This post was started sometime in June 2013 and the last comments were entered recently in October of the same year. As time progressed, I learned some things and others I had to experiment with to see what would happen. These are my findings:
For some time now, I had been watering my orchids by pouring water over the top of the pot carefully avoiding the crown. However, my results using this method were not great ones. For one, my media kept drying out a bit too much. The water kept wetting the media and pouring over the roots without properly saturating the core of the pot. After all, bark based mixes are water repellent to some degree.
I decided to try soaking the entire pot in water to thoroughly moisten the media and then ensure I drain out all the excess liquid. The first time I did it, I left the plant in for 1/2 an hour since I never got around to soaking the bark mix prior to repotting the plant. However, I think a good 5 minute soak once a week with diluted fertilizer should be just dandy. The key here is to ensure the media is not packed in too tightly and that it drains really well with good air circulation.
After that initial soaking, I was amazed at how my mini Phal's roots had swollen to double their usual size to absorb the water offered. I realized the way the roots had looked routinely, while I had been watering it in the past, were actually dessicated and slightly shriveled roots. But because I was so inexperienced in the whole orchid hobby, I was unable to tell the difference. I had no real point of reference.
In order to soak the orchids properly, I ordered a couple of deep clear plastic saucers. They are about 6 inches deep and about 8 inches in circumference, which are just great to accommodate any pot I currently have. They are extremely light for me to take to the office and compact enough to hide away just about anywhere. And best of all, they are inexpensive enough to be replaced as often as needed, but durable enough for many consecutive uses.
Eventually, I learned that the optimal method of watering for my unique conditions was to provide about 2 cups of warm water for the Paphs and allow the water to drain from the bottom holes. However, the Phals get about twice that amount of warm water, but are soaked for 2-3 minutes with diluted fertilizer every other watering. The rest of the time, they get the same amount of water, but no fertilizer. On average, I do this for all the orchids twice a week.
The other method I am attempting in order to provide a stable and suitable growing culture for my plants is a homemade humidity tray. I purchased a sterling silver rectangular tray, which is about 2 inches deep. I also purchased a bag of large gardening grade Jade stones. The look is very pretty, but because the bags of stones are pricey and aren't as plentiful as I needed, there are a lot of spaces with just clear water in between. I did a lot of research prior to setting this tray up and learned that the stones are traditionally placed in the water to simply hold the pot up above the water level. Other than that, what truly provides the humidity is the evaporation of the water within the tray.
I decided to put this theory to the test. After all, there is a lot of documentation attesting that the stones must be of a certain size, type, and closeness to be effective. I placed my electronic hygrometer right next to one of the orchids on top of the pots they are in while sitting inside of the fully assembled humidity tray. I left the instrument there for a couple of hours to get a range of the difference in humidity during various times of day. All my readings yielded over 50-55% humidity. I then decided to test the humidity in the same room, but away from the water. I got readings in the low to mid 40's. Obviously, the humidity tray does not provide a huge increase, but it's enough to make things very comfortable for the orchids. In the winter, when the humidity will most likely plummet when the indoor heating comes on, I will use my trusty humidifier and place it near the plants. That way, I am covered through the entire year...yay!
The homemade tray did not end up being an overall success. The size of the tray was a bit too small and the stones became a headache to keep clean. The water often became murky and smelly and it was difficult to balance the plants atop the stones. I then ended up buying larger commercial trays and those work really well. There is no need for stones. I simply fill them with a couple of cups of water and the water evaporates cleanly in about a week. I clean the trays every other week to remove any pathogens and mineral stains, and let them dry naturally before I fill them up again.
Since this particular Summer has been a very hot one, it's been a challenge to provide enough moisture for the Paphs. They don't like to be sitting in overly dry media. I have been thinking of misting the foliage on the Paphs in between waterings. I was still not 100% convinced I was going to go down this route, but I wanted to consider it carefully. I am very weary of getting any type of crown rot and the word out on the street is that Paphs don't appreciate to have their leaves wet for very long. However, I have observed that the water tends to evaporate rather quickly in this heat. As if you can't tell; I was very much torn. However, I did decide to mist very lightly on really hot days. The Paphs seems to love it. I do take great care to mist them from a good foot away and as I stated before very lightly. I don't want any water to get trapped in the crevices of the foliage.
