Watering Routine

[2009zohsix]

I am new to orchids and have just recently acquired six miniature orchids, three mounted and three potted. They are housed in a 18X24X20 empty vivarium with an egg crate bottom for drainage, two circulation fans and LED grow lights. The lights are on twelve hours per day as are the circulation fans. Temperature and humidity in the vivarium range from 70 degrees and 85% humidity with lights and fans off, and 75 degrees and 75% humidity with lights and fans on. I want to setup a watering routine as a starting point. It appears that the mounted orchids will need watering multiple times each week, and the potted plants once a week.

For the potted plants I'll start with the "water weekly, weakly" approach by soaking the plants for five or ten minutes in a weak fertilizer solution and allowing them to drain on the egg crate bottom. Each pot has a bamboo skewer that I will check. I'll use the soaking approach for the mounted orchids as well, only using the fertilizer once per week and plain water the other times during the week.

Is this a reasonable starting point for a watering routine? Can I mix a batch of weak fertilizer and soak all orchids in the same batch? If I don't use up the weekly batch of fertilizer, how long can I save/use it?

I appreciate your input.

Dan

[Ray]

Your mounted plants may need to be watered daily, depending upon how quickly they dry.

I recommend against "community" soaking, as that's a great way to spread pathogens. You'd do better to set them in the sink, water them heavily, letting it drain through, waiting 15 minutes or more for the medium to swell, then doing so again.

Diluted fertilizer can be store indefinitely, as long as you keep it sealed.

Being an engineer and scientist, "weakly" drives me up a wall, as it has no meaning. I recommend that you feed weekly using a 75-125 ppm N solution. Divide 8 by the %N in your fertilizer to get the teaspoons per gallon to use, with room for rounding to make measurement easier.

For example, using a 13-5-15, 8/13=0.62, so you'd do fine at 1/2-, 2/3-, or ever 3/4 tsp/gal. "More" is not necessarily "better" in that regard.

[2009zohsix]

Thank you Ray. I had a feeling "Community Soaking" would not be a good idea. Instead of a dunk, I may think about using a watering can instead, one plant at a time.
As a retired engineer myself I know what you mean by using "weakly", but it is a familiar term for many here. I tell people constantly you don't know what it is until you measure it. I have planted aquariums and dose macros and micros by the milliliter.

Regards!
Dan

[tmoney]

howdy!

ray has hit the most important points, and as usual i totally agree with his comments.

from my end, i found a terrarium to be tricky to get the balances right. i.e., in such a small box, i found that humidity went up quite a bit when i sprayed the mounted plants. perhaps when you spray will also be as important as how much.

also, depending on the media the potted phals have, you may need to water less than once a week. are any of them in moss, or are they all in the same bark media? phals in compact moss, in a terrarium, would give me nightmares and i probly wouldn't water them any more than every week and a half to 2 weeks (a total guess). is water going to drip down into the potted plants when you spray the mounts? is a bunch of heavy spray going to get onto the leaves? these sorts of details are the things that terrariums seriously bring to the forefront.

really, i feel your starting parameters seem fine and dandy, but i would urge you to watch the plants closely for a couple months to find your own schedule. (honestly, i just prefer to grow plants in the open, hehehehe)

[estación seca]

Agree with the above. Different orchids may have very different needs. Which plants do you have potted and mounted?

[2009zohsix]

Originally Posted by tmoney

howdy!

ray has hit the most important points, and as usual i totally agree with his comments.

from my end, i found a terrarium to be tricky to get the balances right. i.e., in such a small box, i found that humidity went up quite a bit when i sprayed the mounted plants. perhaps when you spray will also be as important as how much.

also, depending on the media the potted phals have, you may need to water less than once a week. are any of them in moss, or are they all in the same bark media? phals in compact moss, in a terrarium, would give me nightmares and i probly wouldn't water them any more than every week and a half to 2 weeks (a total guess). is water going to drip down into the potted plants when you spray the mounts? is a bunch of heavy spray going to get onto the leaves? these sorts of details are the things that terrariums seriously bring to the forefront.

really, i feel your starting parameters seem fine and dandy, but i would urge you to watch the plants closely for a couple months to find your own schedule. (honestly, i just prefer to grow plants in the open, hehehehe)

Thanks for your insight! The vivarium has several screened areas for ventilation that I adjusted, before I bought the orchids, and found a setting that keep some moisture in but allowed for good ventilation. With lights and fans running the humidity stays right around 75%. I haven't noticed large swings in humidity when I have watered. I watch the sphagnum moss around the mounted orchids an waited for them to dry out completely (maybe too dry??) before I water.

I do have a potted phal in there with a bamboo skewer in the pot and it seems to hold moisture so your warning is well placed.

I will observe an watch what the plants are telling me. Thanks for the YouTube link.
Regards!
Dan



H

---------- Post added at 12:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Agree with the above. Different orchids may have very different needs. Which plants do you have potted and mounted?

Hello Dry Season.

I concur. In my planted aquariums, I watch the plants. Watering plants is a new area for me.

Vanda Nana / Ascocentrum Pusillum potted
Phalaenopsis Violacea “Coerulea” potted,
Dendrobium Uncatum potted,
Dinema / Encyclia Polybulbon mounted,
Gastrochilus Japonicus mounted,
Brachypeza Semiteretifolia mounted.