phalaenopsis heating problems
 

Hi,
recently I have been having problems keeping my beloved orchids at constant warm, I live in north ga and it's still a nit nippy at night in our house, we don't have a central heater so we run a propan heater when it's cold but we never run the heater over night, it's dry heat as well so I have started misting them while it is running to keep them from drying out but the driness is not my concern... It's keeping the constant tempature they need at 60 to 80 degrees, the tempature in my house dips up and down throughout the day and night, I would be heart broken of they died...anyone have an advice for me?

Thank you very much,
Samantha

Samantha, Welcome to OB!

While keeping them warmer keeps them growing. My Phals are exposed to nearly freezing temps throughout the winter and they are doing just fine. Remember to get many of them to bloom they need a day/night temperature differential of about 15 degrees. So by letting them cool down at night it is actually benefial for them as long as it is not below freezing where they are at.

I would be careful not to let them freeze, I've most often heard that their night temperatures should not go below 55F- and that's mainly when you want them to flower (you'll expose them to that low temp for ~month, then go back to no lower than 65).

There's a thread somewhere around here (might be beginner discussion...) about under-pot heating. Just raising the ambient temperature under them will really help with root growth- and perhaps ease temperature fluctuations.

~Seedling heat mats (or a low watt pet heating pad from a pet store) are what I've seen the most often, but recently someone suggested heat tape used for reptiles that is much cheaper.

ETA: forgot to add, Ted is right. Many phals thrive on having a decent temperature difference between day and night.


~As far as the dry heat- I have the same problem, living in chilly CO. I actually went and got a cheap little vicks humidifier from walgreens/grocery store (it's small, meant for a single room) and put it right next to the heater in my room. I only have it running at night- you might want to run it during the day, or whenever you have the heater on. This one was MAYBE $20.

~I also have all my orchids sitting on plastic trays filled with gravel, then filled with water- same concept as a humidity tray, as long as the roots aren't sitting in the water. And doesn't use electricity!

Ray has some good ideas/info for humidifying your home- http://www.firstrays.com/humidify_your_home.htm

Hello Samantha and welcome to the OB.
Many phals do need the temp fluxations to set sikes as Ted said, yours should be fine.
Joann

I guess it should be asked ...
what are your temps?

She mentioned 60-80 degrees, but I'm not sure if she's referring to the temps the phals need, or what the house fluctuates between.

BTW- Welcome to the board Samantha! :) Keep up with asking questions.

I read that as referring to the 'ideal' temps for phals, that she is having trouble maintaining that.

So yeah - if temps are not less than 50, probably not a worry :)
I have the thermostat set at 55 for overnight, and plants are on windowsills, so probably a bit chillier there. and daytime temps inside usually 60 - 64 - my two small species phals don't grow all winter. I don't know if that's due to the temp or if they just don't grow over winter anyway. My 'mini' noid phal has been growing all winter, tho probably slower than in spring/summer.

I'm worried about how my phals are going to do in the summer when we have the AC on- their table is right above a vent, which doesn't seem to cause them trouble in the winter since it directs the air away from them, but still. We keep our AC pretty low some days, and open the windows at night when it gets even cooler.

Sorry to hijack this thread...this question is for Ted.

I'm curious about your temps. I know you have said you grow S/H. Do you keep them dryer in the winter or does it matter?

Maureen