We are in the middle of a colder spell this month - we have even had a tiny touch of frost on Portland. I have been asked what this means for watering our orchids and they were surprised to hear that we have increased watering. We find that colder weather especially with clear skies means that plants dry out more quickly on three accounts 1.The colder nights make the heating work harder which is drying 2.Day time temperatures in the greenhouse on sunny days are rather lovely - we have recorded 24.5 degrees this week - this is more drying than the cloudy days we have become used to. 3. The air in the current easterly and northerly winds has a much lower humidity than our moist westerlies and this results in a reduced humidity in the greenhouse too - again drying for plants. If possible I water early in the day as temperatures are rising but I don't fuss about this and this evening did a late water at 10.30pm. My experience of dry seasons in cool tropical forests is that desp...
