below 50 my orchids put me to work

[curlyoak]

It has been 3 years since I had to heart my orchids. 30 years ago it was 25 to 35 days needed to protect from below 50. It took up most of a day to winterize and move orchids. The pics show a small portion of my orchids. The work is done for a while. The day will come when they must go back...

[roughsawn]

You got a cold spell coming? I woke up to 4 degrees above zero, today.

[curlyoak]

On 1/7/2025 at 8:21 PM, roughsawn said:

You got a cold spell coming?

That's why if I lived in colder climate I would not grow orchids. Although at great expense, still some do choose to grow exotic plants in cold climates. Not me. I lived in the Ozark Mountains for 10 years with 3 equal months per season. I learned about sub freezing temps. Then I comeback to Florida...Also the year I left was the year of the cotton shortage and long underwear was made with polyester. I had to move...

[Tpt life]

For the first time, I have gotten a Phal. to rebloom. They do wonderfully on the back shade porch, in the summer. I have to baby them inside, here in northern Indiana winter.

[Tom King]

The coldest I ever remember was living in a house in Ft. Lauderdale.  It got down to 45 degrees.  The house had no heat, uninsulated cinderblock walls, and Jalousie windows.

[Coop]

Hopefully you got a little cuddling time in. 

[curlyoak]

1957 in Hollywood, fl. our family moved to florida. The house was a Mediterranean style real old and out of repair. There was one gas heater that showed the flame placed in what was a fire place. That was a cold winter.

1977 it snowed in south florida...

[Tom King]

On 1/9/2025 at 10:00 PM, Coop said:

Hopefully you got a little cuddling time in. 

Actually, it turned out to be quite a story.  Too long to tell here, but yes.  Almost ended up with the wrong girl.

[Tom King]

I didn't mean just that night, but in the long run.....long story.

[treeslayer]

Well…..I hope this doesn’t last too long, you have to think before going outside in this stuff

[Coop]

@treeslayer,  do the numbers on the left mean for the next seven days or hours? Regardless, that’s some serious cold. I would invite you and Jan down to warmer weather but they plan to shut down both of our airports tomorrow due to sleet and a possibility of 5-7” of snow. 

[treeslayer]

That’s hourly @Coop, the temp will be 30 for a high by Wednesday 

[Coop]

I can’t even imagine. Our low on Wednesday is predicted to be in the upper teens which is bone chilling for us but stay inside and cuddling weather. Stay warm my friend! 

[treeslayer]

Will do @Coop, you too , snow and cold in your area are no joke, hope it misses you 

[curlyoak]

Good luck managing the cold! The forecast  lows are 48 Thursday and 45 Friday. With high humidity and wind it feels lower. Still not the lows reported here. It looks like coming up to a three dog night! I have moved the plants back out so it looks like I will move it again...

[Chestnut]

Car indicated -21F on the way to work today. At stoplights the heater was pulling enough heat that the engine temp would drop about 15 degrees.

It's all about clothing. For cold like this I'll wear 320g merino wool base layer and 3 more layers on top. With my goose down jacket i can last out side for a few hours if need be. The exposed skin is the only part that eventually drives me inside. That and toes. For some reason even with the best boots and wool socks my toes get cold.

[treeslayer]

You know how to deal with the cold @Chestnut, I have about the same system 

[Mark J]

Cold here, too.  -9 with wind chill to -27, predicted high of a "toasty" +1.  Good day to stay in.

I wonder how @drzaius and @h3nry are doing?  Gotta be worse up north.  

[curlyoak]

On 1/21/2025 at 8:24 AM, Chestnut said:

Car indicated -21F on the way to work today

Those numbers it should be declared a no work day...

[Coop]

I guess it’s ne of the advantages of living in the south. It’s only 27* here and it is a no work day. The disadvantage is all I have is a garden hoe and no snow shovel!

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Mark J said:

Cold here, too.  -9 with wind chill to -27, predicted high of a "toasty" +1.  Good day to stay in.

I wonder how @drzaius and @h3nry are doing?  Gotta be worse up north.  

We just got over a stretch of -15 to -20, but this week it's up to near freezing. Not bad at all.

[fcschoenthal]

On 1/21/2025 at 8:36 AM, Coop said:

I guess it’s ne of the advantages of living in the south. It’s only 27* here and it is a no work day. The disadvantage is all I have is a garden hoe and no snow shovel!

Yeah, we here in the South don't really know how to deal with ice & snow, nor usually have the need to. We don't have the plows, shovels or deicers that are required to handle sufficiently, so we just shut down for a while until it goes away, probably the next day.

[h3nry]

Yes, it's a beautiful warm day of about -5C here, up from last week. But we haven't really had any seriusly cold weather yet this winter. The garage is quite warm enough that I made a saw handle yesterday. I'm still procrastinating on designs for a more serious project ... once I get started on that, then we'll get the cold weather!

Calgary has really odd weather  in Winter. There's a warm wind that blows in from the Pacific, but the mountains usually push it up into the upper atmosphere over the cold continental air ... but sometimes a wave in that wind brings it down to the ground as a "Chinook wind" displacing the cold air and the temperature can rise dramatically ... or fall just as dramatically when the chinook goes away. I have once seen a fall of 49C in a single afternoon!

[Tom King]

On 1/21/2025 at 9:36 AM, Coop said:

I guess it’s ne of the advantages of living in the south. It’s only 27* here and it is a no work day. The disadvantage is all I have is a garden hoe and no snow shovel!

Looks like it's time to send the kids to Cancun.

[Coop]

I realized today that Hey Dudes don’t make good snow shoes.