neos - out of bloom. foliage only.

[Heather]

Heather, as long as the temperature remains above the mid twenties, it can snow until the cows come home and they won't be bothered. Below ~24 F I would begin to worry, though I imagine they can take even more than that in short bursts, but not continuously.

Yes, I usually bring everyone in when we get to the mid 40s but the Neos have been left out as long as its above freezing. I probably err on the overly cautious side.
*Edit - I just saw your new plants in the snow thread! I was speaking earlier of an older one of your Neos - had no idea you had posted some new ones just a couple days ago!

 

[Clark]

Gems

 

[Happypaphy7]

What did you spray it with? I'd like to know so I can avoid repeating your mistake.

Now, it's been a while since the summer (June or July), and it might be that the damage done on the plants were partly due to the heat of the summer.

Now, another complication is that I have more than one bottle of spray and I'm not exactly sure which one I used.

I will give you what I have though.

Safer 3-in-1: says it targets mites, insects, fungus. main ingredients are potassium salts of fatty acids and sulfur. This one says garden spray, so maybe it wasn't meant for home use, but it shows picture of rose on the front of the bottle, and I always thought spray for rose is about as safe for orchids. Maybe not.

Garden Safe Fungicide 3: targets the same three as the above product. Main ingredients clarified hydrophobic extract of neem oil.
Again, garden spray. What was I thinking? lol

Last, Bonide Eight insect control garden & home:
The bottle lists a bunch of familiar insect pests and mites. Main ingredients: permethrin
I have used this product on other plants (paphs, dendrobium biggibum hybrids, ondiciums) without any harm. not sure if this one is what I used on the neos.

The top two products always burned my paphs (one Ho Chi Minh and one venustum got burned badly but they are making a comeback), and I have stopped using it. I really don't have use for these sprays any ways usually. I bought them because newly purchased plants came with bugs or disease marks on the leaves. and I didn't want them to spread onto my healthy plants in the collection.

I have also sprayed them on other maudiae type hybrids without any ill effect.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Yes, I usually bring everyone in when we get to the mid 40s but the Neos have been left out as long as its above freezing. I probably err on the overly cautious side.
*Edit - I just saw your new plants in the snow thread! I was speaking earlier of an older one of your Neos - had no idea you had posted some new ones just a couple days ago!

And even below freezing is fine, but maybe dry air in California might damage them. not sure.
Neo habitat range can vary much wider in Japan, some being found on very mild islands where freezing might never occur, but in South Korea, all the neo habitats get a lot of snow and always below freezing in the winter months. It is not severely cold, but it's mostly slightly below or around freezing, with occasionally unusually harsh winter like this year in Korea.
The thing is snow usually protects the neos in very cold area, sort of like an insulator.

The same area in Korea has Den. morniliforme, Cym. goeringii, Calanthe and a bunch others, although they are mostly bottom grower and hence mulched heavily by fallen leaves and stuff. Den. morniliforme being the tough exception as they are almost always lithophytes and thus exposed to the elements of the weather.

At least neos and den. morniliforme are usually found right by the ocean or very close to the ocean, so the humidity is quite nice all year around. Bottom growers grow much drier in the forest and winter is exceptionally dry.

 

[cnycharles]

A few months ago I zapped a phal maculata spraying with bayer rose and flower blue bottle. Only thing that died, most unwelcome result

And the neos are cool as always!

I was mentioning to the new owner of nwo that the previous owner and tom here said it was okay to leave neos out in snow a little below freezing and she didn't think it was a good idea. I think tom also said sedirea could take snow if dry? She also didn't think that would work

Elmer Nj

 

[Happypaphy7]

Sedirea japonica and Neofinetia are both found in the same habitat in Korea.
They both get snowed on and go through frequent freezing.
Note that both Tom and I said just below freezing, like 20s, but not all the time.
Their habitat is not severely cold all winter.
So just saying "exposing them to snow" without proper context can give people very wrong idea.
You definitely don't want them outside in the snow in NY, NJ or MN.

Plus, as a business owner, they don't want to confuse people and it's best to just say "no snow" to prevent angry customers. lol

However, remember that this is the natural conditions and a clue that these plants are this hardy. In cultivation, there is no need to expose them to such cold treatment, but I do believe they do best when allowed to have cold winter for the long term, even if it's in the 50s.

 

[Marco]

I have some neos come in with soft brown scale and mealies. I typically alternate between safers rose and flower and ortho rose and flower. I spray the foliage of the plant and the top of the moss mound every 3-4 days for about two weeks. Seems to work just fine on my plants.