Vacation care

[Sevelina]

I have several orchids in planted in net pots with sphagnum moss and a peanut or two in the middle. They dry out pretty quickly, and I water them every 2-3 days, by which point the moss tends to be pretty crunchy.

My question is, I'm leaving on vacation for a week starting Tuesday, and wanted to see if dropping the net pots into an outer pot and leaving some water in the bottom of the outer pot (not touching the moss) would be a reasonable solution to prevent the moss from drying out too quickly, and to retain some humidity while I'm away. My concern is that this may invite mold? I'm attaching some pics of what that would look like.

I also have a mounted mini orchid (an experiment), which I spray with water every day, usually twice (third picture). It might not survive an entire week, so I would welcome any tips on how to deal with mounts when leaving for an extended period of time. I'm thinking of wrapping it with water-saturated moss, but I think it would still be too quick to dry out. I could also unmount it and put it into a regular pot permanently, since watering it every day is a pain in the, and I'm not sure that it's doing too well, even though it's sending out a whole bunch of roots and there's a new leaf coming out. In the picture, the super-wrinkly roots are from when I bought it, and the new medium-wrinkly roots are new. Does it look like it would be happier in a pot?

Any tips and experiences would be most appreciated, thank you!

[jkofferdahl]

First, NEVER repot a mounted orchid, and especially a Phalaenopsis. They are much, much happier on a mount, which is why yours is rooting so well.

Travel is hard on orchids, and especially mounted orchids. You go off to enjoy your life and they dry out. The potted plants will be dry when you return, but should be OK. It may be a bit droopy. I can't see how your water glass setup is going to hurt, but I don't expect it to do much good, either.

A mounted orchid is a different animal. It's going to dry out, then feel arid, then feel totally skewered. A week without water is going to cause damage to the plant in all likelihood.

Your best bet is to find someone you trust and have them do some orchid sitting.

[bil]

If I had to leave them I would rig up a tank with a slow drip line.

Best alteratve as above, is fid a trusted person, and drum into them the do's ad donts.

Don't ask them to do anything complex like fertiliser.

[rbarata]

I'm away from home for almost a week so I'm already facing this problem. I asked two persons to take care of my plants and now I think they are being overwatered.
If you find someone to do it give them simple tasks/instructions. Even thought they probably won't do exactly what you've asked.
Also, tell them the estimate time needed for each watering.

[jcec1]

When I lived in TX, I would buy washing bowls and sphagnum moss. I would put the moss in the washing bowls and water until it was wet, it would be a few inches deep, then put the orchids in their pots in this. I would put them in the middle of a room so they would not get any direct sunlight. They were fine after 2 weeks away in summer with no aircon.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by jcec1

When I lived in TX, I would buy washing bowls and sphagnum moss. I would put the moss in the washing bowls and water until it was wet, it would be a few inches deep, then put the orchids in their pots in this. I would put them in the middle of a room so they would not get any direct sunlight. They were fine after 2 weeks away in summer with no aircon.

This is fantastic advice.

---------- Post added at 10:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 AM ----------

A good point for all is we need to think in advance about how to do this. The best method will vary among us depending on our own climate, friend/family list, type of orchids grown and growing methods.

For plants in containers, the method outlined by jcec1 above is fantastic. Terraria can usually be abandoned for a long time without much trouble. Plants on mounts still need watering every day. I set up an automatic mist system in my bath tub under a skylight when I was gone for a week, and it worked for most of my mounts. If somebody doesn't have a skylight, though, this wouldn't work.

[Sevelina]

Thank you everyone for wonderful advice and taking the time to post! Unfortunately I do not have anyone who could water a mount every day, and the schedule for the other ones is so irregular that it would be hard to explain to someone with no experience. I decided to go with the following setup, and hope that everyone is still alive when I get back!

I used jcec1's advice to make a bowl and moss setup for 3 of the phals. I packed the moss pretty tight and left it sopping wet around the net pots. It feels like a Lowe's orchid arrangement now! I hope I did this correctly.

I also modified this idea for the mounted phal. It's the one I'm most concerned about, but I don't really have any type of timed mister or slow drip system that would keep it hanging in there. So I turned the mount on the side and placed in in a bowl with wet moss all around the root area. I didn't cover the stem to prevent rot. Hopefully this will be better than utter desiccation. I will leave the blinds closed to the sun doesn't contribute to more drying.

For two phals, I used the original plan and dropped them in glasses with some water on the bottom for humidity (not touching the pots). The one from Saturday stayed quite wet until today and showed no signs of drying out, so I have confidence that they will survive a week this way. One thing I'm scared of now is that the greener one will send its roots all over the place, since it has so many green tips that are hanging out around the holes! They both already have a root that came out of the bottom and got tucked under. But I guess that comes with keeping net pots..

Thanks again everyone, I feel much more at ease now, which always makes it for a better vacation.

[fishmom]

People who do pet-sitting are accustomed to following directions. I found my excellent orchid sitter by asking on a community forum for someone who was interested. If you don't have a neighbor who is trustworthy, either way can work.

[WalkingHorse]

Or you could be like me...take the mounted littles plus a couple of $$$ neo's with you on vacation. Mine are going on a two week road trip to the mountains later this summer. My vandas and other large orchids will be set up in the greenhouse with automatic misters, etc. and will be checked on once per day by our farm sitter.

[nogreenthumbs]

I hadn't thought about this until just now, but I'm certain at some point that I'll need this info. Great thread!!