Colder Orchids..?

[katsrevenge]

I just noticed tonight that the pots of my phals are very cold on the windowsill.

They are clay for a number of reasons. I've got my house at 65F but those pots are chilly.

How do you warm the pots/ keep them from chilling? I'm thinking of moving them away from the window (east facing).. how far is good?

[kmarch]

If your night time temps are 65F, they should be fine. I wouldn't think you'd have to move them.

[Stelios]

If the window is not airtight closed some current could be responsible for chilling the pots. Orchids like air circulation but not cold droughts, so maybe it could lead to problems.
However i would bet that the pots are chilly because of water evaporation. Clay pots are porous and they breath, water evaporating through them is enough to give them a cold feel to the touch. I would recommend that you would put a min max thermometer at their growing place and see if the temp range is ideal for them before moving them.

[Brooke]

Two feet from a sunny ESE window the fc's are 600 - phals need more light than that to thrive.

Brooke

[mehitabel]

Is that with the shade down? My windowsills are always app 5F colder than just a few feet away. If the shade is up, it can get much, much colder on a cold night. I agree you need to put a minimax thermometer on that windowsill to measure how cold it actually gets.

[koshki]

I have some herb seedlings on a warming mat in my kitchen on the quartz countertops, which are quite cool.

Seedlings are still struggling, but my cat loves it (the one who's eating my oncidiums). He doesn't like herbs, apparently!

Perhaps an electric warming mat could help your phals?

PS, Mehitabel, where did you get your min/max thermometer? That's a good idea.

[mehitabel]

Hi, Koshki. Herbs are one of the only things the armies of marauding rabbits here don't eat.

Minimax thermometer-- I had a couple of digital ones, and they registered different temperatures. I needed it to measure cart temperature in sunlight outdoors, and an error could mean fried phals or not. So I found an old-fashioned mercury one at Carter & Holmes. But if you want a digital, nearly any orchid supply place has them.

[Schlyne]

I would think maybe a heat cable might be a better idea than a warming mat...then you could wrap it around the pots....but it's all up to you. Too much concentrated heat in the wrong spot would be a problem, I'd hate for you to crack the pots or something!

Try getting a digital Accurite thermometer if you can find one. Should do min and max temperature and humidity with a probe lead that you can stick down if you want to. I think you can still find them at walmart or so. I haven't tried to find one in a few years, but we used to recommend them all the time for people starting out with ball pythons for measuring cage temps.

[11Orchid126]

I went to the craft store and purchased some white plastic crate used for embroidery. I covered this with plastic wrap and tucked it between the plants and the window. Helped a bit. Or you could get some cardboard the height of the pot and cover that with aluminum foil and tuck it between the pot and the glass.

[PhalPal]

How long have your phals been on this windowsill??? If they have been there for awhile and are actively growing and healthy I wouldn't worry about it. I have told this story countless times....but my MIL grows three phals on her windowsill in Buffalo, NY. One blooms twice a year and the other two once. She all but ignores them and they grow for her. Go figure???

[janet_a]

my phals etc are on an eastern windowseat, many of them very close to the glass. it can drop to the 50's during the day (when i'm at work and the heat's turned down). everything seems to be fine. the little masdie LOVES it like that.

in the depths of winter, i stuff a couple old scarves along the bottoms of the windows, and tape bubble wrap (bubble side to the glass) along the bottoms of the window glass to a height of about 4-5 inches to try and insulate them at least a little.

but pretty much everything grows and blooms there. don't worry about cold pots, as long as it's not a *sudden* chill. if they gradually warm and cool throughout the day, it doesn't seem to bother them too much.

the high light plants in the kitchen are on plant stands in front of the floor to ceiling windows; the ones on the floor have been picked up onto old phone books to try and get them out of the cold thermocline on the floor. but other than that, they're on their own.

[orchidea]

I am thinking of building an orchid stand on weels, so I can push it away from the window when the nights are very cold. I came up with the design, and just have to find the time to build it now..... (I hope before the winter is over.... )

[katsrevenge]

Thanks all for the suggestions and info. They seem to be fine. I am just made of worry. And where they are I really can't run electric cord as it is right over the sink. I'll get them off the wood directly and not worry about them.

Idiot me did cold damage my huge den though. I had wet down a wandering jew that hangs over them.. the leaves must have dripped water onto the den and now it has nasty black and green spots on some leaves. (I did just yank them off but eesh.. it was such a good looking plant too.) Lesson learned... always REALLY shake the water off the hangers. Of course the cold nights and semi warm days are not helping me much.

[11Orchid126]

Cold and wet is much worse than cold and dry.