So my plants are in a spare bedroom- a bit of natural light (more in
the winter, less in the summer- decid tree outside window), and 4
florescent tubes over them- 2 cool white, 2 "daylight".

The question is about temps. I, of course, heat the room in the winter
here in Missouri. Nice temp difference between day and night, maybe 55
night and 73 day. But in the spring/summer/fall, I leave the windows
open and let it go. Of course, it's humid as all get out, and I keep a
fan circulating, but the temps hit the 90's during the day, and may
not even get down into the 70's at night.

I grow mostly Phals and Dends. I'm fairly new, but so far no problems
with either. The Phals rebloom, and I even have a spike under
florescents on a Dendrobium! I'm wondering about long term
consequences- slow growth, etc. I am getting new growth on the
Phals....

What do you all think? Will they all flourish given the proper
humidity and lots of air movement? What will suffer?

Thanks for your knowledge....
Kevin

Kevin,

What kind of damage are you doing to the house? Remember the house was not
built to stand the kind of humidity that you are providing for your plants.
I don't know if you own or rent but you may be asking for problems someday
with mold and other stuff growing in the walls if you keep the humidity too
high for a long period of time.

The dendrobiums need good strong lighting. It's really difficult growing
plants this size under florescent lights. The top of the plant gets good
light but the lower leaves are not happy. Under florescent lights you need
to be about 4 to 8 inches from the surface of the leaf. That's easy for
small plants (seedlings) and flat plants such as phals. Taller plants like
Dendrobium, Catts, Oncidium family, etc. get too tall to do well under
florescent tubes. You should consider Metal Halide which give you about 4
feet of good light (depending upon wattage).

Temperature will become an issue when you add more lights. Venting to the
outdoors can help some of this but on a hot summer day it's difficult
controlling the heat. Last summer I had to keep my phals under 1000W Metal
Halides in the garage. There were some days when the temp got over 100
degrees. I kept the air moving and the garage doors open when I was around.
I still have phals with blotches of different color on the leaves that I
believe was caused by over heating. Now that I have them in good temps the
new leaves are growing out normal and healthy and in another year or two the
damage will be replaced by healthy leaves. I don't know what is the magic
temperature where damage occurs but the plants will cook even under the
lights if the air temp gets too high.

Air movement is very important. The evaporation of the moisture lowers the
surface temp. That same evaporation can dry out plants too. I don't like
to have the fan blow on the plants for long periods of time. When I grew in
the house I had several of the fans that moved back and forth to keep the
air moving all over the room. Another thing is to keep the fans going 24
hours a day. The plants need the air moving across the leaves even when the
lights aren't on.

Good Growing,
Gene



"Kevin" wrote in message
m...
So my plants are in a spare bedroom- a bit of natural light (more in
the winter, less in the summer- decid tree outside window), and 4
florescent tubes over them- 2 cool white, 2 "daylight".

The question is about temps. I, of course, heat the room in the winter
here in Missouri. Nice temp difference between day and night, maybe 55
night and 73 day. But in the spring/summer/fall, I leave the windows
open and let it go. Of course, it's humid as all get out, and I keep a
fan circulating, but the temps hit the 90's during the day, and may
not even get down into the 70's at night.

I grow mostly Phals and Dends. I'm fairly new, but so far no problems
with either. The Phals rebloom, and I even have a spike under
florescents on a Dendrobium! I'm wondering about long term
consequences- slow growth, etc. I am getting new growth on the
Phals....

What do you all think? Will they all flourish given the proper
humidity and lots of air movement? What will suffer?

Thanks for your knowledge....
Kevin

Are you *seeing* any ill effects? Like slow growth? If not then don't look
for trouble, *G* You say the phals and dens spike under your present
conditions. Congrats!

You are getting the requisite 10 degree F differential between day/night
temps that orchids need for flower spiking. The 90F temp is a bit high, but
what can you do? You are growing orchids in your house under natural
conditions and that can't be changed. Unless you are God and can change the
weather right around your spare bedroom, *G* I'm glad you are at least
moving the air around to help cool them off a bit. If the temps are that
high for only a few days and then cool off (which usually is the case) then
you'll be OK. If they were that high for weeks to months then you'd have a
problem, and should look into a greenhouse or other method to alter your
growing conditions.

Orchids are adaptable and yours have decided they like you and have adapted
to Missouri's temps/humidity. Stranger things have happened. So sit back and
relax. Welcome to the hobby.

