"outside year round in the shade" they need sunlight filtered to an appropriate degree depending on the genera.

What do you mean by a cold night and really cold? At the moment, outside, it is a really cold 12.6C and everyone is saying how cold it is. Tropical by Northern USA winter comparisons.

What sort of Dens do you have? Some will get by and actually benefit from lower winter temperatures.

No. Generally speaking, I would bring them inside when the temperature falls much below 60 F.

They could prob. stay outside most of the year. Just watch the weather and bring them in for the night if it's expected to get much below 60ish. You dends would prob. appreciate a little more light than "shade".

Actually most are phalaenopsis. I have 2 pot holder stands that are under the roof overhang so they don't get rained on there, and under the trees there's very little direct light at all. Where there is I could put the dendrobium. I am wondering if I could just keep most of them indoors but I don't keep my curtains open much and there are trees outside so there's not much light except from my kitchen flourescent and such. I'ver read they don't need much light and if they would live in here maybe I will keep them inside. Will they grow or only survive in here or should I just put them outside?? Thanks!

I see that you are in zone 9B. It'll be too cold for phals outside whenever the temperature drops below 45 degrees. I'm in Zone 10 SW Fl I have phals on a plant stand on a covered lanai. The dendrobiums are outside under a grapefruit tree. Hopefully this will give you an idea of where to put them.

I have them in 2 large pot holders so when it gets too cold I can just bring them inside. I really was thinking of keeping them inside but I guess there's not enough light as my east window is under oak trees. Thanks!

I tried keeping Phals outside but the leaves got so beat up I now keep them in the screen room when the weather is cool. I'll be moving them inside pretty soon to protect from the heat. I have a large window on the north side that seems to give them just the right amount of light. The screen room stays quite a bit warmer than outside but when the temps got into the 30s this winter I brought all the orchids into the outdoor shower and covered them up. It got real crowded in there for awhile but they seemed to like the warm spray when I showered. (No, Arthur, I'm not especially hardy, it warms up quite a bit during the day.)

IME you are setting yourself up for a disaster when you engineer a system that puts you in a primary care role. Murphy's Law says that you will be called away from home the weekend temperatures hit the ten year record low for that region and you will come home to dead plants. OTOH the indoor space sounds unuseable as is. Emphasis on "as is". The indoors themselves are never the problem, it is the inability or unwillingness to 'modify' the indoor conditions so they are more amenable to the needs of plant life. This could probably be done more easily, I imagine, than making the outdoors similarly hospitable.

H

Hi
I think all things considered growing them outdoors is your best bet. You will average well over 10 months of adequet climate keep the collection small and in pots so when they need to be moved . Grow only warm growers as you will deal with heat a bunch more than cold lol
Building a "perfect" GH in Florida is almost impossible for that reason. Always looking for new ideas. lol
Heat is FAR more limiting in florida than cold. no matter what you grow. gary

If I remember right, Olya grows them outside in the Tampa area. Bringing them in on cold nights should work. I don't see why you can't grow them under trees. However the problem of outdoor growing is lack of space constraint. Before you know your collection will balloon up- there is no way you can bring 200 orchids in every second day for 2 months. I bring mine onto the patio and cover them with sheets on the days we hit below 40,which is not so common.

My parents live in Cape Coral, FL which is considered south Florida. They lost several expensive fruit trees this past winter. They are too elderly to run around laying tarps or smoke pots or heated cables when frost hits. And it does, hence my comments. If I lived in Florida I would definitely grow outdoors but at the start of winter my collection would come inside. Not just when a cold snap threatens but well prior to that occasion. Main reason being, if I lived in Florida it would take a small platoon of Army Corps. Engineers the better part of a long weekend to get them all to safety inside the garage.

H

Howard
Good plan except the climate inside the house is often worse than outside lol
i keep most of my collection in a shadehouse .Not for cold protection but ease of care ,wind protection and or rain protection.
The only time I've ever lost all my plants was when I protected them lol It does not stay cold enough for long enough periods to arrive at a practicle covering.
In the above case I covered the Sh with plastic and installed an electric heater. Feeling smug the next morning as I left for work because the inside was 62 while outside 35. As the norm for "cold fronts" it was brilliantly clear the next day. Sun coming through the plastic so that when I arrived home it was 152 degrees inside the sh!! lol
Since that error I've tried all kinds of coverings with more or less the same result.
During my last remodel I went back to the original plan. Vinyl lattice on the roof with pruned vines. Cold sensitive are moved to the "warm room" in the house Most others remain where they are.
Last winter the low was 33 for around two hours and we set a record daytime high of 53. All survived with most damage on the Phals. Lost a flower spike on one that had not missed a season since 1985!! Another dropped the spike but grew another and is still in flower now. All the ones growing on trees seem to be unaffected . In fact the cane dends outperformed the SH ones.
I would love to convert the SH to a worable GH but can't find a way to handle the heat !! gary

Yes, the heat thing with GH's is something I've read about. I've been in small GH's and experienced the temp rise but these occasions have always been in cooler weather and the rise felt good rather than dangerous. Vents alone don't seem to cut it, nor do evap coolers, etc. I suppose in a small enough cubic footage you could use standard A/C. It is amazing how cheap 10,000BTU is these days. I also think a good misting system can keep plants alive in very severe temp situations and would probably be cheaper than A/C.

