Ice cube watering

[Kieyla]

Orchids have been popping up everywhere for sale in grocery stores and even walmart! I want to sell my local grown orchids to grocery stores and local flower shops. I did some research on the orchids in the stores and they are all from Just Add Ice Orchids. They claim you should water your orchids with ice cubes. This just seems wrong to me. Temperature is extremely important to these plants and they are tossing ice cubes on them?! Any thoughts on this or comments from someone that has watered with ice? This company is mass producing these plants, mostly with machines doing the work. They do not even grade and check plants with a human, it is all done with computers. I watched this video they produced about taking care of plants in a colder climate and I was laughing so hard. The girl said do not let your plant's leaves touch the window because it may damage the plant but they advocate putting ice cube directly on the plant's roots!


Thoughts/comments?

[fotofashion]

Just say NO!!!
Beverly A.

[dounoharm]

it is a stupid idea that gained mass appeal by idiots who believe anything they see in walmart...you cant compete with mass production, i sell my excess on ebay, but growing orchids is much for personal enjoyment....i see no way to make a profit unless you can actually compete with the big growers.....gl

[Kieyla]

Well I wanted to sell to grocery stores and flower shops in addition to my shop. I flask orchids currently which is kind of mass producing on a smaller scale compared to them. I am hoping to that people will want to buy and support local business.

[flhiker]

I'm in the minority on this issue. I have done it and my plants have done very well with this care. I have even gone as far as making them with fert. in them. but I have long since stopped because it is much more time consuming to make the ice and get it to lay where you want them to when you have a couple hundred plants. It's much easier to water them the regular way. the ice melts slowly and allow the roots to take up the water for a longer period of time is the thought behide the method. I buy orchids from my local Home Depot when I see something interesting. and have had great success with the bagged orchids.

[lepetitmartien]

DON'T

it's a marketing gimmick and only gives a catchy sentence to subdue the customer. It may not be the right quantity, it is certainly not the temperature and it doesn't care at all about what the plant tells in the water me/not department.

[cbuchman]

Try your instincts. I would never water using ice.

[vanda man]

I totally agree with you,my grandfather once told me the most important part about watering orchids is the temperature.I always use lukewarm water to water mine

[cbuchman]

Originally Posted by vanda man

I totally agree with you,my grandfather once told me the most important part about watering orchids is the temperature.I always use lukewarm water to water mine

Me too! It just seems too cruel to dunk them in cold water. I certainly wouldn't like it

[flhiker]

I like a cold drink and if you could ask your Phals , they may say the same. When I was doing it their was NO signs of distress or harm. It's not my opinion, its something I have tried. RF Orchids in Miami (well respected nursery) also recommends it. But you do as your gut feels. Good luck either way.