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water: the most important aspect!!!!
This theme is a little long, be prepared!!
How much water? It’s the most frequent question we get from every orchid lover! Several factors need to be considered to determine the proper amount and frequency of watering for your type of orchid.
the principal cause of disease, damage and death is the overwatering of orchids!! If you have doubts, it’s preferable that your orchid experiences lack of water rather than overwatering. Orchids will resist better a dry spell period than excess watering.
The most important thing to know before we get started, is what type orchid you’re dealing with. For example, Vanda genus require constant watering, even daily; Dendrobiums and other genus with pseudobulbs, that function as water and nutrient reserves, can be water once a week.
The potting media also plays a great role in the watering determination. Medias such as bark and moss will stay wet longer and they eventually will decompose, rotting your root system. These media types are recommended for warmer and dryer weather zones, where they can get a chance of almost drying completely before the next watering. It’s important to check them constantly to make sure they are not soaking wet for to many days, but also not completely dry. It’s complicated to get to the exact point of humidity you need! A simple trick is to stick a wood kebab skewer in the center of the media, pull it out and see how humid (or wet) it gets; this can help you determine if it’s time to water or if you need to wait a few more days.
We recommend the semi hydroponics, which is a method that uses inorganic media and it’s virtually impossible to overwater, great for beginners and experts in all sorts of weather. The inorganic mater used here is LECA or hydroton that will never rot, it allows the roots to have good ventilation and it stays always humid, great conditions for the roots of the majority of orchids.
The best time to water orchids is in the morning, being careful not to leave any water deposits in any nooks and crannies of the plant; this way the plant will have time to dry before the temperature starts to lower in the evening, preventing sickness and infections. If you see that there are small water pools between the leaves or in the crown, use a cotton swap or Qtip to dry them up or you can blow (helping yourself with a straw) to remove any water deposit. Always water with room temperature water, the roots find it way more comfortable than cold water.
The type of water is another factor. If the water in your city is full of minerals, you need to dilute even more your fertilizer so you don’t saturate the roots with minerals and salts that will burn them. When you add supplements such as calcium or magnesium (if your fertilizer’s composition is low on these micronutrients), start experimenting with a very low dose and observe how your plant reacts. With little “try and error” experiments, you’ll get to the perfect dose!!
Some people use distilled, treated, filtered or rain water… and it’s ok! We prefer to try and make the plant adapt to the water we get straight from the faucet, it will always be simpler.
How we do it in semi hydroponics: once a week we empty the water reserve of our pots or glass vases. We rinse the plants (in the pot) with running water and prepare the fertilizing solution using half of what’s recommended in the label and we add organic fert as well, sometimes worm tea and sometimes seaweed extracts. We cover the holes in the pots (some or our glass vases do not have holes) and we fill the pots/vases up to the base of the plants. We let them rest like this for 15-20 minutes (depending on the weather) and pour off the water leaving only the reserve. Every three waterings we use only water, no fertilizers or add-ons. In the colder months, we space the watering from every 7 days to every 10-12 days.
Watering issues:
The signs of under and overwatering are similar: wrinkled, droopy, soft, yellowing leaves, and premature lost of them; wrinkled or withered pseudobulbs and the premature lost of buds.
The best way to find out what’s going on with your plant if any of this signs appear, is by checking the root system by taking your plant out of it’s pot. For more information on how to remove the plant without damaging it, see our video: _____
Overwatering: soggy, soft, slimy roots with bad odor. The solution is to cut out with sterilized scissors or cutter the rotten roots and cauterizing after with cinnamon or with our multi purpose spray recipe (click the link or go to home remedies, under health). Leave the plant out of it’s pot until you feel it’s dry (even for a day), repot it with bark or moss or whatever media you choose to use according to your type of orchid, previously soaked; do not use the old media, it is most likely rotten and may have already fungus growing in it. If you’re using the semi hydroponic method, you can wash and rinse the LECA, soak it in a chlorine solution (1 teaspoon of bleach for a quart of water) to kill any fungus that might be stuck on it from the roots. Rinse thoroughly and you can reuse this inorganic media, as well as other inorganic medias. Water without fertilizer the first 2 or 3 waterings and observe your plant.
Under-watering: dried, withered, shriveled, dehydrated roots. Solution: fill a vase or bowl with luke warm water and soak the roots for a couple of hours. Repot in new media as described above and water again with fertilizer. If your pot has holes, you can place it in a bigger pot and let it sit in the fertilizer solution for another couple of hours. If your using S/H, also rehydrate the roots first with plain water for a couple of hours, and then apply fertilizer with new water for another couple of hours. Observe your plant. Usuaaly this wil do the trick and when you return to a weekly watering plan, your orchid should be fine. Careful not to go to the other extreme and overwater in the attempt of rehydrating your orchid, give it time!
