Uncle_vito wrote:
A presentation at Norman's (Orchids.com) stated they need about 50 deg F to
iniitate the spikes. I have my Phals in the back bedroom near a window and
at night, with our heater off, we can see 50 deg. I live in So Calif near
Pomona.

Will be great for the flowers. Seems cold should not hurt orchids unless,
of course, they freeze.

My cymbidiums also get this 'cool' treatment for their subsequent flower
spikes. They are outside and I do not worry about them unless it gets below
freezing for several nights in a row. I 'watch' them with a remote
thermometer and figure they are good down to 30 deg F. Could be lower but
do not care to push it.

I also grow oranges in the central valley (not where I live) and they CAN
take down to 26 deg due to the sugar content. Also depends on how long this
low is maintained.

Vito

Phals can be kind of touchy about temperatures. They don't really like
50 degrees but I agree that it will force some of them to start the
blooming process. Back when I had quite a few Phals, I put some of the
reluctant bloomers in a room where they might get down to 50. Certainly
not close to freezing. A couple of times, I had a perfectly healthy Phal
suddenly turn yellowish and over a period of only 2 or 3 days, they
dropped every leaf except the newest leaf at the top. Then they
eventually died in spite of efforts to keep them going.
Your comments on Cymbidiums are exactly right.

Steve