Keep us posted,

K Barrett


"Kevin" wrote in message
m...
So my plants are in a spare bedroom- a bit of natural light (more in
the winter, less in the summer- decid tree outside window), and 4
florescent tubes over them- 2 cool white, 2 "daylight".

The question is about temps. I, of course, heat the room in the winter
here in Missouri. Nice temp difference between day and night, maybe 55
night and 73 day. But in the spring/summer/fall, I leave the windows
open and let it go. Of course, it's humid as all get out, and I keep a
fan circulating, but the temps hit the 90's during the day, and may
not even get down into the 70's at night.

I grow mostly Phals and Dends. I'm fairly new, but so far no problems
with either. The Phals rebloom, and I even have a spike under
florescents on a Dendrobium! I'm wondering about long term
consequences- slow growth, etc. I am getting new growth on the
Phals....

What do you all think? Will they all flourish given the proper
humidity and lots of air movement? What will suffer?

Thanks for your knowledge....
Kevin

Kevin,

I grew up in Mo and until I moved recently I kept Orchids.

The great thing about Missouri and all of its lovely trees, is that I could
take the Orchids
outside in the summer. I made sure they were well sheltered and at times
even attached
them up in the trees. They loved it!

I had some trouble with grass hoppers but with love and attention they
thrived.

When it gets cooler, I left the dens out until it reached about 48 at night
and sure enough
they gave Me lovely flowers.

The thing I think that most growers forget is that they are to be enjoyed.

Put them around your house, enjoy them.

Lorri

"Kevin" wrote in message
m...
So my plants are in a spare bedroom- a bit of natural light (more in
the winter, less in the summer- decid tree outside window), and 4
florescent tubes over them- 2 cool white, 2 "daylight".

The question is about temps. I, of course, heat the room in the winter
here in Missouri. Nice temp difference between day and night, maybe 55
night and 73 day. But in the spring/summer/fall, I leave the windows
open and let it go. Of course, it's humid as all get out, and I keep a
fan circulating, but the temps hit the 90's during the day, and may
not even get down into the 70's at night.

I grow mostly Phals and Dends. I'm fairly new, but so far no problems
with either. The Phals rebloom, and I even have a spike under
florescents on a Dendrobium! I'm wondering about long term
consequences- slow growth, etc. I am getting new growth on the
Phals....

What do you all think? Will they all flourish given the proper
humidity and lots of air movement? What will suffer?

Thanks for your knowledge....
Kevin

Hey Lorri-
Please don't misunderstand- when the beauties are in bloom, they're
everywhere! I take 'em to work (I'm a hairdresser, and I'm sure the
hairspray coating they get must really do a number on 'em), sit them
on everything imaginable around the house, and even loan them to folks
while they're in bloom if I can't find a space for them. And I'll
admit, I'm reaching critical mass around here, and with the Orchid
Society auction coming up, I'm sure I'll go over the top. I've
waterproofed the bedroom a bit- took up the carpet and put down tile
squares, etc., and the windows are open mostly so the humidity is
high, but not drippy greenhouse high. It's about time for a
greenhouse. But in MO, the real problem is heating the thing in the
winter. As for outside, several folks I know have great luck with it,
but in my neighborhood I seem to have killer squirrels and several
overfed raccoons. They've eaten about everything they can here, but
for the most part I don't mind. It's kinda nice to have some wildlife
here in the inner 'burbs. I'm scared my babies taste good!

You've given up orchids since moving from MO? You poor thing... did it
take a 12 step program to get rid of them?

Again, thank you all for some great advice.

Kev

I grew up in Mo and until I moved recently I kept Orchids.

The great thing about Missouri and all of its lovely trees, is that I could
take the Orchids
outside in the summer. I made sure they were well sheltered and at times
even attached
them up in the trees. They loved it!

I had some trouble with grass hoppers but with love and attention they
thrived.

When it gets cooler, I left the dens out until it reached about 48 at night
and sure enough
they gave Me lovely flowers.

The thing I think that most growers forget is that they are to be enjoyed.

Put them around your house, enjoy them.

Lorri

Kevin,

I moved to the UK and could not bring them or My pets along.

I found wonderful homes for all of them and check in regularly!

I have started a new collection and am up to 7 but I check eBay
every day!

I think it would only be the flowers that draw the raccoons but I am not
sure what
draws the squirrels!

Maybe a chicken coop? Plants in rodents out?

Lorri