BURRRRRR!! PLZ Help!

[Ross]

Originally Posted by cb977

We woke up to 48 this morning! It's FREEZING!!!
(That was a funny, Ross )

I hear ya! We have snow on the ground. Northern New Jersey has 4". It's covering the trees and piling up fast in southern New Jersey. We have maybe an inch or so. This is pretty much the earliest I can remember for this kind of weather.

[Swamper]

Good idea Jacky Im sure they will be fine

[Royal]

Originally Posted by cb977

Oh no! See any damage, Royal?

Nope, none that I can see - yet. Lots of spiking going on too. I hope they do ok. I'm pretty hard on them, extreme light, extreme heat, extreme cold. I know it's not optimal, but all of these little buggers are way more tolerant than conventional wisdom dictates. While keeping a Phal at near freezing temps just is not a good idea, brief swings don't seem to really set them back. They just shiver a bit and keep growing!

[susiep]

Hello everyone! I hope everyones chids are safe and warm! My question is kind of the opposite, but I would appreciate any advice. Last night it only went down to the upper 50's (tonight should be cooler). When I heard it was going to get cool I took some of my inside plants outside to the patio so they could experience the drop in temp. I am hoping to stimulate spikes on my cooler loving plants. So out went the nobile dens and masdies and my intermediate "mystery" plant. Do you think they will like this? How much cool do they need and for how long at a time? It was so windy today that I had to bring them in before they wilted or blew over. It may go into the 40's tonight so I will wrap the shade house in tarps to keep the wind off and keep it above 50. Which orchids will benefit from this cool snap? Or will it be too short to make a difference? Thanks!

[soccerdefence]

I wish I had to wake up to 48! I leave the house at about 5:50 and its prob. about 35ish then... and it only gets colder ARGH

[JennS]

Jackie,

Everybody should have been fine last night, but it is supposed to be a bit colder tonight, with strong winds so, I would recommend closing up those blinds, especially on the vanda house. You might even want to put some kind of tarp over the top if you can figure out how to secure it to keep the warmth in. They should be fine during the day though.

You should have seen my house last night! I brought in all the vandas and realized I had no clue where to put them all! I had a few hanging from a hook (and each other) in the living room, a few hanging from the chandelier over the dining table, one off a chair and then 6 more hanging on either side or hangers over the bathtub and in each doorway! It was a little jungle...

[Tindomul]

hi all,

My plant ecology book, and the course I took last semester taught me that plants in general are evolved to survive at 57.7 degrees F or 15 C (being that this was the average temp of the earth). So I would not worry about nightly drops to the 50s. I keep two phals right by a window that gets plenty cool air this time of year. They are fine. Also, I learned that tropical angiosperms (flowering plants) are capable of surviving 2-3 degrees below freezing for up to 2 hours (depends on the species, trees are better at this than herbaceous plants like our orchids). So while I do not recommend letting your 'chids freeze, if they get a little cold (say 50 or 40 or upper 30's) for a few hours, I would not panic.

[Gin]

First hard freeze here, in the high 20s . I brought everything in a couple of weeks ago ,no use trying to out guess Mo. weather . Gin

[Swamper]

Originally Posted by Gin

First hard freeze here, in the high 20s . I brought everything in a couple of weeks ago ,no use trying to out guess Mo. weather . Gin

Now that's cold, I would definately bring everything in then unless I had some heating systems in my greenhouse but then that would technically be inside huh.

[Royal]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

hi all,

My plant ecology book, and the course I took last semester taught me that plants in general are evolved to survive at 57.7 degrees F or 15 C (being that this was the average temp of the earth). So I would not worry about nightly drops to the 50s.


So while I do not recommend letting your 'chids freeze, if they get a little cold (say 50 or 40 or upper 30's) for a few hours, I would not panic.

I like that logic!