Avoiding Issues with orchids

[KC Kam]

I grow mostly Vandeae hybrids and species. Most of them can withstand dryness for few days. But I did have problem with Phalaenopsis. I did try a product that claim could make plants withstand drought on my Phalaenopsis. I can't really say if the product is successful because one plant give expected result and the other did not. It also could "burn" roots and even leaves if used too concentrated.

Because of this problem too, I prefer to grow my Phals. in sphagnum moss than anything else as it could hold water longer. On weekdays, I try to water everything can't withstand dryness once per day at least (I do missed sometimes). On weekends, I will water twice per day at least, morning (start at 6 or 7 am), evening (start at 3.30 or 4 pm). Each watering took about 2 hours more or less.

I think that you grow mostly Cattleya. Since I have never grow any Cattleya my entire life, so that is the only extent of my 2 cents.

Hi Azizan,

Wow...usually vanda type blooms for quite a long time and is fragrant....in that case you always have lots of blooms everyday.

Thanks for your sharing. I got the idea how you manage it.

I grow mixture of dendrobium, cattleya, vanda, phals as well as oncidium as well. Thats why i have to find a balance between them and to adjust them to my daily waterings. I will adjust along the way.

---------- Post Merged at 09:04 AM ----------

Hi Azizan,

I water ard 7-9am too and by noon they were dried but during hot season i need to water them twice a day but sometimes when im back home only at night, they shrunk and have wrinkles. I apply some water on them...i guess thats when the bacteria starts to develop

What did you do to overcome this? By the way im staying in Malaysia, KL.

Thanks.

I would like to add to what Azizan has said, that if I needed to water my Cattleyas a second time at night, I would just make sure not to get water on the leaves and provide good air movement. It should help avoid fungal issues. If that was impossible, perhaps a good soak in the morning, as opposed to running some water through the pot, might help. Maybe you could put them in to soak when you wake, and then take them out before you leave for work.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Robb. Thats a good suggestion

[Ana Danaya]

They can be fickle at times, especially species. :P Hybrids tend to have a bit more vigor in a home growing situation.

Yeah, you are right. I will try an Hybrid. I like species, since I like to think I have the natural plant, that might one day exist no more and I can give it a home and healthy life...maybe I am a romantic LOL.
I will try a hybrid since for the learning curve it might resist better my "ignorant abuse"

[Azizan]

So many things said about water and watering...
But consider what happens in the wild.
It can rain at any time of day. In fact, when I deliberately went to Thailand in the rainy season = growing season, it rained at night on 4 or 5 occasions, and in the daytime on 2. This was in a two week stay.
It also rains from above, wets the leaves, and collects in the crown or growing point. Moreover (for those who say you should keep the water in the growing area so as to be the same temperature as the plants ) I found the temperature of the rain was usually 5-7 degrees C. ( that is 10 or so F.) colder than the air at plant level......

And I never saw a sickly plant in the wild.......

Maybe something is missing from the equation. My orchids could get crown rot from accumulating rain water.

---------- Post Merged at 08:44 PM ----------

They did get help from mycorrhizal fungus that most lab grown orchids are lacking.

[Dorsetman]

My orchids could get crown rot from accumulating rain water.
.

Iam just stating the facts.
I could speculate....In one "shower" in the rain forest, my rain gauge was overflowing after 3 hours. It holds 3 inches ( 75mm) of rain. There would be no bacteria in the so effectively anything in the crown would be well flushed out, and what would remain afterwards would be quite pure, biologically.
If we water out plants in a way which gets water into the crown ( personally I do most of my watering by dunking, so the pot gets soaked, but the leaves do not ) we would apply much less water and not keep pouring it on in an endless stream for hours at a time. Maybe that explains it.

However I might also mentiona couple of other points ; that I add a disinfectant ( Physan equivalent) to all my water so that what gets into plant crowns is harmless. And that the big "plant factories" which produce millions of plants for us, do all their watering overhead - and do this by delivering wtare plus nutrients first, then flushing for 30 seconds or so wih water without nutrients . As one said to me, when I enquired about this - crown rot is caused by water with added nutrients, thus feeding the bacteria, which when they have used up the nutrients turn on the plant. Don't encourage them.

[raybark]

When I had my greenhouse in Pennsylvania, and had a 50 mile, one way commute, I set up overhead watering that was controlled remotely. At at about 5:30 in the morning I would activate the overhead sprinklers that would completely saturate everything in the greenhouse with RO water containing 25 PPM N K-Lite. Once a month I manually treated the plants with Inocucor, and two weeks later with KelpMax from a hose and sprayer, again drenching everything.

I mostly attribute it to the Inocucor treatment, but in several years of watering regularly that way I experienced no rots at all.

[Orket]

i would say if you have air movement, humidity and sunlight, you can avoid most issues