Your tips for my first time with orchids outdoors
 

Basically I wish to learn from your mistakes about moving orchids outdoors. So if you don't mind sending some tips, standard operating procedure, and helpful hints my way I would be appreciative. Also, pictures of setups which are particularly self sufficient (i.e. can be left on autopilot during vacation) would be super helpful! Thanks in advance.

Where do you live? It's hard to make recommendations without knowing the kind of environment you live in.

North west OH. Nights are now consistently in the 50's.

My tip would be to keep them up off the floor. The pests seem to find them much easier if you put them on the floor even for a short while (I left them on the floor while in holiday for a week, as they got lower light. The pests found them and stayed with them even when moved back onto tables).

It also depends upon what kind of orchids you have. Many species won't tolerate nights in the 50's.

I'm constructing an orchid containement today actually. It's a cheap greenhouse with the plastic removed. I will secure it's base by sealing it onto 2 cement cinder blocks (from Home Depot) and then getting chicken wire and using electrical zip ties to attach it to the frame. I will be of course using regular zip ties on the front portion so I can open and close it as needed. This is to help guard against those pesky squirrels and birds that kept pulling my orchids out of their pots last year, lol... I guess they liked the more natural look of the orchids on the ground than in the pots.

If there are rats or mice in your area, consider setting traps or doing something to guard your plants. A friend of mine had a couple of rats that raided his greenhouses: they ate the buds and new growths off of dozens of his plants. No fun!

I agree with RosieC. Orchids do best when they're up off the ground. If you can find a spot where you can hang them and they'll get a couple hours of early morning sun, they will do great. If you grow in clay pots you can get wire hangers for them. If you grow in plastic pots you can get a wood basket and just place the plastic pot in the wood basket. If you have to put them on benches, Home Depot and Lowes carry something called "pot feet" that will keep them off the ground. The orchids will appreciate the extra light and air movement that they get outside. I always put phals under a roof because you don't want it to rain all night filling up the crown of the phal. Most of the others can go out in the weather. Good luck.