Seems like I have to water constantly?

[camille1585]

What about top dressing the pots with sphag? That might provide enough of a barrier that the water in the pot doesn't evaporate as quickly. No idea if that would work, I don't have problems with the 2 plants I have in s/h.

[estación seca]

The orchids take up water. It doesn't just evaporate from the pot. As mentioned above, when humidity is low, the orchids take up more water than they would when humidity is higher.

If your plants have roots into the moist zone of the LECA they plants will be able to go longer between waterings than before the roots grow that far. I can't see the entire plant in the photo. Are all the roots right at the surface? How long has it been in that container? Has it had a chance to grow roots down into the medium? All the Phals I move into S/H begin growing roots into the medium fairly rapidly, and I can often go 7-10 days between watering. But recall, they do much better with more frequent watering.

Watering every 2-4 days is normal for many orchids, no matter what medium you use. It depends on the size of the pot, nature of medium and thirstiness of the plant.

[Mdntnmtgmy]

Has anyone tried a layer of micro fiber on the top?

[Dollythehun]

That works for nursery pots.

[GetsEclectic]

Interesting, my humidity is around 30-35% even without a humidifer.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by GetsEclectic

Interesting, my humidity is around 30-35% even without a humidifer.

...Which is about 15%-20% lower than the minimum I would recommend.

[GetsEclectic]

It has been in this pot for about a year. It used to have quite a few roots down in the leca, but I haven't checked recently.

I got a second humidifier last night, will see if I can keep the humidity in my apartment at 50% with two of them. I'm just using some $60 ultrasonic humidifiers from Amazon, is there a better solution for keeping the humidity up in a 600 square foot apartment?

[Mdntnmtgmy]

Do you have a nice window in the bathroom? I leave about an inch of water in my tub at all times and have a seperate shower. I run the shower every morning and keep the door closed

[GetsEclectic]

No windows in the bathroom unfortunately.

[estación seca]

Big leafy house plants. The kind you need to stand in a dish of water because they go through so much of it.