Brief Thunderstorm, possibly a Microburst

[Fairorchids]

I always bring a lot of plants out, some on open benches, others on benches with some shade cloth, and finally all my Vandas on a large rack. The Vanda rack starts covered, and then gets uncovered after I hook up a sprinkler to come on for 15 minutes every 6 hours.

On Tuesday evening, we had a brief, but violent, storm. A microburst was confirmed in Edison NJ (abt 15-20 miles away), but I am convinced that we were hit by another one.

The first photo shows the field I am using.
The second photo what is left of my 10'x24' Vanda rack.

[Louis_W]

Holy cow Kim, sorry. What a mess! I wish i could offer to come help get it rebuilt.

Please let us know if we can help somehow

[My Green Pets]

That sucks, do you have a before photo to compare?

[realoldbeachbum]

So sorry, Fair Orchids! I live in tornado alley here in AL and see similar damage most every year. That is the primary reason I don't have a free standing greenhouse. . . grow instead in a walk-out basement. Best of luck cleaning up.

[Diane56Victor]

What an awful sight! Your heart must have sunk when you saw that. I'm so sorry, I hope you can recover from this.

[Canadienne]

Oh that’s just awful! Southern Ontario got hit a few days ago with large amounts of rain. Thankfully my orchids are ok. I wish I was close enough by to come out and give you a hand. So sorry you have to go through this.

[marie458]

So sorry that happened to you, Kim Here in S. Florida many people mount their orchids to trees. I tried doing that early on in my growing experience -- cattleyas, phals. I learned the hard way, though, that that is not wise given the destruction that can arise during hurricane season. I even have to worry now about severe cold snaps that can damage several outdoor plants. I've lost a few orchids due to those weather conditions and it was definitely heartbreaking. I hope you're able to salvage most of your collection and have a successful rebuild. Best Wishes to you!

[Leafmite]

Very sorry to hear of the damage.

[Arne]

Could you rescue the Vandas?

[WaterWitchin]

Ugh. That stinks... what a mess. Hopefully most is salvageable? Makes me tired just to think of getting it all upright again.