Orchid loss devastating....

[nikkik]

I just wanted to share my devastation with people that will understand my loss. Yesterday, was my husband's holiday work party, so my parents watched our kids. I grow in my solarium that is located off of our kitchen. We have dogs and to let them outside, we have to go through the solarium, the door to our yard is located off of the solarium. My dad let the dogs out last night and the pilot must of went out on the heater (the door that connects our kitchen to our solarium normally stays shut at night, in the winter). We had no idea the pilot was out, since we didn't go into the solarium because we got home pretty late.

This morning when I went to let the dogs out, it was frigid. I looked at my thermometers and they all read 20°F. We quickly brought the most valuable and hard to replace plants in while we raised the temperature in the solarium.

At this point, I am waiting to see how many plants I have lost. I can already see some cold damage on some. As many of my previous post state, warm going vandas are my vice, so I fear that my collection is going to seriously shrink as I wait for the damage to show. I have many plants that took me a good amount of time to find, so if the amount of plants lost is substantial this may be the end of the hobby for me.

This will be the second time I lost a collection. The first was when I moved back to Michigan from North Carolina and nearly lost all of my plants to a bacterial infection. I just can't justify starting a collection over for a third time with all the time and money that goes into having a collection. I am expecting a third child, so I know that I won't have the time or funds to replace the 100+ plants in my solarium.

I appreciate the opportunity to vent to other "orchid people". Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[Paul]

Sorry to hear about this, Nikki.

Wouldn't lose all hope as of yet. Orchids are amazingly resilient ... often more so than we realize. Your plants which may be at biggest risk are any that are potted. If the media was wet during the Big Chill, they may be more prone to root loss and rot. May be wise to unpot any potted ones and check the roots.

Still wouldn't let it stop you from enjoying the hobby. If worse comes to worse with regards to loss, aim at a slow rebuild. In many ways not as satisfying as the "instant fix", but -- on the other side of the coin -- you wind up really appreciating what you do have and any new additions because new ones become few and far between.

On a prevention note, I've known several folks who have suffered similar mishaps. Several then installed an inexpensive alarm to sound off when temps go below a certain threshold. Couple installed backup heaters as well that kick on under those circumstances.

[nikkik]

Paul, thank you so much for the advice and encouragement. I will look into the alarm as you suggested. I did not know that such a thing existed, thank you again!

[Orchid Whisperer]

So sorry! A friend from Maine lost plants due to a furnace failing a few years ago, midwinter. She lost some, but some survived too.

[nikkik]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

So sorry! A friend from Maine lost plants due to a furnace failing a few years ago, midwinter. She list some, but some survived too.

Thank you so much for your kindness and encouragement! I have my fingers crossed that my older, hard to find plants pull through.

[LovePhals]

Good luck and I'm so sorry that happened. I hope your hard to find Vandas are OK! Let us know how they turn out.

[bethmarie]

oh, Nikki--I'm so sorry. that's crushing. I hope the damage turns out to be minimal. I'll be thinking of you and waiting too, to hear how it turns out.

[ddivey36]

So sorry to hear about your misfortune, I will keep positive thoughts for you in that your collection will not be as severely affected.

[AnonYMouse]

Fingers crossed!

[AussieVanda]

Hey Nik, well firstly let me congratulate you on number 3! That's awesome news. When are you due? Boy/girl or keeping it a surprise?

As for your orchids, they can be more resilient than people give them credit for. Fingers crossed! !!