Obssesive care vs. Negligance

[lobsterman]

About a 1-year old rookie to the culture, it seems I encounter an even percentage of people who fall into 1 of 2 categories:
1) You need to feed this much mix at these intervals at this time of year this often with this much light and this much humidity, but only when the moon is full and you have repotted within....................
2) I strapped mine to a tree and forgot about it.

Any thought on which is right or wrong?
Which category do you fall in?

[Bill_NeOh]

I won't say that either is right or wrong but I fall in #2. I water when I feel they need it but don't overboard by checking every day and I fertalize when I remember to do so which is very much not on a regular cycle.

But I also make sure there is enough air movement. And I move orchids around the greenhouse until I find the spot that seems to make them happy and I make sure that I repot when needed. So maybe I'm #1 and don't know it.

[jkofferdahl]

There's a pretty wide range of what works, especially with some orchids. Phalaenopsis hybrids, for example, are extremely forgiving, capable of tolerating a pretty fair amount of negligence and still thriving. Others, however, are pretty intolerant, needing very specific conditions met in order to grow well and bloom; these may survive (or may not) without very specific conditions being met, but aren't likely to do much more. I knew a college botanist in Virginia who found a Phal which had fallen to the greenhouse floor, and the pot burst. As an "experiment" he left the plant as he found it, simply misting it daily. It soon spiked and bloomed as usual and, years later (and again potted) remained a healthy, vigorous plant.

That said, the gray areas in between the two poles are pretty broad. You might get ideal temperatures and ideal light, and ideal humidity, but completely miss on the fertilizer needs, or some other combination thereof, and still get wonderful production from the plants. I know that the conditions and fertilizer schedule I give to mine is less than ideal, yet I have at least 25-35% of my plants in spike, and a good number in bloom, and many of these plants are, to say the least, quite youthful (immature enough that I expected to wait at least another year to see blooms). Each time I look I find yet another plant initiating a spike (which is, of course, a true joy to me). The conditions in my growing area are good enough. However, I also know that if I could keep ideal temperatures, ideal humidity, ideal light conditions, and ideal feed levels I would likely have even more good things going on with the plants.

If you eat pizza every day you'll stay alive. You probably won't feel so well aftter a while, and you might start having health problems, but you'll stay alive.

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[10010100102]

I agree with Jkofferdahl, I think it really depends on the orchid. If I took a masdie (or most any other pleuro) and left it out on a shelf in my house somewhere, it certainly wouldn't last too long. Phal's, on the other hand, are the ultimate example of an orchid for the #2 mentality, no matter the conditions. Bottom line, though, a lot of orchids are pretty tough plants and can survive, or even thrive with, a certain amount of negligence.

As far as things go, I think I'm somewhere in between the two categories. I have a small enough collection that I can pay attention to every plant and assess whether it's happy or not, and if it isn't, do something about it. On the other hand, though, I don't follow a schedule of any kind, and water and feed plants when I think they need it.

There's my .

[cb977]

One of the beautiful...and frustrating...things about growing orchids: there is no right or wrong!

It all depends on what types of plants you have and what conditions you can provide.

I think there needs to be a third scenario for your question: a mix of #1 and #2, which is where I fall

I have a definite feeding schedule but I make daily decisions on watering. I also fall way outside the parameters of the "don't repot while in bloom/spike/bud" option...I repot everything as soon as it gets here. I want to see what the roots look like and if need be, eliminate any problems before they really have an effect on the plant

Good thread...I'm interested to see what everybody else has to say

[RosieC]

I've slowly become the obsesive type. I started out leaving them alone most of the time, now I check them all (almost) every day... but then I only have a few to check just now.

[camille1585]

I'd say it depends on the type of orchids. But overall, like Sue, I'm somewhere in the middle. The mounted ones get misted everyday, that's a must. But for everything else I don't follow any schedules. I water when each needs it (I have a small collection, only 35), sometimes I can't be bothered to add fertilizer (yes, I'm lazy), my winter lighting is less than perfect (which I plan to take care of next week end), but they still bloom for me. They could bloom better with more care, but I don't have time with classes and homewrk to be an orchid slave. During summer vacation, when I have more time, I tend to get obsessive about them and pamper them everyday.

So the answer to your question? It depends!

[ronaldhanko]

With most orchids, though, a bit of benign neglect is far less dangerous than overwatering or overfertilizing, repotting to often, etc. The obsessive grower (perhaps we all have been that at one time or another) tends to make these mistakes.

[Gwenchanter]

I gave my mom 6 phals and she killed 5 of them. The 6th one im nursing back to health and I think it's going to make it. I don't know how she did it. We live in Miami and you can just throw them outside and let them get rained on and they'll survive.

[beanluc]

Originally Posted by lobsterman

1) You need to feed this much mix at these intervals at this time of year this often with this much light and this much humidity, but only when the moon is full and you have repotted within....................
2) I strapped mine to a tree and forgot about it.

Me: 1.5)? I make love with my orchids, but we're always very spontaneous.