hit by a hail storm and not enough water

[RJSquirrel]

well thats a 1st for me..I woke up to the ding ding ding of ice rocks hitting me plants outside today..OMG!!!

I had my cloth covered up my bench thank goodness. I sure struggled getting beaned on the head for about 10 minutes trying to grab some stuff and get it out of the ice rain. I dont know if ice rain is good for ya plants or not. Well I know it cant be bec I broke the 2 spikes off my best looking phal. I was gonna take it thursday to meeting. NOT. Broke a few jars banging em around..I got plenty them..I think Im in for some wild west crap this year if I leave too much outside. I just cant cover it up. I dont know what to do but move it all back inside and they really love the outside. Ive had more shoots and roots than I ever grew inside honestly. What to do???????. My head hurts ..not from thinking from getting beaned with ice..ouch ouch ouch.

I did notice one thing after the rain though that discouraged me even more. Ive been underwatering my plants. The leaves look good they just werent all standing at attention.I felt it was from the unseasonal heat. No, they not getting enough water. They rose up like they had antennae after they got hosed today by that cool rain. Thats disturbing me now bec I understand it takes a lot of water, not just a quart or gallon bucket but you need to hose them plants down until the roots start to drink and send the water up..getting the roots wet and thinking your watering your plants is falsely thinking your watering the plants...Revelations

[WhiteRabbit]

Aww - I had a few plants get hailed on last year - a couple of Cyms and an Epi - they were ok, but got marks on the foliage (and buds on one Cym )
Sorry to hear about your broken spikes.

At least you figured out the cause of the 'not at attention' foliage

[Bud]

Im sorry about your plants getting hailed upon by ice balls...I remember another member from N Cali who had her orchids decimated by a hailstorm but some survived and she even posted bloom pictures...
Putting the plants outdoors makes the atmosphere suck some of their humidity...wait till its hot and humid summer then be lax on watering...
I water my vandas as often as I can on my fire escape...it got cold the other night but then again I touched the stone wall and its hot from the day sun...so I didnt bother to move any plants

[sweetjblue]

Oh RJ, hail??? Sorry about your spikes!

But just think, out of something bad came something good, you learned you weren't watering enough. With the heat you've had that might have been really bad for you!

Hudi

[RJSquirrel]

I never thought I would have to deal with a hail storm..throws a whole new light on what Im doing uncovered..Im lucky I didnt sleep thru it. I can see how hail like that can tear up orchids big time. The probability of another hail storm is still slim in my mind, but never never say never. This wasnt even the huge stuff Ive seen some get smashin thru windows and beating the crap out of cars..Oh man what next? I really have to think about what Im doing here with these plants. Im beginning to feel like my whole plan here is doomed and was doomed from the start. This makes me so unhappy. I need to build the shadey greenhouse Ive been wanting. Its just going to be 50 miles away and access to my plants isnt going to be so convenient. If I end up killing a bunch of orchids this year.................they wont be replaced until I can come up with a better plan or move again...its just opened a whole can of proverbial worms.

[camille1585]

Dang that sucks! When my orchids go outdoors in the summer I always keep something over them to keep out hail, or all the water from massive downpours. sucks about your phal though

For the orchids, the best way to water is to soak them a while, it gives them plenty of time to absorb water.

[Pilot]

So sorry to hear of the storm. Here in Colorado, hail is quite common. One summer we had a hail storm so severe it tore our Arden up so badly all that remained were stubs in the ground. It was maybe July which meant most of the garden was giving us food, but not after that storm.

It'll sound odd but I never grow my orchids outside. Our temp swings even in the summer are too severe for those tender of plants. But most of my other tropicals do go outside with the idea that they too can suffer tremendous damage. Thankfully such epic storms are few and far between.

You just never know when hail will happen... In general if they're calling for severe thunderstorms, at least in the US, hail is a real possibility.

But hey, as you're getting hail today, we got 6 inches of snow, despite Sunday having a high of 88F. Life in the highlands.

[quiltergal]

Dallas/FW got hammered by a couple of tornados, maybe the hail was on the fringe of those storms? Looks like there is a tornado warning now for eastern TX. I think I would move my plants inside, and seek shelter!

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by quiltergal

Dallas/FW got hammered by a couple of tornados, maybe the hail was on the fringe of those storms? Looks like there is a tornado warning now for eastern TX. I think I would move my plants inside, and seek shelter!

Really??!? My dad lives in the Dallas suburbs. We aren't really on speaking terms, but maybe I should send him an email....

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Really??!? My dad lives in the Dallas suburbs. We aren't really on speaking terms, but maybe I should send him an email....

There were vicious tornados in Dallas today. You might want to send an email. I hope he's okay.

A video of 18-wheelers being tossed 100 feet in the air and thrown around.

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