Watering my orchids
 

As my colection grows I am begining to see my old method for watering is gojng to need revising. I thought id come to you all to see what some pooular methods are. Curently I soak them in individual containers for about 15 min and dispose of the water afterwards. I have nine, which I know isn't a whole lot, but it's more than I am used to. And I anticipate it growing soon. Any thoughts are helpful!

Also the best way to get the water. Buying distilled water by the gallon is starting to get expensive.

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At 300+ plants I'm well beyond this point now but when my collection began to grow I would use a hand pump sprayer to water the orchids in place. I had them in seedling trays with drop ceiling egg-crate in the bottom so none of the pots sat in water. The water would evaporate out over a couple of days. And then once a month I would take them to the sink for a good flush. The "big flush" day was always time consuming but it definitely cut the time on the other watering.

The trays also helped to speed up the process of the flush day because I could just carry the whole thing to the sink. At that time I'd also clean out the trays.

I have about 50 plants that are inside, spread over 3 rooms. I have a moving cart with a plastic dish tub on it. Each plant is in a saucer, and when I water (with a narrow spout can, so I can aim the water sufficiently to get all roots) I can catch the run-through and pour it through again to thoroughly wet roots without cross-contaminating the plants. The water ends up in the basin, which is then carried to the yard to go on veggies or other plants.

I mix my fertilizer water in a gallon container and pour from that into the watering can. This cuts down on steps!

I had not thought about using a sprayer. I Thought that they needed to soak in order for the media to stay moist for the right amount of time. With the sprayer, do you just quickly pass over the plant or stay on each one for a longer amount of time?

So then you would do that more often than the soaking?

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Once the roots have turned green, they have absorbed as much water as they can. Excess water may moisten the medium or just run off, but it is not helping the plant itself.

Everyone is so careful except me. I have my plants set on trays and I just water them with a watering can and then drain off the excess water. I even reuse the water. The few that are in the kitchen window are the exception...I run each one under the faucet once a day.

I try to be careful when I first get the orchids. I buy from vendors who seem to be reliable, then I isolate the new orchids and try to make sure they grow well and appear clean before I add them to my collection.

I only have four full size orchids that I use a watering can or kitchen faucet to water, well water. And they are only watered this way when I want to flush their pots. Otherwise I use distilled water and a sprayer. Most of my collection are miniatures in terrariums or vases, some potted in kitchen windows with saucers. They are watered daily with the sprayer.

Depending on the temp in our home, AC or heat, they may or may not need a good heavy watering each day, some days they are lightly sprayed enough to moisten the medium. The potted ones being miniatures get a good wetting just with the sprayer. I too use a little cart and drag it around as needed but I don't use a dish bin and I believe I'll use this idea! The cart saves a lot of steps.

If you have a tropical fish store near you, they may sell reverse osmosis water much cheaper than distilled water from the grocery store. Bring your own 5-gallon buckets.

It is also much cheaper for you to buy an under-the-sink kitchen sink reverse osmosis system. The cost over the life of the system is only a one to a few cents per gallon of RO water. Ray Barkalow of First Rays advertised a day or so ago he is selling off his last four such systems. They are not that difficult to install, nor to remove, with two wrenches and some Teflon tape.

I grow most things in a sunroom with a concrete floor, an enclosed former solid-roofed patio. I don't care about water on the floor. I water most things with a hand spray bottle. Mounts I dip in a bucket or in the rain barrel.

My Vandas in vases are in the warmest room of my house, in a large aquarium with a glass top, with supplemental CFL lights. I water with rain or fertilizer solution by filling their containers and letting them soak overnight (rain) or 30-60 minutes (fertilizer.) Then I strain the water back into jugs. They all came from 2 places so I share water among them, and save it for use the next time.