The last thing I had to consider was air circulation. I learned the hard way that this is one of the most important elements in orchid culture. Since they are tropical plants, their native habitats tend to have gentle breezes blowing through the roots and foliage routinely. In our homes, if the air tends to be stagnant, we need to recreate this condition by artificial means. An oscillating fan with various settings serves this purpose well. Until the middle of July, I had been growing my orchids without a fan dedicated to them. I would simply turn on an oscillating tower house fan we used for our family, but it was stationed about 12 feet away. It did rustle the foliage, but it did not provide the roots any real air circulation. Because of this, my plants suffered some root rot, but luckily, I was able to catch the problem in time.
Now, they have a mini tower oscillating fan all to themselves. Even though my growing area is about 3 feet away from a window, the air does not tend to move much in this heat. The roots were simply not getting the air they needed. Once I was able to rectify this, things have been going much better. The plants are no longer wilting and I am not losing any more flowers prematurely.
The last variable in all of this is the type of media used. I first tried the regular run of the mill hardware store Phalaenopsis bark mix. This type of mix just dried up way too fast and when soaked, remained too wet for too long. My poor orchids did not know what was happening and it was hard for me to discern when to water. Sometimes, it was 2 times a week, sometimes it was every day, and sometimes the outer media would dry up and the center would remain wet. I got fed up and did away with that type of mix.
I then tried a mix made from mainly Orchiata for the Paphs. This change did seem to agree with them and for a good long while, this type of mix worked well for them, but it was rather expensive. During the course of the Summer, I purchased a new plant that came to me with Mealybugs. They became a thorn in my side for several months. No matter what I did, they just came back a few weeks later.
I realized the bugs were hiding in the root system and now all the plants were insidiously being infested. I ended up having to repot all the plants, I ended up losing one of the Phals to the wretched little parasites. By then, a friend had recommended Seramis Orchid Mix, which until fairly recently, had only been available in Europe. I ordered a bag online and used it for the Phals. This mix did wonders for them. For the Paphs, I wanted to repot them back in the Orchiata based mix, but did not have enough on hand. The mix itself is pretty pricey as it is, but tack on the shipping costs, and it really makes you think twice before placing an order.
Out of necessity really, I combined the Seramis and Orchiata mix together for the Paphs. It turns out the Lady Slipper Orchids LOVED this new combined mix...go figure :)
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For some time now, I had been watering my orchids by pouring water over the top of the pot carefully avoiding the crown. However, my results using this method were not great ones. For one, my media kept drying out a bit too much. The water kept wetting the media and pouring over the roots without properly saturating the core of the pot. After all, bark based mixes are water repellent to some degree.
I decided to try soaking the entire pot in water to thoroughly moisten the media and then ensure I drain out all the excess liquid. The first time I did it, I left the plant in for 1/2 an hour since I never got around to soaking the bark mix prior to repotting the plant. However, I think a good 5 minute soak once a week with diluted fertilizer should be just dandy. The key here is to ensure the media is not packed in too tightly and that it drains really well with good air circulation.
After that initial soaking, I was amazed at how my mini Phal's roots had swollen to double their usual size to absorb the water offered. I realized the way the roots had looked routinely, while I had been watering it in the past, were actually dessicated and slightly shriveled roots. But because I was so inexperienced in the whole orchid hobby, I was unable to tell the difference. I had no real point of reference.
In order to soak the orchids properly, I ordered a couple of deep clear plastic saucers. They are about 6 inches deep and about 8 inches in circumference, which are just great to accommodate any pot I currently have. They are extremely light for me to take to the office and compact enough to hide away just about anywhere. And best of all, they are inexpensive enough to be replaced as often as needed, but durable enough for many consecutive uses.
Eventually, I learned that the optimal method of watering for my unique conditions was to provide about 2 cups of warm water for the Paphs and allow the water to drain from the bottom holes. However, the Phals get about twice that amount of warm water, but are soaked for 2-3 minutes with diluted fertilizer every other watering. The rest of the time, they get the same amount of water, but no fertilizer. On average, I do this for all the orchids twice a week.
The other method I am attempting in order to provide a stable and suitable growing culture for my plants is a homemade humidity tray. I purchased a sterling silver rectangular tray, which is about 2 inches deep. I also purchased a bag of large gardening grade Jade stones. The look is very pretty, but because the bags of stones are pricey and aren't as plentiful as I needed, there are a lot of spaces with just clear water in between. I did a lot of research prior to setting this tray up and learned that the stones are traditionally placed in the water to simply hold the pot up above the water level. Other than that, what truly provides the humidity is the evaporation of the water within the tray.
