Well, bad things can happen in FL while you're asleep or away too, Ken. There's no easy out unless you just park all the orchids in the trees and let nature take its course. I can't imagine seeing a lot of blooms if I did that, though. Squirrels . . .
I'm just waiting to come back from a trip and find that the raccoons have had an enjoyable romp inside my pool cage. Or a hurricane brushes by with huge winds and rain coming down like a fire hose.
We go diving in the winter, so if there were a very cold night while we're away, there would be carnage, too. About all I can do is look at the forecast, and if cold weather is predicted, cover everything with frost cloth before I left. But if it rains as the cold front goes through, then you have wet frost cloth sitting on your plants . . . It would not be pretty.
Jim has the best of both worlds with his lovely OC. He can open the windows to take advantage of perfect orchid weather (like we've had here for a week or so) then enclose everything for cold nights, and against critter invasion. His swimming pool in the OC moderates the temperature and keeps up humidity for him, too.
