Help

[vseraphim]

Hello I'm fairly new here. I have a problem and desperately need help.

I purchased one of those mini greenhouses that come with a plastic cover. I've never used the plastic cover, but when they announced the temps would be going below 40 here in FL I covered them and zipped them up the night before.

When I got home from work to check on them all the leaves of the orchids (mostly dendrobiums) on the top shelf of the greenhouse were WHITE!

What did I do???? I immediately removed the plastic and just let them be. The ones on the bottom seem OK.

Are they all dead??????? What can I do??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[jerrymeola]

I can appreciate your problem since most of my dens in the shadehouse did the same thing in the recent cold. it is cold damage. For some reason the dens go white while the cats go black.

The plants probably will be fine. The tmperature must have gone below 30 to get this damage as I do not get it with the temperature in the high 30s. i did get a lot this monday when the temperature dipped under 30.

You probably should leave the leaves unless they appear to begin rotting. They can also be cut off when new growth begins in a coupel of weeks. Just do not remove too many leaves until it satrts to grow agian.

it does not make them look very good, but actually will probably stimulate flowering faster.

[nessy]

I have also found that the plastic increases the effects of sun damage; rather like a magnifying glass put in the sun just right I had mine in the shade with just a small corner in the sun and it reflected it and nearly killed a few of my cattleyas

[vseraphim]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

I can appreciate your problem since most of my dens in the shadehouse did the same thing in the recent cold. it is cold damage. For some reason the dens go white while the cats go black.

The plants probably will be fine. The tmperature must have gone below 30 to get this damage as I do not get it with the temperature in the high 30s. i did get a lot this monday when the temperature dipped under 30.

You probably should leave the leaves unless they appear to begin rotting. They can also be cut off when new growth begins in a coupel of weeks. Just do not remove too many leaves until it satrts to grow agian.

it does not make them look very good, but actually will probably stimulate flowering faster.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! That's exactly what happened. My Cats turned black, I was afraid they were dead. I'm going to give it a try and nurse them back to health by keeping them in some shade this weekend and investigating all the damage done. I just keep watering them and see what happens. I just purchased a few of them too at the Orchid show in January!

At least I have the orchid show in the first weekend in March to look forward to and try to replace what I lost.

Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know if I was successful!

[vseraphim]

Originally Posted by nessy

I have also found that the plastic increases the effects of sun damage; rather like a magnifying glass put in the sun just right I had mine in the shade with just a small corner in the sun and it reflected it and nearly killed a few of my cattleyas

Did they come back?