[GrowRR] Benefits of refridgeration:

[Mttoptrekker at aol.com]

Hi all,
  Am writing this as a follow up to my reply to Bene Tay's suggestion about 
useing his refridgerator's vegetable compartment as a means of provideing 
adequate temperature variations in hopes of blooming his Tillandsias.
  First, it's a widely accepted fact that most plants in general will grow 
better if provided with a variation of 10 to 15 degrees farenheit between day 
and night temperatures. Most growers, no matter where they reside are able to 
provide this at least during most of their growing season, so there is often 
little mention of this fact. Most plants that reside at higher elevations may 
require a wider variation of day versus night temperatures for best growth and 
bud set.
  I'm reluctant to keep referring to growers of plants other than bromeliads 
in this forum, but there are some good examples to be found therein that are 
worthy of mention. Anyone that has ever glanced through an orchid catalog will 
note that these growers commonly refer to warm, intermediate, and cool growing 
plants, usually with regard to the elevations where they reside in nature. 
Usually some temperature guidelines are given to help growers decide if a plant 
will grow and prosper in the conditions that can be provided. These guidelines 
usually refer to minimum and maximum temperatures to be provided during 
winter months, as these plants will in nature be exposed to temps much higher 
during the other seasons. Thus warm growing plants should receive 60 to 90 degrees 
F, intermediates 50 to 80-85 F, cool 40 to 75-80 F, once again, these are only 
guidelines for winter temps. In actuality some do better if provided breifly 
with temps at least breifly that are a few degrees below their respective 
minimum guidelines and usually provide better bud set.
   With regards to bromeliads, these guidelines are rarely given perhaps for 
various reasons. As most bromeliad nurseries are located in areas that would 
be considered "warm" to orchidists, first the plants must survive growing in 
the nursery, and as their customers usually experience similar growing 
conditions, it's just good business to provide them with plants they can grow. There 
are exceptions occationally however, and anyone that has attempted growing high 
elevation tillandsias like mcdougallii, or high elevation Racineas in south 
Florida will usually report that these perish quickly.
  Fortunately, most species offered will endure and prosper in conditions 
well beyond those to be found in nature. By and large, bromeliads collectively 
are a very tough resilient family of plants. In a past article authored by Ervin 
Wurtman titled " Brasilian Vriesias-freeze stalwarts", he comments on their 
ability to endure nearly freezing conditions in their native environments, and 
thus had reccomended them for use in the Floridian landscape. Today there are 
few collections there where these plants are not well represented. In my own 
experience growing these plants, I can personally testify that most can endure 
several events each year where light frosts will coat their foliage breifly 
each morning giving a snowlike appearance, and provided that the temperatures 
rebound quickly to more moderate levels, there is often little or no foliar 
damage. Also occationally I'll discover in late fall that a tillandsia or two may 
have fallen from it's pearch in my shadehouse, while making a final clean up 
of leaves and debris. As I routinely monitor temperatures outdoors year round, 
I can also report that these forgotten overlooked plants have endured 
temperatures well below freezing, into the mid twenties on some occations, although 
they undoubtedly benefitted from the protection and insulation of resideing 
breifly on the ground amongst leaf litter!
  Thus, those that offhandedly comment that putting a plant in the 
refridgerator will be fatal, is at best a bit short sighted. Of course such treatment 
will have it's limits however, and to those wishing to attempt such a radical 
approach, I'd suggest the following. To approximate temperature variations as 
they occur in nature, it's probably best ( and easiest) to do this during the 
overnight hours. Place the plant in the "cool chamber" after sunset, and return 
it to it's normal growing space during the daylight hours. Thus a wider 
variation of day versus night temperatures can be acheived. With respect to 
Tillandsias, which require bright light, this will no doubt aid photosynthesis and 
help the plants absorb various starches and minerals to promote bloom. Also 
during this cooling period, I would provide minimal if any watering to avoid 
rotting the plant. This treatment may not need to be of great length, and success 
may be acheived after only a breif cooling period of perhaps 3-4 weeks. Don't 
expect to open your refridgerator and see a blooming plant, as the plant may 
bloom in it's own time some months later.
  Lastly, I'll have to say that refridgeration with respect to the floral 
community, is'nt exactly a new concept. Anyone visiting a florist shop for 
example, will no doubt notice a lighted refridgerated case similar to those used for 
soft drinks in convenience stores. Although these are used to prolong 
freshness of cut flowers, I do know of a certain bromeliad grower that uses this 
concept to breifly stall the blooming of his Guzmania sanguinea var 
brevipedicellata. This allows him to be able to display these plants in perfect condition, 
whereas their extremely breif blooming period might otherwise prevent showing 
them at their finest. Hope this breif novella has been of some help.    Best 
Regards, Kevin Becroft
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