. I keep some in the house under a grow light. I have an 8 x 16 lean-to greenhouse.

one afternoon, the house got colder and I realized what was happening. the local news told us what happened. the electricity was on thank god, BUT WE DIDNT OWN AN ELEC HEATER! I have a 5 foot seedling heat mat, and an electric pad foot warmer in the bed.

I hustled that seedling mat over to the greenhouse, and laid it on the floor. piled all the most tender on it, the little ones. the larger plants grouped on and around it. it did not heat all the plants, but I hoped some heat would radiate to them.

the temp was in the TEENS! the sun was shining, so during the day, I hoped some heat would collect. we huddled, me and the cats, under the covers, the cats all piled together, lol...

one nite, we survived. the plants looked ok.....and another nite came....I knew all was lost at that temp for so long....it was in single digets at nite and teens during the day!

on the third day, they announced, the gas company had fixed the problem and was going house to house turning on the gas....we waited. and we waited....my cohort, and partner in crime, paul, has worked in the gas fields all his life, so he went out and turned our gas on himself.....I was freezing and sick....I couldn't go another nite....and the orchids!

I was heartbroken. I went out to the greenhouse and all looked well....but, as many of you know, the damaged doesn't show up right away.

that afternoon, I checked again, and guess what? NO DAMAGE!! all had survived!! in the end, I lost buds. just buds! I was so happy!!

my orchids survived near 0 cold with minimal heat! for 2 full days and nites!

[vpsihop@hotmail.com]

Bil, I think butane heaters are dangerous in the home, carbon monoxide build up, but I think you mean for your greenhouse?

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