new flat, with some doubts

[dortyuz]

Hi everybody,

I'm back after a long time, being kept busy with marriage and moving arrangements

I will be moving in our new flat by the end of this month, and I am having anxiety attacks as I will have to move my orchid and carnivorous plant collection in the middle of winter!

I have a concern though, caused by the layout of the flat. Below is a simple sketch of the bedroom corner, which you can see has a very strange structure (thanks to the previous owner): The balcony has two windows at the top! It becomes a semi-detached greenhouse for me

The biggest con is, both of the bedroom windows are facing the balcony, and especially in winter time, if I want to get some fresh air in either of the bedrooms, I will have to expose the plants to direct atmosphere (and probably kill them).

What lowest temperature do you think I can risk to have fresh waking-up air in the morning?

Cheers,

Burak.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Hi Burak, good to hear from you again! I am not sure about the carnivorous plants, but different orchids can withstand different temperatures. Most can dip down for brief periods of time and have little effect, but any real length of time can damage them. We *try* not to let our plants get below 45 F ever. The greenhouse here has its heater set to come on at 59 F. The plants on the edges of the gh and those opposite of the heater obviously get cooler than the ones in the center or in-front / closer-to the heater.

Unless you like it *really* cold in the mornings, I don't expect you would have your temp drop below 50 F in your bedroom, so your orchids should be fine. BUT, like I said, different types of orchids can handle temp drops better than others (some even require a ten degree drop just to bloom).

Congratulations on the new place. I hope you will share photos with us! And again, it is good to see you back online!

Cheers,
BD

[dortyuz]

Thanks! I'll post new photos as soon as we settle down (hopefully with 99% of our collection still intact)

I definitely do not want to bring the temperature too low in our bedroom, but the orchids will be facing the initial cold breeze when I open the windows.

So, what do you think is the critical temperature (considering a broad ranged collection) that I should invoid; for example, if it is 2-3 degrees (celcius) outside, will a short-period cold-shock damage them?

Cheers,

Burak.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

35.5 - 37.4 F = 2 - 3 C. That is really cold. BRRRR... I would not expose my orchids to anything less than 10 C for any length of time. For a very brief period of time, the 2-3 C temp probably will not damage them, but be careful especially if any are in S/H or have water on them or their medium is moist. We have transported plants to our orchid society meeting in the back of an un-heated but enclosed truck-bed when there was ice and snow on the ground. That is about a 90 minute drive. We have not noticed any ill effects, but the plant were not exposed to direct cold air and we put them in cardboard boxes. I would keep them 10 C or above, personally, but I may be being too cautious. Good luck.

Cheers,
BD