Quote:
Originally Posted by Oscarman
Neat growing environment. What challenges do you have there with the winter climate. Does it get very cold?
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Here in Memphis, we have all 4 seasons. Despite a mild winter, we had temps as low as 26 but it probably averaged in the upper 30s/low 40s.
Spring is averaging warmer than usual which means it's probably going to be a scorcher of a summer. (I'm sure we'll hit 100s several times).
The problem here is that the temps can have a 20-30 degree swing in winter/spring. That is really hard to regulate with space heaters and fans. The visqueen can keep the temps very high on the warm days so we have to open the corners to let it cool off.
If I didn't work from home and my husband weren't semi-retired, we would be freaking out trying to regulate the temps. We can't afford a greenhouse setup because the summers are hotter and longer than winter. Paying to aircondition a greenhouse would break us.
So we pay to heat in winter and use fans and water to cool it down in the summer. As you can see on the Dendrobium, the leaves have a little sunburn. That happens when we pull the visqueen down and the early morning sun hits it for a few hours. The screen doesn't have enough shade value in the late winter sun.
But it sure does promote the blooms on the Dendrobiums and the Phalaenopsis. They bloom like clockwork.