watering in the warm weather

OrchidTraci · #1 04-17-2004, 04:48 AM

I'm just curious , should I water more often ( 2x per 7-10 days rather than 1 x per 7 - 10) to adjust to the warm weather? Also, should a freshly repotted orchid in a bark medium require more frequent waterings at first? I ask because I recently repotted my oncidium and the pb's are shrinking a bit. I also have new growth on the plant. As you can tell I'm terrified of overwatering

Thanks.

pretty_bug01 · #2 04-17-2004, 10:50 AM

I know this is completely off topic, but what does your NOID orchid look like. I have no clue what your talking about.

OrchidTraci · #3 04-17-2004, 11:06 AM

NOID is No ID tag, it is the typical little yellow dancing flowers oncidium that chain stores carry, but there was no tag with it. That is all it means

LJA · #4 04-17-2004, 12:01 PM

Quote:

should I water more often ( 2x per 7-10 days rather than 1 x per 7 - 10) to adjust to the warm weather?

As a general rule, for a bark based medium, yes. If the medium doesn't have a lot of moisture retaining stuff in it, (coconut, wool, or peat) you might have to water 3 times a week when it gets really hot.

Right now we're watering twice a week here in a mix that contains bark, charcoal, perlite and coconut (more or less of the latter depending on the type of plant); in the middle of summer we sometimes have to water every day, and the vandas with their exposed roots get watered twice daily.

Quote:

the pb's are shrinking a bit

That's normal as long as it's not too drastic. Pseudobulbs will shrink a little as they put some of their energy toward new growths, but if they're getting noticeably shrunken and dried-out looking; if the media is dry and you're only watering once every ten days, you're probably not watering enough!! Water when the pot becomes light in weight to pick up (compared to, say, how heavy it feels an hour after you water). The roots need to dry very slightly between waterings.

It's hard to give absolute rules because everyone's conditions and growing media are a little different...

Heather · #5 05-20-2004, 06:23 PM

Oh, that is really interesting! I just had my fairly new (heck, they are all fairly new! I've amassed 17 since my first in Nov. 2003! haha!) c. aurantiaca for a couple months - 3 maybe? About two weeks ago I noticed the pbulbs shrivelling a bit. I thought it was lack of water ( and have increased a bit.) Last week - two new pbulbs sprouted up! Maybe this helps to explain it?

Cool....love all the new info I am gaining here!
Thanks!

Gilda · #6 05-20-2004, 06:41 PM

Traci,
I have had to step my watering up due to warmer weather and fans going 24-7... Orchids that were getting watered once now it is twice,etc.

Did you soak your bark before repotting your phal? If not it dries out real fast,before it actually starts to hold water.

I grow my phals in an adjusted "mud" mix...I add large charcaol or styrofoam peanuts to the mix,to give it some air pockets and for faster draining. I did this to my sphagum moss when I grew in it,,it got tooo expensive ,so I went to "mud".

LJA · #7 05-20-2004, 08:31 PM

Look at all those blues and trophies! Nice work!

Is the "mud" some kind of ProMix product?

Gilda · #8 05-21-2004, 05:14 AM

Louis,
The "mud" Is Fafard 3B...which is very similar to Pro Mix. It has other things in it that pros do not like..such as- vermiculite and small pieces of bark.

I was very hesitant to use it ,after hearing the horror stories of others using "mud", but with careful observation after repotting a few in it, I decided I could monitor it pretty well. So, by the end of summer last year ,all my phals were in it.

My phals thanked me for it as you can see in the picture. We did pretty good for amatures. Trophy for Best exhibit, Best Phal. and Best Interpretation of the Theme. It was a LOT of work doing that display( only my second exhibit), but it was fun!

I have since experimented and have oncids.and dends in the mix. I also added some to my mini catts. It cuts down on your watering a lot!

Happy growing!

PAGrower · #9 05-21-2004, 09:59 AM

Congratulations on a beautiful exhibit, Gilda. May I ask what fertilizer you use and how often?

Gilda · #10 05-21-2004, 01:00 PM

I am lazy and with this mix I use a time release fertilizer.....most greenhouses use NutriCote 13-13-13 ....I bought some at Home Depot called Dynamite 13-13-13.

I tried Osmocote when I grew in spagnum moss but it can burst and release too much at once. Nutricote/Dynamite is a hard gray pellet about the size of a BB. It is suppose to be good for 6 months.