Tomorrow is Memorial Day

[Salixx]

... and it will be cold(er).

I am growing antsy to move some plants outdoors to my "patio." My only concern is that I am still getting nightly temperatures down into the mid to high 40's at night at least one day a week.

Today, I moved my Laelia anceps and Den. loddigessii outside since both are more cold tolerant, though I am worried about their new growths a bit. Should I be worried? I know both can tolerate near freezing (even actual freezing) temps, but I'm not sure what effect this will have on developing bits. Tonight is supposed to get down around 50F, but tomorrow is looking like a high of 55F and rainy with a low around 46F. Rest of the week will mostly be in the 70's during the day and low 50s at night. Those in s/h will be waiting longer than mounts and such - probably until it's steadily 55F and above at night.

I'm a little nervous, but I want to get my plants some good sun and fresh air! Should I be nervous at this point? What would all you folks do? I can shuffle a few plants in and out of the garage, but I eventually want the move to be more permanent until around the start of Sept when the nightly temps start to drop.

Thanks for any thoughts, even if you tell me I'm mad.

[estación seca]

Both the species you mentioned should be fine with those temperatures. I suspect any of the deciduous Dendrobiums will be fine with those temperatures and rain.

[katrina]

I have typically moved all my plants (orchids and others) out on Memorial Day weekend but this year I'm seeing low 50s until late this week so the big move has been pushed to next weekend.

Take this for whatever it's worth...here are my thoughts. I grow under lights...lots of them...and all those lights running at the same time really heats the house. That heat holds into a good portion of the evening hours. That same heat has really spurred a tremendous amount of growth in all the plants and I worry about set backs if the plants are suddenly exposed to less than ideal temps for an extended period of time. Combine the stress of too cool temps with rain and I would worry about losing the new growths all together. Some orchids can take cooler temps and would likely be fine...maybe slowed a bit from the cold, but fine over the long haul. Personally, I like to move them all at the same time and I don't have the time, nor the desire, to shuffle them in and out...so I wait for night time lows no lower than 58, consistently.

As for the s/h plants...i wouldn't move any warm growers in that set up until your temps are in the low 60s at night.

IMO, it is best to err on the side of caution but you can always try and see what happens. If it doesn't go as well as planned them you'll know not to do it next year.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I suspect I have fewer plants than Katrina (but don't know for sure).

With fewer plants, I do have more flexibility to move plants in and out as needed (and have tarped over my outdoor bench when temps briefly dip colder than I want).

I move plants outdoors in stages. Some of mine spend nearly the entire winter outdoors except for more extreme cold snaps (OK, I live in Georgia, so I am automatically cheating there). Others go outdoors when I feel it is "safe" and back in in the fall before it gets "dangerous". I try to allow a temperature safety factor so that I don't do something stupid that I will regret.

You are a better judge of your local conditions, just keep an eye on the extended forecast and move plants out when you are comfortable. As long as you are not moving 400 of them, don't be bashful about moving plants back to safety when needed, or tarping them to hold in some heat during very brief cold spells. I consider a brief cold spell to be when I need to protect plants for a few hours when temps dip to close to my limit.

[Salixx]

I have a lot of plants... I'm almost embarrassed to say since I only got *really* involved in the hobby a little over a year ago.

Many of them, like my cool Masdies will be spending the summer indoors, but I have a bunch of Catt Alliance plants I want to get out, especially the rupicolous Laelias. At this point, the weather keeps turning wetter and cooler, though, so they may end up spending a little longer indoors. Same with any in S/H - I am concerned about the cooler weather + evaporative cooling in that respect.

My warm growers won't go out for another few weeks, at this point. I don't have too many, so that's a good, I guess.

The Stans may be the next to go out. I can shuffle a few plants in and out no problem. I did cave last night with the D. loddigessii and L. anceps - it was cold and wet, so they spent the night in the garage and went out this AM. It's been another cold/wet day, so they'll go back in tonight. I am hoping for the 70s tomorrow though!

Some of mine spend nearly the entire winter outdoors except for more extreme cold snaps (OK, I live in Georgia, so I am automatically cheating there).

Definitely cheating! Although it's rare, it's also not unheard of for us to get snow even into early June. If that happens, I will probably cry because the winter this year was so drawn out. If my family didn't live up here, I would live some place warmer in a heartbeat.