Good Luck Nick...

As I've said before: Ain't orchids fun!

Sometimes that extra effort makes me appreciate them even more, as long as it doesn't become the norm.

Bob

I had some losses in July with temps in the mid to upper 90's for weeks. In my little greenhouse I flooded the floor with water. I leave the hose run for 5 or 10 minutes. With very high humidity the evaporation would lower the temps from 5 to 9 degrees! It takes about 15 minutes to notice the benefit. Also I would give a fast pass with the hose to get the leaves wet. The plants would cool. I could tell by touching the leaves. On some days I would repeat 2 or 3 times in a day. I sympathize with you Nick. Put up a good fight. Best of luck!!!

Why is it called a perfect storm? 42.5C with 8% humidity is horrible. 42.5C with 20/30% humidity is really horrible!

Aurthur,

Based on an American movie of the same name about 3 very large weather systems converging off the East Coast of the US causing huge problems.

"Perfect Storm" as far the worst possible scenario.

Bob

The perfect storm was a very real event. A ship with everyone aboard was lost. A book and a movie followed.

For me the perfect storm would be high temperatures, high humidity and a power blackout. Right now it's 95F in the backyard but the greenhouses are under control because the humidity is low and the swamp coolers are putting out. 100F with HIGH humidity would mean 100F inside the GH. With a power failure to boot I would get up to 110F inside the GH and I would loose plants. That would be the perfect storm. Hosing everything down with cold tap water would be my only defense.

Nick

Good luck, Nick. I wish I could send some of the cold front heading my way your way. I hope you and your plants are able to fair well over the next three days.

Nick,
I don't know your exact setup but when my dad had a 840 sq ft greenhouse he had 2 large evap coolers and they had no problems keeping temps down. We lived in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. How many vents and doors do you have in case of power outage? Thought about getting a generator?

I'm so glad I don't live there anymore. You can keep your 100+F temps in summer and I'll take our fridgid temps and a foot of snow in winter. I can't stand the heat! We are getting a taste of fall for the next week or so with temps in upper 60's/low 70's.

With 105F today you could fry eggs on the sidewalk of Foothills Blvd in RC. One of my swamp coolers had a problem this afternoon and for 2 hours I only had one but no problem. Heat alone is not the problem, heat and humidity is. The predicted humidity did not arrive.

Power failures are very rare for us but they do happen. I have a motor home parked in the side yard which has a generator which has never been put to the test. I don't know how much it can run, probably at least one swamp cooler. It's my fail safe device. I'd need about 100' of power cord but in the end we always muddle through.

Nick

Glad to hear things are good so far. Hope they continue that way.

I would think about investing in a little generator. Those swamp coolers don't need a wwhole lot of power and at least you could avoid any power outages. It looks like we are going to have the heat for at least another week last time I checked. It is pretty miserable out there. Good luck.

I have the generator of the motor home, just needs a very long extension cord

Nick

Could you throw some shade cloth over your greenhouse? I know it will plunge the plants into unnatural darkness, but it would also keep them a little cooler. How's your phalaenopsis potting medium experiment going? Janine

Today is when I think the fit is going to hit the shan. It's been hot all week with temps close to and above 100F but the equipment kept up with the conditions, no problem. The predicted humidity did not arrive ----yet. It has arrived today secondary to the hurricane that devastated Cabo San Lucas. At 10AM this morning, the temperature outside was 89F and inside the cold greenhouse 82F. A marked departure from yesterday when the inside temp would have been 75F. Both swamp coolers are going full blast but the humidity is high and they don't work too well in these conditions.

All I can do is stand by and keep watering things down and hope that there won't be a power blackout. Yesterday marked the most power ever consumed by Edison's area of service. We should see a cooling trend by tomorrow so after today, the problem will be history.

Nick

I hear you on the efforts to keep plants safe in this furnace. I can't WAIT for this miserable heat to calm down. My plants are outside in West L.A. and are getting hosed down everyday. Some are good but, most have shriveled pseudobulbs and this heat hit just after I transplanted them 2 months ago..
I am hating this weather.

Things are back to normal and since there was no power outage, no harm was done. 2 out of 3 does not make the perfect storm. This was a week of intense heat but luckily only one day of high humidity. As our Hebrew brothers would say 'It was a Schwitz!'

Nick