I think you are right about the ice cubes and cold water, Linda. Your mom's orchids may do ok with the ice cube treatment, but I'd bet if she just dripped on the same amount of water at room temp they would do even better. They do like their roots to dry out between waterings. It may be more important in the warm weather months to use warm water, so as not to shock the plants.
An orchid in the 'wild' would never, ever have 32deg. water rained on it. They just don't grow where that happens. I've always thought that ice cube treatment was a ploy by the mass producers of orchids for the big box stores to help their customers kill off their orchids faster so they would buy another one sooner.
