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Orchid withstanding high temperature

Discussion in 'Everything Else Orchid' started by Pawpaw, Dec 3, 2018.

  1. Dec 3, 2018 #1
    Pawpaw

    Pawpaw Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Ingham, North Queensland, Australia
    I live in the far north tropics of Qld Australia and for the last 10 days we have had extremely high temperatures highs have been over the 40C mark with some days over 45C and two days at 50C and 56C in the sun or part shade. My orchids have taken a battering. I have lost some Bulbs such as cominsii and apodum with many others having their leaves go yellow and falling off. A lot of Erias have suffered and Dens also. Schomburgkias that have been growing on trees for years have collapsed. Outdoor Vandas have had their flowers burnt to a crisp.
    I have taken some photos of my main family Bulbophyllums and a couple of Eria hyacinthoides to show you the results of the extreme heat wave. The temp today has come down to just below 40C and the forecast for the next5 days is for possible rain and lower temps.
    Has anyone else experienced similar conditions. This is the worst for me in 38 years of growing orchids. One family that wasn't affected was Aerides.

    Eric IMG_2890.JPG IMG_2891.JPG IMG_2892.JPG IMG_2893.JPG IMG_2894.JPG IMG_2895.JPG IMG_2896.JPG IMG_2897.JPG IMG_2898.JPG IMG_2899.JPG
     
  2. Dec 3, 2018 #2
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    Location:
    Oak Island NC
    If there is any way to create shade, it'll help a great deal.

    Thermal heating + solar radiant heating might be OK normally, but in extreme temperatures, you need to try to cut the latter.
     
  3. Dec 3, 2018 #3
    Pawpaw

    Pawpaw Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Ingham, North Queensland, Australia
    The whole shade house is covered with 80% shade cloth. It is 10 feet high 24 feet wide and 80 feet long, a big job to put extra shade cloth over the lot but now the temps are dropping and a possibility of rain with a cyclone looming around so I hope the worst of the high temps is gone. The damage has been done. Iam still going in a couple of times a day and misting. All I can do is hope that most of the plants come threw. I have only shown the worst plants. There is a lot that have not bee affected.

    Eric
     
  4. Dec 4, 2018 #4
    Bernard McDonald

    Bernard McDonald Active Member

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    Eric, It must be soul destroying to see your plants suffer due to the uncontrollable excess heat. The images of your plants show the damage mainly to the leaves. Looking at the psuedobulbs, I feel sure that when you do get the rain the plants
    will recover - slowly at first. But I know with your experience and expertise they will survive. Good Luck. Bernard
     
  5. Dec 4, 2018 #5
    Pawpaw

    Pawpaw Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Ingham, North Queensland, Australia
    Thanks Bernard, I hope you are right. Forecast for today and the next 5 days is looking good for some rain due to an ex cyclone.

    eric
     
  6. Dec 5, 2018 #6
    Marni

    Marni Well-Known Member Staff Member Supporting Member

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    I too was noticing green pseudobulbs. I hope that they make a good recovery. I would have tried to find a big, opaque tarp. During a power outage and a heat wave, I once cut up a number of very large cardboard cartons and put them on top of the greenhouse roof to block the sun. It was amazingly successful and saved a lot of stress to the plants.
     
  7. Dec 5, 2018 #7
    Pawpaw

    Pawpaw Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Ingham, North Queensland, Australia
    Hi Marni, a good suggestion but in my case I have two large shade houses plus a couple of smaller ones. The large ones are 80 x 24 feet which are almost full with my Bulbophyllum collection plus all the spare Bulbos. It would be a massive job. Today the temps have dropped and it is starting to rain so hope it rains for a few days this would help a lot in the recovery of the plants.

    Eric