Meter Question

[patyrod]

I use a meter to check for dryness of my 7 year old phal. Right now, it has a keiki and blossoms on the main flower stalk and a new flower stalk growing out of the bottom. When I stick the meter in the soil next to the pot edge, it registers as dry. When I stick it in next to the root package, it registers as damp. Which reading should I use to determine when to water?

[AnonYMouse]

What media is it planted in? What kind of pot?

I don't use moisture meters but you want the roots to get air and not get suffocated by wet media.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by patyrod

Which reading should I use to determine when to water?

I think those soil moisture meters are meant to be used in just soil/sand sort of mix. And growers don't usually grow phals in soil/sand mix.

I just use scoria for my phal - in a pot with very good drainage and satisfactory air-flow through the media, which allows me to water the phal at pretty much any time, and as much as I want. Eg. I could water the media every morning (which I normally do), or even once every two days (no problem too), or even several times a day - no problem.

I just have to make sure I don't 'under-water' (under-water - meaning to not water adequately) ------ and it's easy to avoid water-logging issues (and under-watering issues) with scoria and good drainage pots. To avoid under-watering, I just water adequately ------ and scoria does the nice colour/shade changing thing when it goes from dry to wet and vice versa.

[Ray]

Moisture meters work by electrical conductivity. In a “continuous” medium like soul, that’s great, but in a “gapped” medium like those we use for orchids, it’s of little value.

Back to the original question- if you’re seeing a wet center, watering should not be you concern, repotting should be your first action or you’ll be risking root loss.