Is this Phal growing or dieing slowly

[aliceinwl]

I grow a lot of my Phals outside. Most have to come in when nighttime lows dip into the low 40s (Fahrenheit), but 3 have tolerated temperatures into the upper 30s and spent the winter outside only being brought in when there was a frost potential. They do things a lot slower, but because they’re slow the spikes last forever. One has been in bloom since March, one is sending up double spikes now which look to have a lot of buds, the third had some husbandry hiccups unrelated to temperature and is putting out a keiki. I think if acclimated Phals can tolerate quite a bit.

[Puja]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

I grow a lot of my Phals outside. Most have to come in when nighttime lows dip into the low 40s (Fahrenheit), but 3 have tolerated temperatures into the upper 30s and spent the winter outside only being brought in when there was a frost potential. They do things a lot slower, but because they’re slow the spikes last forever. One has been in bloom since March, one is sending up double spikes now which look to have a lot of buds, the third had some husbandry hiccups unrelated to temperature and is putting out a keiki. I think if acclimated Phals can tolerate quite a bit.

Thank you for this post! This is very good to know in case we have a cold summer and I need to give them a cooler-than-indoors dip in fall/early winter to get them spiking.

[aliceinwl]

Originally Posted by Puja

Thank you for this post! This is very good to know in case we have a cold summer and I need to give them a cooler-than-indoors dip in fall/early winter to get them spiking.

As a caveat, my Phals have been given a chance to acclimate. They’re introduced to the great out doors during the warm part of the year. I’ve read posts by other users where sudden temperate drops into the low 40s due to a power outage led to death.