Lucky, Harvey.

Today, I picked up all my wind blown orchids from the ground with wind nearly blowing me over. Sarasota got hit with tornado's last night, luckily we did not get hit, but the winds blew everything all over the yard.

I moved my Vandas inside from hanging under the trees. I moved all my Phals indoors as all are spiking or flowering. I set up a floor lamp with CFL's to finish their blooms.

They are predicting low 40's all week. The Catts are on their own as are the dends.

Sort of felt like I was back in NYC!

Jane

Jane, do you find that the CFLs are beneficial to the plants. I'm thinking about doing a simple set-up for a few phals and paphs. I have one of those five armed floor lamps stashed in a closet and hubby also has several clamp on lamps. How long do you extend your light hours?

Harvey, I've never heard of Wiggle Wire??? Have to google it!

Good to know. We are building a GH this coming spring and I know that the structure is only the beginning!

Hi

Be careful with that clear plastic as you will get tremendous heat gain when the sun comes up. I once used that on my shadehouse when I came home from work The outside temp was 60 inside temp was 151!!

I no longer use my shadehouse but do make a temporary shelter from PVC and frostcloth . Has the advantage that it can be left in place during the usual 3 day run of a cold front. They even make a variety that produces heat from a chemical reaction but have never tried it as I only need protection during the night . Going to put up my Tepee tonight as the low is predited at 39 though since I'm located near the ocean I'm usually 4/5 degrees above the predictions Good luck Be very careful of the heat gain !!! gary

Thanks Gary. I am aware. This process with the wiggle wire has more efficiency than my previous set up. A couple of days ago I had an early appointment. Although the temps were not warm enough to open the flaps, I did turn off the heater and I'm sure if I did not there would have been a melt down. The plastic I got is designed for greenhouse applications. Much more cost than the home depot variety. Doing what I do for cold means I need to be vigilant to avoid a melt down. All that being said I feel I've made the best choices for my needs.

A friend suggested I use bubble wrap, but it doesn't come in sheeting (as far as I can find). She claims it cuts down on heat as well as the cold. I'll continue to check for more info.

I believe it needs to be UV rated for plants. Bubbles wot have that.

I only brought in two vandas (one is in bloom) and some Phals which were spiking or beginning to bloom. The weather in Florida was very warm and the Phals were late spiking. Some are plants I bloom for businesses so I do not want any problems with their flowering.

I just pulled out my old octopus lamp and turned it on. They will stay inside until the night temps rise. The next few days are supposed to be in the low 40's or even 30's.

Nothing else came in. I do not have a greenhouse. I found the Catts and dends did okay last year with similar temps. In Florida, the cool temps are short lived and the days are very sunny. They seem to handle it okay.