Greenhouse vs. the real world - how to prepare the chids? - Orchid Board

Silje · #1 10-15-2013, 06:02 AM

Hi guys!

I've got my entire orchid collection (except for a few cyms and outdoor plants) in a small greenhouse year round. I'm still quite new to greenhouse gardening, and I'm still finding my way and making mistakes as I go along.

Last weekend, I decided to bring in one of my flowering NoID phals to display it in the house while flowering. Within a couple of hours, the leaves turned limp and the flowers literally dried up and fell off. I kept it inside over night and the next morning the plant went straight back into the greenhouse. I didn't quite expect THAT dramatic and sudden change in the plant. I expected the flowers to last shorter than in the greenhouse, and that I would have to mist it a bit, but I'm sure that plant would have curled up and died within the next day if I had kept it inside.

Back in the greenhouse, the plant quickly bounced back. The leaves are good and the buds that had not yet opened during those dramatic in-door hours are now flowering.

I buy my fair share of NoID phals from a nursery where it's taken out from a greenhouse environment and driven to the farm at least five hours away and then put on a kitchen table until the flowers are gone. Yes, I occasionally get a few bud blasts, but that's normally it.

Now, what do I need to do in order to make my phals in my own greenhouse behave the same? How do you prepare/acclimatize a plant for much drier conditions as nurseries obviously must be doing in order to sell orchids to the public?

Optimist · #2 10-15-2013, 03:31 PM

I'll bet you did not see that coming! I empathize. I can't answer, not being an expert, but wonder if you have air conditioning, and if so, was it on, & were the plants near the vents?

Ray · #3 10-15-2013, 03:40 PM

That seems very odd. In 40+ years of growing - 30 in greenhouses - and always bringing blooming plants into the house, I have never seen anything that rapid.

Ray Barkalow (via Tapatalk)

Edward Brookes · #4 10-15-2013, 03:51 PM

Hello Silje, I wonder of you could SLOWLY change your greenhouse climate so that it is not so very different from indoors? The comment about air conditioning indoors is very valid as well. I found that plants which I have given V.I.P. warmth, humidity & shade were very fragile when moved out of their cosy homes. Ultimately we should be growing for maximum vigor & flowering. I think the tendency is to cosset instead of fostering prime health with our treasures - at least in my case. Perhaps brighter, breezier & a tad drier would work.

Silje · #5 10-15-2013, 06:39 PM

Hi guys! Thank you for the suggestions.

I do not have air-con in the house and the breeze that flows through at this time of the year should not make it 'freak out' to this extent, as I can see it. I would say there's more circulation in the greenhouse than in the house at the moment.

Temperature-wise it's also not that big a difference. Day-time is around 30-32 in the greenhouse and 27-28 inside (Celsius).

The only thing I can really think of was that the difference in humidity somehow triggered it. The plant was moved from a greenhouse with around 40% during the day (in other words a pretty dry hothouse) to a house with around 5-10%.

The plant had been watered and the roots were nice and moist so it did not dry out.

I'm puzzled.

I've actually had something similar happen once before, when I gave my mother-in-law one of my phals to enjoy while flowering. Already a couple of days later she brought it back and said the plant 'stressed her out' because she was so afraid of killing it. I was silently wondering how on earth she managed to make a healthy phal limp and wilted like that in 48 hours...

naoki · #6 10-15-2013, 07:13 PM

I guess Namibia is extremely dry. I'm surprised that the Phals respond so quickly. They are supposed to be CAM plants (i.e. stomata is supposed to be closed during the day). But 5-10%RH would be tough to many plant species. Lower temp, lower light intensity, less breeze will increase the drought tolerance in general.

Maybe, you can make an exhibition case (aquarium/terrarium or something) where you can keep the humidity high. Our place is also desert-like, and humidity in the winter could be around 10-20%. I can bring out the orchids (from high humidity grow tent) for a couple days to enjoy the flower, but I also thought about a small case in the living room.