The worst betrayal!😉
 

You all may remember the commercial for a sleep meds with the cats and dogs and the tag line "sleep is illusive?" I should have starred in that. So, my beloved Nathan and I were snuggled on the sectional when I finally fell asleep. I was awakened by the pantry door opening and empty cat food containers being dragged about. Who knew he could open that door?! I can't count the times I have yelled at the Chief to close that door only to find out it wasn't him. However, when I went out to the sunroom to check the orchids, I found my thriving, amazing Rchy. Bangkok Sunset looked like it had been pinked with shears! Was it my beloved Nathan or naughty Jack? Did I leave Jack out for an hour when got home last night? We feed them, groom them, clean their boxes (and neuter them) and this is how we are repaid! I, Yi, Yi.

So, next week the nights are predicted to be in the low 40s. Everything has to come in...to where? I'm posting a cartoon about our weather. Please, no crazy cat lady comments (you know who you are).🤕

Some of us can't move all our plants inside in just one afternoon when weather threatens. It's good to learn which ones are most tender, so we can focus on those, leaving the hardier ones for later.

Most Cattleya hybrids easily tolerate a night or two in the low 40s F / 4-6C if dry at the time, and it's warmer the next day. Some species Cattleya and related genera tolerate light freezes if dry.

running "Cats" cold

Cold? Something to think about.

Can orchids get too cold?

Do "CATS' go dormant?

What survived the cold?

Cattleya night time temps in California?

But not all.
Cattleya lueddemanniana temperatures?

Hot pepper spray.

Sprinkled it on but do you have a recipe? Or should I buy it? Also sprayed Listerine on them.

Forget the hot pepper spray, use Mace. Use tear gas. Use a large, hungry, angry dog. Take your home back from all of those evil and crazed felines!!! I just can't imagine anyone tolerating a CAT around orchids! Or, frankly, tolerating cats. Period!

(Oops, you told me not to comment.)

So, does this mean that my Maltese-Poodle mix believes that she is a cat? She is amazing at shredding favorite orchids, just utterly amazing. No one could ever do it better! She leaves nothing at all salvageable when she goes after one (or a few). She skips a few months, maybe a year, then there are incidents every few weeks until she takes a break.

The American Eskimo, now almost fourteen, has a thing for Hawaiian Ti plants. As a young dog, she would actually jump to pull them down when I hung them high up. She knew how to open cage doors. No Ti plant was safe! I haven't had them in years for this reason. This past summer though, she has decided to go after other plants. Good thing I do not grow any houseplants that are poisonous. Silly dog.

Pretty much the only way to protect plants from determined pets is either having a designated plant room or putting the plants all on shelves and then covering the shelves with plastic drop cloth or some other barrier.

---------- Post added at 03:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:01 PM ----------

With the number of plants that I have, I have already begun bringing them inside. Some will remain outside until the first frost is predicted (olives, large pom tree) but the rest are slowly making their way inside. I have been washing each one down, spraying each with neem oil and checking the pots for toads (and now tree frogs after one appeared in our home). I start early because our forecast can change quickly and I really hate needing to bring everything inside in a hurry because the forecast suddenly is predicting frost.
The problem with this warmer than usual weather and having many of the plants indoors is that with all the fluorescent lamps on, the plant room is pretty toasty (outdoor temperatures are 88'F). :|

Dogs are just sweet and loving animals behaving as animals do. Cats intentionally destroy orchids because they know it upsets us. That's an important difference!

Glad to see you're feeling fiesty again, John.

My orchids are fine but their boss is away looking after the grandson.

Sound good so far accept for the 2 cats. The wife will come home to a pile of my bones in the middle of the kitchen and that will be me. If I am lucky!.

:evil: