There is lots of stuff that you can grow that doesn't mind cooler nights during winter but i'm not too sure how it would go if the day didn't warm up all that much.
For example Den kingianum, nobile type Dendrobiums, most Cymbidiums, Den speciosum will tolerate temperatures down to about 2C at night provided the days in winter are mostly sunny and day temperatures lift.

How hot will this thing get in the summer and what's the humidity?

Nick

arthurm,

Funny you mention D. kingianum, that is one i plan on growing. a friend has that species in a greenhouse with the same setup I have. It does great in the cold winters. I am also growing Diuris, Pterostylis and as you can see a BIG Aussie tree fern.

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orchidnick,

Greenhouse will be close to ambient outdoor temps in the summer. It's partly under a tree and will have shade cloth on it. humidity is between 70 and 90% now and I expect it will be similar in the summer. The Disa plants have done really well in the greenhosue so far and I will be growing many plants (orchids & non orchids)that are summer dormant

You have a great set up. I would concentrate on growing things that are simply not seen in your area. Do you belong to an orchid society? You have a good start with Disa, Pterostylis, Diuris and Ophrys. To me Kingianum is next to Dandelions, when they get too big here, the gardeners trim them with the weed whacker. Add a swamp cooler and a humidifier and you can dive into the wonderful world of 'Cloud Forest' species.

Keep humidity at 80%, summer temps below 80F daytime, 55F night time and you can grow Dracula, Pleurothallis, Masdevallia (many of the Masdies which will grow in your current set-up), Stelis, Dryadella Scaphsepalum and many more. Odontoglossums are fabulous, will survive in your current set-up but not bloom properly, in cloud forest conditions they are spectacular.

Many of the Cloud Forrest plants do not have spectacular flowers, some are not practicable because you cannot share them. Dracula will not survive a trip to your society unless you bring them in an ice cooler, the flowers will wilt otherwise. To do something different and spectacular I would gather a collection of outstanding Masdevallia coccinea and Odontoglossum. If you should be able to go to the San Francisco show in Feb, the displays will blow you away. With your set-up, you can duplicate this with a little effort. Just a thought.

I also noticed the large aisle you have, with a wide house like yours optimum bench area is achieved by imaginative arrangement. 2 benches result in wasted center space, not enough room for 3 benches. One straight bench and one zipper like bench with protruding islands gives you maximum use of available square footage. A bench should be across the end. That fern uses up the space of 100 orchids and causes a lot of shade.

Just as well there are no "Kingi" fanciers here. Weed whackers should only be used on Cymbidiums.
Yes, forget about Dendrobium kingianum and enter the wonderful world of cloud
forest orchids which I can only dream about.
Anyway, that is a lovely neat setup, not a crammed mess like my growing places.

Thanks to you both! The current bench system is somewhat temporary, they were put together hastily so I could get plants in before cold weather set in. I also had to get the tree fern in. The fern has sentimental value as my dear frfiend and Mentor gave it to me and it spends the summer at the edge of my water garden.

planning on a swamp cooler before summer hits (the cost to add it to the original setup was outrageous!).I also suspected that cloud forest species would do fairly well, the affirmation of this is helpful. A former employer (who taught me flasking) has Rossioglossum Grande and has offered a plant. I knew that one would be a good choice.

What do you think of the Aussie Dend. cucumerinum? not much to look at but I've always been fascinated by it.

Other things in the works: More Disa, Ophrys, Anacamptis, Bipinnula, Serapias, Bonatea,(some in Flask others soon to arrive) and a load of Southern hemisphere plants many of which are summer dormant. Can you tell I am not fond of the ordinary???

Tom at Golden Gate Orchids has many cool growing orchids. Try Dendrobium cuthbersonii, Sobralia, Lycaste, Odon, Oncidium, etc.

Dockrilla cucumerinua is a tough customer, grows in my backyard. Temp ranges from 28 to 100, just keeps plugging along. Blooms are delicate, a very nice plant. SBOE may have some, if you can't find any, I probably could send you a piece. That's not a promise, I've been busy building a new cold greenhouse and haven't looked at little cucumber lately. Another source may be Granite Hills Orchids in the greater San Diego area, he has a lot of Aussie stuff. He also imports directly from Cedarvale Orchids Down Under so another way to get one.

Where do you get your Ophrys? I could go for some of these.

Nick

How do you heat your greenhouse. Do you just leave it to the sun or provide a heater. I Just made a home made greenhouse. It is not as pretty as yours. One side of the greenhouse is my house so I guess it gets some heat from my house and I trimmed the shade trees radically to allow more sun to the greenhouse. My greenhouse is made of sun selector (whatever is I don't know) it supposedly helps keeping the heat inside. But I want to maintain 65 degree inside the greenhouse for thr Citrus trees and to allow the Fig trees to bloom.

I use the house water heater. Hot water is circulated to a radiator in the greenhouse with a circulating pump. A couple of fans blow air through the radiator. Both the fans and the recirculating pumps are on a thermostat.

I like this because there is no fire in the greenhouse with exhaust that needs to be vented. It's a clean effortless way to heat if the water heater is close enough to be practical.

Car radiators don't work, the city water pressure is too high. I got a used industrial copper radiator for $50 15 years ago which has worked well. They also make copper lines with fins that rest on the floor but they are much more expensive.

Nick

My greenhouse is from Growers Supply. it came with a heater that was not meant for what I grow so I ordered a gas heater from the Southern Burner co. They were most helpful and it has worked very well so far.

Nick, I have Ophrys that I grew from seed and from Ebay. There is a seller Med_orchids who grows them and when they are dormant sells a few tubers to pay for her hobby. She also sells seeds that seem to be of good quality, I have some in flask now.

One genus I would definitely try are Mexican Laelias. L. anceps, furfuracea, gouldiana, speciosa, albida, autumnalis, superbiens. Santa Barbara Orchid Estate is a great supplier of said plants and could offer many other suggestions.