Before getting too deep into the weeds... it helps to remember that long before they became our pampered "pets", orchids evolved as plants! In nature, plants get their water from rain. Of course, they have also adapted to their natural substrate (like trees and rocks) and to a particular climate. So the ideal combination is long, slow hydration combined with perfect drainage, excellent air movement, and whatever temperature each one needs. We interfere by putting them in pots (where the drainage is often less than perfect) and we have neither the time, nor the water availability, in most cases, for that long, slow hydration. We have only a limited repertoire of temperatures, and air movement requires some engineering especially indoors. Everything we do is a compromise. Nature does it best, and the closer we can come to that, the better the plants grow.
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