Night time temperature question......

[tinabee]

I live in SW FL and it is still warm and humid down here. I know phals like a few weeks of cooler temps. Now that all of my phals are potted in S/H (and doing great, BTW) I am aware they need a temp drop for a few weeks in order to encourage blooming. Yet I know Ray has said if it gets below 60F at night, phals don't like those conditions. So what do I do......pay attention to the weather each day and on the nights it won't be below 60 leave them on my porch, on cooler nights, bring them in??? On the one hand, doing that is a pain. But if I do that, they won't bloom at all, will they????

My orchids are in an east facing screened in porch and I have a large fan running so they get good air circulation if that helps any. They get morning sun for less than a couple of hours and are in the shade the remainder of the day. Humidity runs from about 45%-80% depending upon the time of day and whether we are expecting rain or not. Lately temps have been running from the upper 80's during the day to the low 70's at night.

Please tell me how to handle my phals this fall and winter with the temperature drops. Last year was the first year I owned phals, and we all know how awful last winter was.

[tinabee]

Here is a photo of one of my phals. All of my other ones are going gangbusters with fat, new green roots popping out all over the place. This is in S/H about four months.

[mayres]

A friend I have in your general area has all their phals in/on a screened in porch - they say that they don't start spiking until about Christmas.........Evidently by then the environmental conditions (at least in that area) are such that the yearly spike trigger does what needs to be done to set them off........I personally think the "temp drop" issue is WAY over emphasized. I have a number of phals in a NE window of my office that are now starting to set spikes - the office STAYS a compfy 72 degrees year round. There is a small micro climate caused by whatever can "weep" through the plate glass windows, but certainly not ten degrees and not far from the windows either. These plants sit on an 8 inch ledge a few inches from the window surface.

[Ron]

Lately temps have been running from the upper 80's during the day to the low 70's at night.

In Australia
That should be enough for them to set spikes, our summer temp most years from December to end of February is mostly around 90F+ most nights with days often getting up to 105F+
By March they are all starting to spike, 10 to 15 deg F seems enough, they certainly do not need to get down to 60F, that is not even a temp I would allow for my minimum winter temp.
Getting very borderline in knocking about the Phallies

[PhalPal]

Tinabee do you have a thermometer near your orchids???? You may be surprised how much warmer your porch will be versus the local forecast. In addition, huddling them together and throwing a sheet or burlap over the group will help them stay warm. My thermometer has been the best tool I ever invested in, mostly because our day vs. night temps can swing by 40-50 degrees.

I have a dedicated growing room where I grow my cold sensitive plants (i.e. phals!!!) and the window stays open almost all year. I will only close it if the overnight forecast will be in the 30's. I let the warmth from the day heat up the room and then close the window about sundown when it begins to get cold. I have very few spikes right now and for my conditions they are early; I usually don't see a big flush until around Christmas.

BTW......I think it would be very interesting for you to start a thread and tell up how you grow your phals in S/H. I know a couple of growers who are excellent at S/H growing but swear phals just don't take to the method. What are you doing right??!!???? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!!

[tinabee]

I have a digital thermometer that also measures humidity in my growing area. I also have a decorative one hanging on the wall I can use as a guesstimate.

I have my phals potted in the two-staged semi hydroponic pots with the water gauge. The only one I have in one of First Rays semi hydro pot is a very large two crowned phal that has a large root system. It is doing very well in that pot.

My fertilizer formula is in 1 gallon of water:

1/2 teaspoon of Pond Care pH Down, which is what you use for fish ponds to bring the pH safely down. Our water supply here in SW FL is really too alkaline, like around 8.3. I used a pH test kit in the beginning but found out the municipal water supply pH is really stable. I shoot for a 5.5 pH. The 1/2 teaspoon of pH Down works perfectly every time.

1 teaspoon of Better Gro Orchid Plus 20-14-13. I used First Rays calculator in order to hit the proper range of dissolved solids and this is the amount I prefer to use. Ray just mentioned to me it is important to keep the nitrogen level at about 125 ppm and this mixture was giving me 250 ppm. So from now on I'm using 1/2 teaspoon of fertilizer.

