On Friday, I knew I needed to water Audrey before I left for the weekend. I also wanted to attempt to rectify the whole not soaking the bark mix in her pot rookie mistake I had made. I brought in my little pre-mixed bottle of fertilizer with me. I knew I would soak her pot in another larger pot with some water for a good 1/2 hour or so. I wanted the media to absorb as much water as possible before I allowed it to drain. My conundrum was do I add the fertilizer before I soak her and have it washed away? or do I water her again after allowing her to soak so that the final water rinsed contains the fertilizer?
I decided that since the fertilizer can be diluted a great deal, I would water her with the fertilizer and allow the excess to collect at the bottom of the pot. I then added about a liter of water and incresed the water level to about an inch short of the lip of the planter.
I know this sounds like it goes against the #1 cardinal rule of orchid growing "do not overwater!", but I also know of several people that water this way consistently quite successfully. I also used this method when I used to keep Bonsai's. So after her tub bath, I drained Audrey well, and placed paper towels at the base of her overflow dish, which is attached to the pot, to soak up any excess moisture. I also let her hang out with me in front of the fan for a while.
Funny thing is I didn't realize how much she would enjoy this. I have never seen her roots as plump as they are right now:
I was worried of the whole soaking thing having the opposite effect. I never imagined, she would appreciate being left in the water for a nice long soak. My intuition was right and the dry bark mix was not allowing her to get the amount of water she needed. It will be interesting to see how long it will be between waterings now. I was also worrying about my upcoming vacation when a coworker will be watering her while I am gone. I will only be gone for a week, but I am terrified of her getting water in the crown, particularly after what happened last time. I am hoping I can get away with oversaturating her again the Friday before I leave and then giving her that entire week to dry out. We'll see!
I decided that since the fertilizer can be diluted a great deal, I would water her with the fertilizer and allow the excess to collect at the bottom of the pot. I then added about a liter of water and incresed the water level to about an inch short of the lip of the planter.
I know this sounds like it goes against the #1 cardinal rule of orchid growing "do not overwater!", but I also know of several people that water this way consistently quite successfully. I also used this method when I used to keep Bonsai's. So after her tub bath, I drained Audrey well, and placed paper towels at the base of her overflow dish, which is attached to the pot, to soak up any excess moisture. I also let her hang out with me in front of the fan for a while.
Funny thing is I didn't realize how much she would enjoy this. I have never seen her roots as plump as they are right now:
I was worried of the whole soaking thing having the opposite effect. I never imagined, she would appreciate being left in the water for a nice long soak. My intuition was right and the dry bark mix was not allowing her to get the amount of water she needed. It will be interesting to see how long it will be between waterings now. I was also worrying about my upcoming vacation when a coworker will be watering her while I am gone. I will only be gone for a week, but I am terrified of her getting water in the crown, particularly after what happened last time. I am hoping I can get away with oversaturating her again the Friday before I leave and then giving her that entire week to dry out. We'll see!
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