How do you water your phals?

[dolfanjack]

My phals are bare root, all my other orchids are in "soil". Jack

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I used to be the kind of person who would soak each plant for 30min to an hour in a bucket, about once a week on average. But it got to be too time consuming to fit in my busy schedule (about 3 hours to water everyone), and I was watering the orchids less and less. Needles to say they suffered, and between that and my mealie bug problems, I lost quite a few.

So now I water with a very frowned upon method but it works for me. Each plant sits in it's own saucer and to water I simply pour water through the top of the pot until there's a good half cm of water in the saucer. I adjust the amount depending on the season, so that it's taken up/evaporated in no more than 2-3 days. So yes my plants are sitting in water for an extended period of time, but they're quite happy this way, and so am I because watering now takes 20-30min a week!

Interesting Camille, this is something I'm thinking of doing, well to some extent. How long have you been doing this? I imagine it depends how close to the water the actual roots are...or have you not seen this effect your plants? I may not worry too much about this now that spring is nearing but all winter I've been under-watering pretty bad in large part because moving everybody to the bathroom every time is a pain so if I had trays underneath to catch and sometimes hold the water I may be in luck.

However I do know that this is not so good with plants with a lot of sphag as it holds and draws the water even more.

Originally Posted by lkat

Mine one phal is starting to get floppy leaves (well, actually both of them are) so I started watering them every 5-6 days instead of every 7, and I leave them sit in the sink full of water for about 10-30 mins, depending how much time I have.

Also I have read some conflicting info about watering them. some people say to let the roots/media dry out between watering, others say to water while it's still a bit moist. Thoughts?

I've allowed Phals to dry out between waterings more often than not; in some cases too much. I think many of them quite like this. In other words it certainly doesn't hurt to let them dry out a day or two so I wouldn't worry about trying to water them - in the case of Phals only I'm referring to - before they dry out.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I take my Phals to the sink roughly once a week and just run water through the pot about half a minute or less. They are in terracotta pots, in bark & charcoal.

What dolfanjack describes is called vase culture. It works very well for Vandas, and I've thought about it for Phals, but haven't tried it yet.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by lotis146

Interesting Camille, this is something I'm thinking of doing, well to some extent. How long have you been doing this? I imagine it depends how close to the water the actual roots are...or have you not seen this effect your plants? I may not worry too much about this now that spring is nearing but all winter I've been under-watering pretty bad in large part because moving everybody to the bathroom every time is a pain so if I had trays underneath to catch and sometimes hold the water I may be in luck.

However I do know that this is not so good with plants with a lot of sphag as it holds and draws the water even more.

My orchids are for the most part potted in bark. I have 2 orchids in sphag, but neither get watered like this otherwise the sphag takes up way too much water.

I've been watering this way for a bit over a year now, though I had started experimenting on a few plants for some months before that. The roots at the bottom of the pot or coming out of the bottom are directly in the water, but spending 2 days sitting in water doesn't bother them in the least. All the new roots that have grown in the past year are adjusted to wetter conditions, and are happy (the older ones seem fine too). The Oncs seem to really enjoy being watered this way, and the Phals are certainly happier now than when they were always getting underwatered.

I will dump out water from the saucers if I see there's still some there by day 3, though now I've gotten pretty good at judging how much water put, so it isn't often necessary.

[Subrosa]

I like to keep them in chunky bark and/or lava rock in transparent containers, often without drain holes. Those containers I simply fill, wait a minute or two and pour off as much as possible. I then wait until the roots are silver before repeating.

[mtorchid]

Originally Posted by lkat

Also I have read some conflicting info about watering them. some people say to let the roots/media dry out between watering, others say to water while it's still a bit moist. Thoughts?

The "let dry slightly between waterings" is the usual advice. That's easy to do with a mounted Phal in a humid environment (only water in the mornings- every day). Potted is more difficult (can't see the interior roots) and the waterings need to revolve around your environment.

I have mounted phals, phals in vanda baskets filled with clay pellets (LECA), phals in S/H, and one, that a friend tried to drown, sitting on top of NZ moss in a plastic container where the roots are completely exposed and loving their new humid (but not soggy) environment. Confused yet?

Any new Phals I get are usually in bloom and in bark. I always transfer them out of bark soon after the blooming cycle ends.

[DweamGoiL]

I take mine to the sink and just let water run thru the tops of the pots for about 30 seconds. When I fertilize, I tend to have them sit in the fertilizer for a bit so I can economize on the amount of solution.

[AuroraPhal]

I have 5 Phals in bark. I read somewhere that it is better for them to be a few steps closer to dry than to wet before watering, so I pay attention to these two things: I look at roots first - water if they are silver and look dry, and second thing I look at is their plastic pot - if I can't see condensation (drops of water inside of the pot) I water them.
I soak them in water with room temperature (I soak whole pot) and leave them in water for an hour or so. I use this method for a few years and it works for me In wintertime, my Phals "ask" for water once in maybe two weeks, and in summertime that's about once a week

[NYCorchidman]

Big phals in large bark mix, I used to pour down lots of water. This was about two three time a week during growing season, and less frequent during other times of the year.

Mini phals in small pots (2-3in across) with medium grade bark, I would sit them in water for a few minutes and dump out.

Any size pot or phals that came in sphag moss, I would rarely water them thoroughly, but pour a little bit of water, say one cup, or mist until the moss is moisten evenly. Then wait until they dry out before doing the same thing. I would water only occasionally in fear of rotting the roots out.

All the method I tried gave me great results.
So, there is no one way to water plants.
The key is to water according to the potting mix used and according to the plant's growth cycle.

Open mix, warm active growing season, water more.
Moss, water very carefully. If not sure, then use something more open than moss and you will less likely be killing the plant. I find phals very tough and easy and highly rewarding! love them!!!

That's it. simple.