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what happens if i keep phals cool?

16 years ago

i love my phals, yes, but since the neos, masdes, and dracs are my priority, i have been keeping my grow area quite cool. the room itself is already quite cool, and then i run fans and makes the grow area even cooler as the water evaporates off of all the sphag and s/h.

what will this do to the phals? i am assuming it will stunt their growth, but will this harm/kill them?

most of my phals are still very small (i think they are 2 yr seedlings and a while away from blooming)

are the low temps more harmful to young plants like them?

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Comments (4)

arthurm
16 years ago
You have to define cool in terms of temperature.
There is cool with sunlight on leaves.
Cool with no sunlight.and so on. In other words you have to describe your micro-climate and even then perhaps no one here can give you an exact answer.

Looked at your Neos in the other post. Mine was subject to 3C the other morning and it is still alive. Phals would not like that sort of treatment. Did you bloom the Neos or did they come from the nursery in bud?

You might think that no orchid would survive 3C. But plenty do. At the other end of the scale there are many that do not like temps above 30C.
clintdawley
16 years ago
I wouldn't go there with seedlings--they appreciate temps a bit warmer than fully grown phals. You are right in that growth will be stunted as a direct result of a slower metabolism at lower temps--but the plants would also be subjected to fungal attacks, etc. (Maybe if the plants were grown on the dry side it would help with this?)

If you can keep the temps in the 60-80 range, the seedlings will be happy. I wouldn't subject seedlings to a constant 50 degree night temperature. They would do much better if moved from your growing area into a bright kitchen window if you can't at least get up to 80 in the day.
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organic_kermit
16 years ago
That's exactly what I was going to say. Phals do fine out and about the house. I think they would suffer from extended period of cooler temps (ie: eventually die). But it is hard to say without defining how cool "cooler" is. I too say toss your phals out in the kitchen or a bathroom they will do better there.
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toyo2960
16 years ago
Phalies do require a bit warmer conditions. I'm sure the temps aren't that drastic that it'll hurt the plants. But I have a feeling that the temps in your window aren't cool by cool terms. It's not like you have a swamp cooler blowing on them. Most masdevalliias, draculas and miltonias are grown right next to a swamp cooler in a greenhouse. Maybe put the little phalies on a shelf about the other plants. Heat rises.

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