What do you do when.....

You'e central air goes out?? What's so bad is today it's suppose to be 98 with a heat index of 105.
I have given all my av's and streps a drink of water, cut off all the lights, and put them on the floor with the drapes closed. I will also put a fan on them. All of this in hopes that they will survive. I'll probably leave shortly, it's already 85 in the house, and it's just 7 am. What will it be around 1?????
The air probably won't be fixed until tomorrow, hopefully, they will be able to get to it today.
Any advice......please.

Try not to worry too much. Hot temps are not nearly as dangerous and colder ones! Violets are supposed to be fine up to temps of 80, and it prob won't get much higher in your house than it is now. I think the higher temps for 48 hours or so are not going to do much damage....maybe you will lose some blooms, cause a little stress, but it probably won't be enough to kill them.

I grow quite a few in an un-air conditioned sun room and they do fine in the higher temps out there. What the worry is for you is that your violets are not used to the higher temps, whereas mine are.... But I still think they will prob be ok. The fan sounds like a good idea. I have been trying to think of a way for you to cool the area off that they are in, but other than sitting them on a pile of ice, I don't have any ideas there! Maybe someone else will.

I just hope that things work out, that the air gets back on fast, and that your plants get thru it all ok! If you lose any, I should have lots of babies for adoption in the fall.

This message was edited Aug 11, 2009 9:00 AM

I am soooooooooo sorry!!! Hope they make it.....
If you have streps, they will suffer stress but hopefully live...........they don't like it above 75.

Hope all will be well. I have a platinum AC plan that gets someone here fast, day or night. I get extrememly ill in heat. I stay in a hotel if I have to.

It get too hot here for av's, I have my Episcia's inside too. The sunroom has been too hot this summer. My av's are always inside, but the Episcia usually love the sunroom.

meag48,
I so hope they will all make it!! I was a little worried about them all getting watered and then hot....but the fan should really help with that.

Lynn

Welllll......It got up to 101 yesterday. I finally got back in around 9 last night. It was still 88 degrees inside then. Several times yesterday I ran in to check on things, it was in the 90's. This morning it is a very pleasent 72. But OH!! My babies!! You can tell that they suffered. My av's look pretty good considering (blooms are no longer there) but my strep's.....pitiful. I know that I lost two. My strep leaves that I had stuck turned to mush. I didn't know that they could take a turn so quickly!! It had been so hot that all my mats were completely dried out.
Several of my streps I put in the refridgerator for about 10 minutes (with hubby looking on as if I had lost my mind. LOL) They perked right up.
Thanks all for the advice. I was just a newbie having a panic attack!! LOL!!
Melanie

Oops, I just read my post again. I said it gets too hot here for AV's. Ha. I meant in my sunroom.

My AV's are cool inside.

I hope your ac gets fixed today!

Aww, so sorry to hear about the streps. I just had a similar experience a few weeks ago, my brother was upstate camping and we had a severe storm, tornado and all, his whole wooded neighborhood was full of downed trees and the power went out for 2 days. I was "fish sitting" his saltwater tank. Anyone who knows about fish knows it is NOT a good thing when you lose power to such a tank. My stupid brother had no back up battery system in case of emergency, and I could not find anyone with a generator. He lost one fish and several corals, and it all happened on my watch. I was so upset. I told him I won't watch the fish again unless he has a backup emergency filter in case of another disaster.

Anyway, glad you did not lose your whole collection...might be a good idea to get a little generator?

I have a small generator just for hurricanes but i couldn't afford a bigger one so all it does is keep the refrigerator on...........it wouldn't carry my air conditioning at all. Brother has one but they are about 4000.00 or 5000.00 .............can't do it.

oh i hope you don't lose anymore streps, keep us posted. we all have babies.
bonnie

Bonnie is right. I have plenty of baby streps, too........

Jmp24, I know just how you feel. Because of things like that I won't keep anyones pet. My fear is that something will happen to them.
I was just telling Gail (dmail) that now my av's are beginning to show signs of heat stress. The leaves are turning brown around the edges and are floppy. I know that I didn't overwater, they were on the dry side to begin with. If this had happened in the winter I would have stood a better chance, I sure could have kept them warm, but how do you keep them cool??
On the av's would you remove the wilted leaves or would you just leave well enough alone? I was so hoping to have lots of babies for the fall RR.

Aww, so sorry to hear that - I guess I would just keep on caring for them, water them lightly when dry, and give them a chance to come around. Violets can surprise you sometimes.

Let me know if you lose any AV's, I have ALOT of babies, I can see if I can replace any for you. I have mostly minis and semi minis, not sure what you like, but I have some standards as well. They are all still small, but will be the right size probably by October. Don't worry about the RR at this point, things will work out!!

As for not watching anyone's pets, I know what you mean. I do it for family and a few neighbors, but if it is a dog, even one that doesn't get leashed, I use a leash anyway. Years ago a friend went away on vacation and the guy who watched her dog let him out one day and he was killed by a car. I wouldn't want that on my head.

This message was edited Aug 13, 2009 9:49 AM

I see signs of meag needing plants soon....................I will get a box out to you at the end of next week................everyone will help you get your enthusiasm back as everyone has extras of something......................

Melanie, I'm so sorry your ac went out and you lost plants. I can send you a box of Strep leaves and a few other things. Dmail me your addy, please. ^_^

Thanks to all of you!!
If any of you have extras I will certainly pay postage!

This message was edited Aug 13, 2009 7:04 PM

This message was edited Aug 13, 2009 7:04 PM