catasetum, cycnoches or stanhopea for cold temperatures

[Burgos]

hi, im new in the form and i want to know if any of you grow any of these plants outside where they get cold temps.
as some of them lose the leaves (as catasetum) in winter, maybe they could handle cold.

i think that the stanhopea tigrina can stand that temps. do you know any other?

thanks

[orchidophile168]

Hi,

This is a great question, as I grow outside and am always looking for a new orchid to grow (that will survive our winters.

Not sure how cold your winters, but I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, and our winter lows can reach the mi-20's at times. I've had success with Stan. embreii and Gon. galeata. You could give those a try. The Stanhopea did lose some leaves this winter tho (it's first winter outside). Supposedly Gon. galeata is fairly temp. tolerant.

[Burgos]

yeah, here we can also get that lows. sometimes outside it´s 10º celsius below zero ( 14º farenheit)
but there´s no problem because i grow my orchids in a covered balcony (i mean with glass idk if you call it terrasse¿?) so the lowest is usually 3º to 5º although my brother told me the other day that we could be getting even less , to the freezing point.
when you get so cold nights, does the temps rise during the day? how much if so?

here thats the main problem, we hget lows at night and then during the day the temperature would just rise a couple of degrees so...i think orchids do not like that.

thanks for those species, if i can i´ll give them a try.

[orchidophile168]

during the winter, the temps do rise a bit during the day (sometimes up to the low 60's F but usually in the 50's F)

one of the tricks i've learned about growing outside year round is to keep the plants dry during the cold nights. hope that helps.

if you have a covered balcony, some of the orchids should be ok because they get extra warmth from the house.

[Burgos]

hahaha dont count on the warmth of the house
any heat that goes out from thhe flat to the balcony is lost, in a few seconds i think.

yeah, i think you´re right because i got a bloom from a cambria this year (i have it since may 2008) and it´s been out the whole year so...this year im gonna try iwith some more, let´s see how it works they are all hybrids so...more resistance

[Nokomis.FL]

I wouldn't count on any orchid surviving prolonged freezing temperatures. The Catasetinae will go dormant and you can store them easily inside, but the Stanhopea will still need light, so placement inside will be a consideration.

[kavanaru]

BUrgos, some Catasetum tolerates cooler temps, and even some frost. However, They will hardly tolerate the prolongued cold from Burgos' winter.

Ctsm. costatum is the species that grows under coolest temps (10°C min and 30°C max) with high humidity teh whole year... there are others like atratum, cernuum, incurvum, tenebrosum, appendiculatum, fimbriatum, vinaceum, spitzii, expansum, sanguineum, some clones of macrocarpum, which could adapt to cooler temps as described above.

[b amateur]

have you tried terrestrial temperate species? we grow bletilla and cypripediums outside here in michigan where we have much snow all winter.possiblimente...

[Burgos]

thanks everybody, i might try with some of them if i finally make my light setup, becasuse then i would be able to have warmer temperatures.

anyway, orchids always surprise us, cambrias are not supposed to stand burgos winters, but mine has even fllowered this year.!!

thanks

[DavidCampen]

An old thread I know, but for the record I have a Stanhopea occulata that for many years grew and flowered on an open patio in Los Angeles California where night temperatures will occasionally dip down to freezing. The plant is now in a solarium where the temperature does not go below 18 degC, it is growing well but didn't flower last season (first season in solarium). It will be interesting to see if it flowers this season (should be soon).