Adjusting growing area to winter temps???

16 years ago

Hi all,

This is our first fall and winter in the house we are in. We moved in last May. The house has a very open floor plan, which means it is hard for me to heat the whole place!

In summer, thermostat was between 70 & 76. Now, with colder temps, we have been keeping the thermostat between 65 and 70 (Usually around 68). Most of my orchids are near windows to take advantage of sun and night & day temp differences. I have closed the vents near near the growing areas in the summer to prevent cold air blowing right on them.

Now, with colder day temps and night temps outside close to freezing, I have having a hard time controlling temps in my growing area.

My 1 vanda is in our bathroom which has a huge south-facing glass block window. She hangs in the window over the tub and has been doing well until the last two days when it has been down-right cold in there at night. Temp maybe as low as low 50's. High temp in day for that room is maybe in mid to high 60's in later afternoon.

So, being relegated to work with the existing space I have at home and with no budget really for improvements...

I am considering moving ALL my orchids to the bathroom to use the big south facing window and keep the door shut and heat just that one room appropriately. But I have mostly Phals and some Cids. Will they get enough light in a south facing window? (They are currently in east-southeast windows). Temps would probably be ok for the Phals, but this is my first year with Cids.

I have one Phal and one Cid still in bloom (Phal has been blooming for 5 or 6 + months now and Cid just came in to bloom about 3 weeks ago). Also, has a Dort in bloom but she is on her way out. Should I keep the blooming plants in their current locations?

I would love any ideas from folks who grow inside without the use of dedicated spaces or greenhouses.

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Comments (8)

xmpraedicta
16 years ago
Actually I feel like phals can tolerate less light than vandas. Does enough light really get through the glass block window (I'm thinking these blocks aren't completely transparent since this is in the bathroom?)

I had some heating issues too. I tried to use a warm mist humidifier but the room was too big for it to make a real impact. In the end I didn't do anything about it - I would get drops down to 60 degrees occasionally with no problem, but I wouldn't go with prolonged less than 55.
claritamaria
16 years ago
Yes too cold. I had glass block in my old windows. If its south that will work but you may want to add a few cfl's. Heating 1 room is better than trying to heat an open home.

Clara
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cjwatson
16 years ago
What is the name of your Vanda species or hybrid? There are several Vanda species which grow in cool mountains rather than hot jungles and which would be quite happy with those temps. V. coerulea comes to mind immediately.
aachenelf z5 Mpls
16 years ago
I can't comment on the light issue, but you might want to invest in a small, programmable, electric heater for that room. I keep my house between 60-62 F and turn the furnace off at night, so morning temps are in the 50's. That's way too cool for most orchids, so they get one of these electric heaters in their room during the day. I can set the temp to anything I want and also set the timer to only run the hours I want it too. I've been very pleasantly surprised at how little it adds to the electric bill.

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jane__ny
16 years ago
I face the same dilemma. The warm growers go into a smaller room under CFL's for winter. I keep the room closed and it gets quite warm. I also use a warm, mist humidifier.

The only plants I had a problem with, over winter were Phals. All the rest seem fine with the lower temps in the big room. I cut back on water - just remember, wet and cool = problems.

Jane
howard_a
16 years ago
Vanda's as a group have the widest range of temperature tolerance. There is a chart in one of those popular orchid books that we keep pushing on the newbies that lists all the families and their temperature tolerance. The one for Vanda starts in the 40F range and goes beyond 110F at the top end. It isn't so much the night temps in the 50F that will be a problem, there won't be any wind and/or rain inside the bathroom so the low night temps won't be deadly to even phals. No, it is the middling day temps in the 60F range that over time will debilitate the orchids to the point of illness. The glass block window is better than some standard windows because of its size but begs for at least one big CFL on a timer to supplement it. Heating a bathroom (usually smaller than other rooms) ought not be too much trouble for one of those ~$50.00 oil filled radiators to manage. Instant 'Wintergarten'.

H
cjwatson
16 years ago
Not completely so, Howard. You can't even grow Vanda coerulea in S. Florida because the temps are too warm. They live a year or two and then croak. And they definitely won't tolerate 110F. So having a 60-70F daytime temp is pretty much what that particular species wants. And most of our blue Vanda hybrids have coerulea in varying amounts in their background. The point is how much coerulea is there, and what other species.

Generalization has killed almost as many orchids as too much watering.
amldaley
Original Author
16 years ago
Again - a plethora of great info! Thanks!

The vanda is a Dr. Bai #2.

The bathroom is actually fairly large and foolishly has a cathedral ceiling, but yes, still the smallest room to heat. The glassblock window is not only huge, but also one of the new ones that is actually some sort of glass and plastic form, so it gets good light and does not get cold like the older ones that had actual glassblock with grout.

The room already has several CFL's, so how lucky is that???? I'll just upgrade and get a couple of cheapy CFL fixtures to supplement.

How will the Cid's fit in to this scenario? Any difference in how I should treat blooming Cid vs non-blooming Cids as I make this transition?

I am going to go ahead and move the non-blooming Phals in there and get a portable heater as you have all suggested. The bathroom is our master and also adjacent to our closet, so the heat won't be totally for the orchids! We have been using a tiny space heater in there just to shower all this week.

Any suggestions on a bell-curve of temperatures throughout the day...highest temp and for how many hours?

Again, thanks to all of you...

Adjusting growing area to winter temps???

Comments (8)

xmpraedicta

claritamaria

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aachenelf z5 Mpls

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amldaley
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Adjusting growing area to winter temps???

Comments (8)

xmpraedicta

claritamaria

Related Discussions

cjwatson

aachenelf z5 Mpls

jane__ny

howard_a

cjwatson

amldaleyOriginal Author

COMPANY

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amldaley
Original Author