H

H
have tried both EC and AC with bad results. lol A local zoo built a "rain forest exhibit" and I was hoping to get some good ideas lol. It is completely enclosed using plexiglass. which I believe is coated for IR and UV inhibitors. I'm not sure what this does to plants but certainly reduces the heat gain problem. Anyway thought I was on to something until I found they intend to run AC an average of 305 days a year!!! A bit out of my budget ,I don't even run the house air that much lol.
With good venilation i don't find normal heat that much of a problem but this does nothing for those temporary cold fronts.
Commmercial GH in the area use carbolyte along with high ceilings , auto vents and of course many fans. City code prevents a structure over 10 feet so that's out.
I had great hopes for a system using 2100 gallons of heated water along with a waterfall to distribute heat. Allowing heat to escape keeping all exterior walls open as usual. It worked to about 35 degrees at which point loss was much greater than gain.. Since the water is used as a watergarden could not preheat water above 80 and used only 1800 watts . Was rather encouraged but the waterfall
reservoir got an unfixable leak!! I think this system was on the right track even though it did not keep desired heat
levels it did not overheat following coldfront.
At present I've turned the reservoir into a terrarium since it won't hold water. haven't done any serious planting yet,various cuttings. So far heat has not raised above ambient temps. Didn't think I'd have a prayer with an outdoor terrarium .If it gets through the summer will think of serious planting in winter. But wait!!! I'll still have the Cold problem lol gary

I bought these at a lowes clearance and they had put them outside in the sun so many are a bit damaged. In their current condition will they do better "resting" in the cool indoors under a so so east window or outside facing west (under my crepe myrtles?) Thanks!

If I remember right, Olya grows them outside in the Tampa area.

Someone remembers me! :) I have not posted in forever and decided to check out the site today

I DO grow outside, in Tampa (Temple Terrace), year round. In Florida, it is way too tempting to grow orchids inside,since, as Gary said, we have 10 months of good orchid weather

I have a structure with 50% shade cloth on it - lots of light {{gwi:171946}}From Orchids May 2009

In winter I cover it with plastic - takes two people to do that ...On cold nights, I turn on a heater or two in there. Any temps above 45, I am not worried, not even for phals...

With a few plants, growing outside in Florida is a way to go. Give your phals lots of bridge diffused light; the dendrobiums will need a lot more light than that...

hi
If you have a good indoor situation you may be better off in the house. The brutal summer is upon us . I'd opt for too much shade rather than too much sun .Outdoors you will also have to fight with the rain this time of year.
Particularly the phals until you learn the basics.
Dends are far more tolerant ime. So outside might be good but do provide some afternoon shade for sure.
gary

I am in Brandon, just south of Temple Terrace. That's a nice setup. If I put them outside it will be right by my door under the overhang (it's also very shaded with oaks.)
I like them inside but if they start to decline I will put them outside. I have them right by my computer and enjoy looking at them in here. Thanks! (btw it has been very hot)

Hi
One great thing about florida is that as the temps go up so does the humidity. Great for orchids sucks for humans lol. Good luck!!! gary

Your orchid would appreciate ample rain and high humidity -especially the phals...This is the time of the year everything grows really well.
I like the idea of growing outside and bringing the orchids in bloom inside to enjoy...

Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Thanks, nice to hear from so many fellow floridians. Will they just bloom on their own or do I need to do anything except water and fertilize? I just replanted into clay pots and the roots looked perfect.

I am a snowbird in Florida. I call my Northern home in Pennsylvania. I "planted" one orchid last year under my Dwarf Pigmy Palm, right on the side of the tree, following instructions from the florist where the plant was bought. This year when I returned to FL after summer in PA I was greeted by a beautiful blooming orchid. My neighbor this year bought me a beautiful Orange (my favorite color) orchid and I was wondering if I could plant it in the ground under my spreading ficus tree. I have many plants under there, and just wondered if the orchid would do well

Best to start a new thread rather than use a 6 year old one. Include a pic of the orchid.

tj

I live In Central Alabama and I have my mini cats outside under a deck. They get direct sunlight very early in the morning. During the rest of the day they are outside in bright light.

Direct sun by mid day would burn your plants up. Mine have been growing this way for about ten years. I bring them inside during the winter only when the temps fall below 45 degrees. Most mini cats prefer cool temps. Right now mine are outside putting out new growths and roots. I must be doing something right because they bloom every year.