I decided to put this theory to the test. After all, there is a lot of documentation attesting that the stones must be of a certain size, type, and closeness to be effective. I placed my electronic hygrometer right next to one of the orchids on top of the pots they are in while sitting inside of the fully assembled humidity tray. I left the instrument there for a couple of hours to get a range of the difference in humidity during various times of day. All my readings yielded over 50-55% humidity. I then decided to test the humidity in the same room, but away from the water. I got readings in the low to mid 40's. Obviously, the humidity tray does not provide a huge increase, but it's enough to make things very comfortable for the orchids. In the winter, when the humidity will most likely plummet when the indoor heating comes on, I will use my trusty humidifier and place it near the plants. That way, I am covered through the entire year...yay!
The homemade tray did not end up being an overall success. The size of the tray was a bit too small and the stones became a headache to keep clean. The water often became murky and smelly and it was difficult to balance the plants atop the stones. I then ended up buying larger commercial trays and those work really well. There is no need for stones. I simply fill them with a couple of cups of water and the water evaporates cleanly in about a week. I clean the trays every other week to remove any pathogens and mineral stains, and let them dry naturally before I fill them up again.
Since this particular Summer has been a very hot one, it's been a challenge to provide enough moisture for the Paphs. They don't like to be sitting in overly dry media. I have been thinking of misting the foliage on the Paphs in between waterings. I was still not 100% convinced I was going to go down this route, but I wanted to consider it carefully. I am very weary of getting any type of crown rot and the word out on the street is that Paphs don't appreciate to have their leaves wet for very long. However, I have observed that the water tends to evaporate rather quickly in this heat. As if you can't tell; I was very much torn. However, I did decide to mist very lightly on really hot days. The Paphs seems to love it. I do take great care to mist them from a good foot away and as I stated before very lightly. I don't want any water to get trapped in the crevices of the foliage.
The last thing I had to consider was air circulation. I learned the hard way that this is one of the most important elements in orchid culture. Since they are tropical plants, their native habitats tend to have gentle breezes blowing through the roots and foliage routinely. In our homes, if the air tends to be stagnant, we need to recreate this condition by artificial means. An oscillating fan with various settings serves this purpose well. Until the middle of July, I had been growing my orchids without a fan dedicated to them. I would simply turn on an oscillating tower house fan we used for our family, but it was stationed about 12 feet away. It did rustle the foliage, but it did not provide the roots any real air circulation. Because of this, my plants suffered some root rot, but luckily, I was able to catch the problem in time.
Now, they have a mini tower oscillating fan all to themselves. Even though my growing area is about 3 feet away from a window, the air does not tend to move much in this heat. The roots were simply not getting the air they needed. Once I was able to rectify this, things have been going much better. The plants are no longer wilting and I am not losing any more flowers prematurely.
The last variable in all of this is the type of media used. I first tried the regular run of the mill hardware store Phalaenopsis bark mix. This type of mix just dried up way too fast and when soaked, remained too wet for too long. My poor orchids did not know what was happening and it was hard for me to discern when to water. Sometimes, it was 2 times a week, sometimes it was every day, and sometimes the outer media would dry up and the center would remain wet. I got fed up and did away with that type of mix.
I then tried a mix made from mainly Orchiata for the Paphs. This change did seem to agree with them and for a good long while, this type of mix worked well for them, but it was rather expensive. During the course of the Summer, I purchased a new plant that came to me with Mealybugs. They became a thorn in my side for several months. No matter what I did, they just came back a few weeks later.
I realized the bugs were hiding in the root system and now all the plants were insidiously being infested. I ended up having to repot all the plants, I ended up losing one of the Phals to the wretched little parasites. By then, a friend had recommended Seramis Orchid Mix, which until fairly recently, had only been available in Europe. I ordered a bag online and used it for the Phals. This mix did wonders for them. For the Paphs, I wanted to repot them back in the Orchiata based mix, but did not have enough on hand. The mix itself is pretty pricey as it is, but tack on the shipping costs, and it really makes you think twice before placing an order.
Out of necessity really, I combined the Seramis and Orchiata mix together for the Paphs. It turns out the Lady Slipper Orchids LOVED this new combined mix...go figure :)
