Too cold for orchids?
 

Morning all. My fiance and I have been opening our windows at night as the temperature has been getting cooler but I'm worried that last night was too cold. :( Generally the temps have been in the mid 50s to low 70s... but I just woke up and discovered it is 48 outside. The forecast said it was only supposed to be around 56.... The weather men were apparently wrong. I pulled the orchids out of the window but I'm worried they were exposed to the cold too long. They seem to be turgid and no worse for wear but I'm worried. Did I hurt them? (There are 3 cattleyas in the bedroom and a few phals in the living room) Should I watch for any kind of damage?

Be watchful, but not overly concerned. I have unintentionally exposed mine to far worse.

I. __DO NOT__ recommend this, but I accidentally exposed mine to 35 degrees overnight without harm.

Is it 48 in your house? Probably not. I have the windows open too and it's only 43 outside right now. The room itself was 62 before the lights came on. The lights have been on for about an hour now and it's already 68 in there...even w/a couple of windows open.

With all of that said, I have 2 windows where I have some warm/hot growers hanging and I do close those windows. If I only had intermediate growers in this mount area then I'd leave the windows open until it's even colder outside but w/those warm/hot growers...I don't want any 'too cool' breezes blowing directly on them all night long.

That's the long way of saying...as long as you don't have any icy wind blowing directly on the orchids all night long then they will be fine. As a matter of fact, it's better for the orchids to have a day to night differential in temps vs a constant temp 24/7. Some orchids need that day to night differential in order to bloom.

I agree, temperatures in the high 40's for a short period of time shouldn't hurt your orchids.

I only just brought my Phals inside because it got into the low 40's. My others are all still outside with no harm. I'll being in the intermediate growers in a few days depending on the weather forecast. My cold lovers may not come in for another few weeks; again depending on the weather forecast.

No, it wasn't 48 in my actual house - but the orchids sit in the window sill right next to the open window, so..I figured that they were probably experiencing the 48 degree outside temps. =\

But it's good to know that it won't actually hurt them. I went back to sleep and then had a bad dream that all of their leaves fell off :O!! I was worried about them, lol.

Yea, I agree with what's been said. The only things that may be bothered by the cold, are flowers, esp on your Phals... If they are directly in the window.. But other than that, a lot of orchids will love the drop that the open window creates.

We had a cool summer this year with a few nights dipping just under 40'F. I brought in the chocolate tree and covered everything else with clear dropcloths, weighting it down well to prevent drafts. Even the cattleya dowiana survived without harm and it is said to be fussy about temperatures. The one crazy thing I did notice is that when we did have warmer weather in August, many of my plants and some orchids were tricked into believing a new growing season had begun. My ascocentrum pumilum bloomed earlier this summer and is spiking again and my little noID phal is double spiking. Other plants are just covered with new growth.
Some of my plants and orchids, though, grew slowly or not at all due to the cooler weather. :(

---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------

Basically, as others have said, one night won't hurt as long as it is around 40'F or higher and it warms up during the day. :)

I think my mounted guys might be responding to the cooler weather in that way. They're putting a lot of oomph trying to get themselves some new roots - so I don't think I will be getting flowers from them any time soon.

I am just glad that the cold won't hurt them. I am hoping to have a nice set up for them soon where they can stay sheltered and warm under lights and away from drafts for the fall/winter. You know, if mother nature can make up her mind (cuz it was 87 here the other day and today it's like..50...wtffff)

I guess my response wasn't quite a succinct as I had hoped.

Any warm/hot growers (ex - phals) aren't going to appreciate any direct cold drafts. If the plant is right in the window and it's not an intermediate or cooler grower...then you should close the window...at least enough that the plant isn't getting any direct breezes/drafts.

If the plants are in the room somewhere...and/or if the plants are cool or even intermediate growers AND there is no direct cold draft...then they will be fine because the actual temp around them isn't the same as what is outside.

So, basically...cold drafts all night long aren't good for most orchids but a drop in temps in the room is ok...even good....for most orchids. Provided that drop isn't below what is in the acceptable range for any given orchid. GEEZ! Did I just make it more confusing? :blushing:

As for the nightmare...YIKES!