To know how your orchid’s roots should look like, go to your genus’ page and see the pictures of a healthy orchid.
Temperature issues:
Cold problems: orchids are more susceptible to disease, the growth decelerates and the buds can fall prematurely.
Heat problems: orchids can survive heat strikes if relative humidity is high and there’s good air movement. If the high heat period is long, it will also decelerate the growth, the buds and flowers will wither and the leaves, pseudobulbs and spikes will shrivel.
The solution is simple!! Move the plant to a sunnier spot or to a place where they get more shadow, accordingly. It helps to use a heater/ventilator. Lower the temperature of the plant by misting it all, and water with warm (not hot) water to increase it’s temperature.
For the most sophisticated, use a thermometer to determine the best spot for your orchid according to the genus’ needs.
Light issues:
Most orchids enjoy indirect light. You shouldn’t leave ypur orchid under direct sunlight throughout the day, specially in the summer! Summer humidity and hot temperatures can kill your orchid. Inside your house, they can be placed near the windows or in the windowsills if they have sheer curtains that filter the light. Outside, place your orchids where they’ll get shadow almost all day long; for the sun loving orchids like Vandas, be sure that they get shadow during the hottest hours when the sun is right above and the sun light is strongest.
Not enough light: leaves will become thinner, softer and darker. Also they orchid will stretch out, which means it’ll grow with great effort leaving a wider space between new and old leaves, stressing the plant a lot. The new leaves should have the same size and for as the old ones, even be bigger.
Too much light: leaves will turn into a yellowish green. They can suffer sunburn that look like brown round or oval spots, with a consistency similar to sunburn ampules we get.
TIP: shadow trick
To get an idea of how much light a spot in hour house / garden is getting without a photometer, there’s a simple test you can do simply by placing your hand about 12” above the surface you want to place your orchid on and watching the kind of shadow your hand makes during the most intense hours of sun:
Low light orchids: the shadow should be almost imperceptible
Medium light orchids: the shadow should be light grey, not completely defined
High light orchids: the shadow should me dark and really defined
* In the same window you’ll have different light intensities depending on how close you place the orchid to the window; try placing it really close, if it’s too much light, try placing it 12” from the window and test, even further and test…
For the most sophisticated ones that own a photometer, the fc measurement should be as follows:
Low: 1,000 a 1,500 fc / Medium: 1,500 a 3,000 fc / High: 3,000 a 4,500 fc
Humidity Issue:
Orchids love humidity! The majority of them thrive un high humidity levels, 50% and up. The more the humidity, the better their growth. The relative humidity around you depends on the weather of your zone and the rime of the year, because humidity levels vary because of many factors. Unfortunately, most houses with air conditioner / heating systems, have no mor than 20% humidity levels. Don’t panic, there are simple ways to increase your humidity levels:
TIPS to increase relative humidity
- Use a homemade humidity tray: use a shallow plate and set a flat layer of decorative stones or crystals and add water. Place your orchid pot on top so the roots or media are not in constant contact with the water. The plate should always have water.
- Leave a sprayer bottle next to your plants with clean water and every time you pass by them, give them a little mist. You can disinfect the water with the same disinfectant you use to clean your fruits and vegetables, this way you prevent spraying them with pathogens that may be living already in the water. Air movement is really important here!! If they are not getting enough ventilation it’s easier for the humid spots to become the perfect habitat for bacteria and fungus leading to infections.
- Use a humidifier with disinfected water near the pants. Turn it on for a few minutes at a time during the hottest hours of the day. Good air movement is crucial here.
- If the weather is extremely dry, you can take them inside your bathroom while you bathe, placing them on the other end far from the shower / tub so they won’t get wet. When you finish, leave the windows and door closed so that the humidity from the vapor lasts longer. Afterwards, it’s important to return them to their spot and procure very good air movement
Ventilation:
Orchids need good air movement. In nature, they get it constantly and it’s beneficial to them. Remember, the greater the humidity and the hotter the temperature, the more air movement they need. You can provide good ventilation with a ceiling or oscillatory ventilator, or simply by opening a nearby window if there’s air movement coming through it. The idea is to get a soft comfortable breeze, not a hurricane that’ll knock them down.
For more tips and tricks, visit our Magazine
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