Repost: Growing Vandas Outdoors in Southern California

[orchidboyjosh]

So I’m in corona zone 10ish and we get lows into the 30s occasionally but I have some vandas and other orchids that I’ve kept outdoors no problem, okay cool I’m getting the hang of this, now I want some terete vandas and I was talking with a friend a few minutes away from me and she keeps mokaras and teretes outdoors year round, some even look to have sanderiana as the main parent which just boggles my mind when she says it got down to 22 last winter and I see no cold damage on her plants. My question is has anyone grown terete vandas or vandas known to be warm growers here? I really like Miss Joaquim and I read somewhere that someone saw it “taller than houses in Southern California” and I would love to have mine that large.

[Roberta]

Your plants look great! Whatever you are doing, keep doing it. "Outdoors" has micro-climates. The simple presence of a cement block wall (which heats up during the day and radiates heat at night), or next to the house may create a sheltered spot where nominally warm-growing Vandas (and lots of other things) will get through the winter just fine. It only takes a few degrees above ambient to make the difference, if the plants have acclimated. I do have a greenhouse where I pamper some of these plants over the winter, but have a number of orchid friends who get away with growing Phals and other warm growers outside in areas where conventional wisdom says they won't. (Fortunately, orchids can't read...) I recall a long-time orchid grower (alas no longer with us) who grew V. Miss Joachim to great heights, in Irvine. He did have block walls surrounding the yard and his Vandas were near it. Be bold! See what you can get away with... (Hint, in southern California one can get away with a lot by exploiting those micro-climates!)

[orchidboyjosh]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Your plants look great! Whatever you are doing, keep doing it. "Outdoors" has micro-climates. The simple presence of a cement block wall (which heats up during the day and radiates heat at night), or next to the house may create a sheltered spot where nominally warm-growing Vandas (and lots of other things) will get through the winter just fine. It only takes a few degrees above ambient to make the difference, if the plants have acclimated. I do have a greenhouse where I pamper some of these plants over the winter, but have a number of orchid friends who get away with growing Phals and other warm growers outside in areas where conventional wisdom says they won't. (Fortunately, orchids can't read...) I recall a long-time orchid grower (alas no longer with us) who grew V. Miss Joachim to great heights, in Irvine. He did have block walls surrounding the yard and his Vandas were near it. Be bold! See what you can get away with... (Hint, in southern California one can get away with a lot by exploiting those micro-climates!)

These are my friends plants that we’re amazingly healthy. Sorry I should have pointed that out

[Roberta]

Another hint... if it is going to be cold, keep them dry. It is amazing what a dry plant will tolerate (And fortunately, most of the time, when it rains the cloud cover keeps the temperature up... the really cold winter nights are usually the clear ones)

[Ray]

A couple of editorial comments that I hope gets you thinking enough to do some research:

◙ Just because others have claimed to have success doing something has no bearing on your ability to do so, as there might be unknown differences (referring, for example, to Roberta's good comments) that can make a world of difference. There is no way that a vanda will survive even a few hours of sub-freezing temperatures; the water within the plant's cells will freeze and burst them, killing them.

◙ Just because a particular plant manages to tolerate certain conditions, does not mean that it should be given them.

While you might get away with allowing a vanda to get very cold without damage, it physiologically sets the plant back, negatively affecting its future growth.

Orchids are very much "niche" plants, having evolved to thrive in very specific conditions. Grow the ones that naturally prefer the conditions you can routinely provide and they'll do a lot better for you.

[estación seca]

22 degrees in one part of town doesn't mean 22 degrees in another part of town. No epiphytic orchid will tolerate 22 F / -5C for very long, and most won't tolerate it at all.