What is your outdoor watering schedule? - Orchid Board

Paul Mc · #1 06-01-2011, 09:00 AM

So, I'm very curious what everyone's outdoor watering schedule is like in relation to the heat your region experiences.

I'll kick it off...

Last year was my first year putting orchids outside. I found myself watering them twice a week when the temperatures during the day got into the mid 90's F or higher. If the temperatures got really high and/or it was really windy, then I would water just a tid bit in case the medium had dried a tad too much. Overall, I think it was a successful plan as only one of my orchids suffered from too much water. Of course, that was also because I had it in the wrong medium and it stayed waterlogged the whole time (oops, my bad, lol...).

I only had my Dendrobiums, Oncidium alliance, phal's and one Bulbophyllum in my collection last year. This year it is pretty much the same plants that are going out, plus a new Neostylis and Stanhopea.

Now, I'd like to hear what everyone else does and why!

Leafmite · #2 06-01-2011, 09:51 AM

Schedule? Impossible! This year, I have too much variety in both plant type and potting. I have seedling aeranthes on a fine layer of sphrag that usually needs wetted twice a day, and I'm trying out plastic 'net' pots and baskets which dry out faster than the clay pots. I check my orchids twice a day and water those that need it. I already miss the constant rain!
Leafmite

JDT · #3 06-01-2011, 10:06 AM

I keep all of my orchids outside as living in south Florida I have the weather to be able to do that. I water my vanda's daily, sometimes twice a day, and all of my other orchids I water mid-week and fertilize over the weekend. Normally May is the start of our raining season but this year we have not had that happen so if we get too many 90 plus days and have not gotten our rain showers I will then water every two days, so far this year we have not been getting our normal rain showers here in south Florida so I have had to water more then in years past.

isurus79 · #4 06-01-2011, 10:46 AM

When I lived in Hawaii, I watered everyday. Now that I'm in Texas all my plants have been outside since mid March and I still water everyday! I pot my plants that way so they can dry out fairly quickly.

tucker85 · #5 06-01-2011, 11:18 AM

Orchid genus, temperature, potting medium, type of pot, season of the year and humidity are all factors to consider. I'm in South Florida where it's very humid during the summer. I use pots and medium that allow my orchids to dry quickly. Just like JDT posted, I water on Wednesday and again with fertilizer on the weekend. Only my phals get a little more water, usually three times a week.

abigaillevans · #6 06-01-2011, 12:00 PM

I'm in South Florida, too, and all of my orchids are outside. The high temperatures (we were up in the 90s by late April) and the potting media I have my plants in allow me to water almost every day. Generally, my schedule is like this:

-Cattleya hybrids - in clay pots with bark, charcoal and sponge rock. They get watered every day.

-Max. tenuifolia and Onc. Sharry Baby - in plastic pots with moss. They get water every other day.

-Den. nobile - in plastic pot with bark. It gets watered almost every day unless it's overcast or there's not much breeze.

-Phal. amabilis and a NoID phal - on mounts. They get watered daily. One of them is a rescue that's pretty bad so it gets water sometimes twice a day.

-Per. elata - in a plastic pot with bark, moss, charcoal, and sponge rock. It gets watered every other day, depending on how hot it is. It hasn't been doing super well since it underwent surgery, though, so it's not on a schedule so much as I watch it super closely and see what it needs day by day.

And I use super duper diluted fertilizer and mist the media with it daily. Every other week or so I flush out all the pots to avoid buildup.

Roly0217 · #7 06-01-2011, 12:37 PM

In in South Florida as well as for me watering schedule varies depending on the plants though they all get misted daily. The vandas and mounted orchids get watered daily but now with the heat twice a day and sometimes even 3 times a day. For the baskets with spaghnum is daily usually in the afternoon. Then the rest get a light misting. I turm my hose into the mist setting and go at them for like 5 minutes not to drench them too much but to relieve some of the heat. I'm anxiously awaiting the rains.

epiphyte78 · #8 06-01-2011, 03:10 PM

Nearly all of my orchids are mounted. During winter I water first thing in the morning maybe once a week at most. During summer I water at night because the lower evaporation rate allows the orchids enough time to fully hydrate. Most of them are bone dry by 10am during summer.

My orchids are organized into 3 watering areas...daily, every other day, and every third day.

In the daily section there are newly established mounts and orchids such as Bulbophyllums, Coelogynes, Draculas, Masdevallias, Maxillarias, Pleurothallis, etc.

In the every other day area I have some Dendrobiums, some Oncidiums, some Sarcochilus, Stanhopeas, some Tolumnias and my Vandas (with roots covered in live Spanish Moss).

In the every third day section I have Barkerias, Brassavolas, Cattleyas, some Dendrobiums, Encyclias, Laelias, Myrmecophilas, some Oncidiums, Schomburgkias, etc

I also have a tree mounted with orchids with a wide range of watering preferences...from Masdevallias to Mexican Laelias. The entire tree has a drip system so all the orchids are watered at the same time. I place the moisture lovers on the shady side on top of small pads of moss while the drier orchids are on the sunny side without any moss.

From what I've read...generally epiphytic orchids appreciate frequency rather than duration when it comes to watering. So for the most part I water just long enough to soak my orchids. The lower evaporation rate at night allows them as much time as they need to absorb the available moisture.