Humidity/Watering question

[Cjcorner]

Okay, Newbie question here....
If it is excellant humidity, 50%-70% daily right now should I water less? I notice that esp. my phals don't seem to be drying out completely when it's already a week and time to water again. Should I slow down my watering to every 9-14 days with these high humidity days? I do not want to kill my sweet phals with too much water. I'm quickly learning they are my favorites. I would have a dozen here, as my living room window is perfect for them. But they are also so easy to overwater.
Thanx Again...
Connie

[Mehera]

Hi Connie--nice to meet you! I love phals too. What ever the reason they are not drying out, stick your finger down in the pot, and only water when they are pretty close to dry. Be sure not to get water standing in the leaf axils. Don't see why they wouldn't thrive where you live if you don't overwater them. It's usually a mistake to water on a schedule without checking to see if your plants actually NEED it.

And yes, you may not stop acquiring phals until your window is stuffed with them (like the rest of us!). LOL

[Diane]

Lynda is absolutely right! The plants will change their needs as the weather changes..

[Kerry]

This is really sad, but I have found that I have been watering my phals too frequently again, and that I find it helps if I set a date before which I am not allowed to water them again - rather than suddenly thinking "ooh I should water" BY making myself wait to a specific day, I take more care about checking to see if they actually need it, rather than just doing it, and then thinking bad thoughts about my inability to stay away from the watering can!

[Becky15349]

I thought about sticking to a watering schedule (since I have a crazy job and I can't always spend 15 minutes sticking my fingers into all my pots to see if they need water), but honestly, it just doesn't work. I realized that if I love my orchids (and respect the investment I made in them financially) , I need to take the time to assess the water needs of each of them individually everyday. That doesn't mean I water them everyday, but while I'm checking for dryness, I also do fun things like look for new growth :-)

It seems little goofy, but I completely agree that sticking your finger down a good few inches into the pot is really the best assessment of whether or not they need watering. You do have great humidity down there in Florida- so long as your Phals aren't swimming in wet sphagnum moss and are kept evenly moist by watering only when they need it (when the potting medium feels dry to the touch about 2-3" down in the pot), your phals should do excellent!! Enjoy them in good health!

[jtlqh]

I usually check my plants in the evening. I leave a wood stick in each pot as humidity gauge, and when I check them, I pull the stick out and touch it to my face, if that feels cool and dump I put off watering, but if it feels slightly moist and not cool, I will move the plant to one side so the next morning I will just grap them and carry them to the sink. If I know I will be busy in the next morning, I just water them in that evening. I bottom soak them in a water bucket and try not to let water gets into the leave axises. I know this is not the best way, but it works for me for these years. If I water them in the morning, I just put them in the bath tub and show them all over. I have a fan blowing at the plants 24 hours a day, so any water on the leaves will dry out within a few hours.

Qing

[Cjcorner]

Thank You for all the suggestions, this site is helping me keep my "r.i.p." list very very short.
Connie

[Kerry]

.... I leave a wood stick in each pot as humidity gauge, and when I check them, I pull the stick out and touch it to my face, if that feels cool and dump I put off watering, but if it feels slightly moist and not cool, I will move the plant to one side so the next morning I will just grap them and carry them to the sink. ...

Qing

What a totally brilliant idea - I have a few plants that are in flower and so totally squished into the pot that I can't even get my little finger inside to check - so a wooden stick will be a great idea.

(I must remember not to use lolly sticks - the last time I used them for plant name sticks, I didn't realise that I would have huge amounts of fungus growing everywhere from ice-cream saturated in the stick! But that was then..)

And yes Becky, it is important to give them individual attention I just have to make sure that I really don't love them to death. And poking around in one of my phals yesterday I found what could be a new spike, although it will probably be a new root - but I wouldn't have seen it if I wasn't trying to work out whether or not this plant needed watering or not.

[jtlqh]

The bamboo stick is more fungus resistant, but if you use wood stick, you can soak them in bleach water first.

Qing

[Becky15349]

I really like that stick idea!!! I might try that!