A slight dash of Superthrive, which amounts to about 5 or 6 drops. In the minds of some, it doesn't do much, but with the results I'm getting who am I to argue. It's working for me.

In the two staged pots, I water until the water gauge indicator goes up to the middle, or the reservoir is filled up about 1/8th of the way full. I allow the reservoir to completely dry before rewatering. If I am going on vacation, I will "top off the tank" so to speak.

I have tried potting phals in the single pots with the two holes bored at the lower part. It didn't work. For my larger phal, it does. All of my other phals are in the two staged water gauge pots and that is, I think, where they shine.

Hope this helps.

[orchids4me]

I have hydrometer and thermometers right in my growing area near the pots you'd be amazed how different the readings are from on the wall above them to right in there growing space. And also how different the readings are from one side of the growing area to the other I gave like 4 of these max min thermometers and humidity readers in my growing space and place my plants by their needs that way
Emmaye

[FrankP999]

Where do you get your two-stage pots with the indicator?

Thanks

Frank

[lmartiny]

Hi Tinabee. I'm here in Tampa. I grow outside and/or in a small GH most of the year. I probably won't move mine until there is a serious threat of cold. like an extended drop into the 40's. (a lot of work) I'm not going to sweat the 50's too much I don't think. I think they can handle it. I think the Phals. will spike when they are ready and not certain the temp has that much impact. Usually around Nov. or Dec. as I recall. But I had quite a few bloom last spring. I've got an oldster in a basket that I noticed a spike on about six weeks ago and it was still very hot.

[tinabee]

Frank, I got my pots from Home. They are out of New Jersey. If you punch in hydroponics for orchids on YouTube you will see a video from thehydroponicsguy explaining the process.

lmartiny, last year I lost about 5 phals due to the cold we had and I did the best I could to bring them all inside during those several nights of 30 deg. temps. In my case bringing them inside isn't a big deal because I only have about 12 plants. But the information I have read says that if you have phals in semi hydro, they can't take it at less than 60F according to Ray. I have visions in my head of losing these plants over the winter I've worked so hard to take care of, hence the paranoia.

orchids4me,. I think I will take that digital thermometer and place it in a different spot, like on one of the tables I now have my orchids that way I can get a more accurate picture of the temp. and humidity they experience. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

Keep the replies coming!!

[Ray]

1) I don't believe I've ever said phals in S/H culture can't take less than 60°F. What I have said (or meant to, in case I am wrong about the first part) is that I don't let my phals get below that, because in general, phals don't like it cold and wet, and if it gets too cool, excessive evaporative cooling from the medium might push it below the lower limit, whatever that may be.

In your humidity - even the lower levels of winter - maybe that's not as big of an issue as it would be for someone growing in a dry home in the north.

2) According to Dr. Yin-Tung Wang of Texas A&M, phals do not need a day/night drop in temperature, they need a couple weeks of an overall average temperature that's 10°-15°F lower than they had been in order to initiate spikes.

My guess is that as winter approaches, both the highs and lows will drop sufficiently to provide such a change.

3) Jeree Harms, owner of Creative Hydroponics, is a great guy. He and I have been friends for years. Tell him I sent you...

Those 3-component pots, sometimes sold under the "Luwassa" brand name, are great. I have all of my tropical houseplants in them. They're way too expensive for a large orchid collection though, and are unmanageable if you have a lot of plants to water, unless you have the time to go through Tinabee's process for each one individually.

Another thing to be careful of - DO NOT be tempted to just top-up the pots with the gauge (or the reservoir in my pots either, for that matter), as that's a sure way to guarantee that you poison the plants with mineral buildup in fairly short order.

[tinabee]

Thanks, Ray.

The only time I top up the gauge is if I'm going away for a week or so. I do NOT make a habit of it.

Ray you were right about the roots just diving down through the pot. The one plant I have pictured has roots poking out of the bottom of the pot. They have direct contact with the nutrient solution and guess what.....no rot. Proof right there that roots do adapt to their conditions.