Good results watering with hot water.

[Fernando]

I've had good results watering with beer.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Fernando

I've had good results watering with beer.

First or second hand?

[Orchid Whisperer]

I would never do the hot water thing, too risky, and I can't see any possible benefit. I think this is a bad cultural practice to do intentionally. I water with either tap water, straight from the cold tap with no tempertaure adjustment, or rain water at ambient temperature.

Just to play devil's advocate a bit, with some orchids, specially adapted to these conditions, I have seen photos on another forum (Orchidgeeks) where orchids were growing on rock surfaces in full sun. Here is a link: confusion about FULL SUN??? - Orchid Forum Orchid Care This included "Doritis" (now considered within Phalaenopsis); check about 13 posts down in the linked web page. If you have ever touched natural rock "pavement" in full sun, these surfaces can get quite hot on the surface, and quickly. Rock is such a poor conductor of heat that the surface can get quite hot in the sun without the heat dissipating. The roots obviously have some tolerance to the heat; likely heat too hot to be comfortable to touch.

So, SOME orchids may be able to tolerate this kind of hot water treatment. Similarly, I can, and have, occasionally tolerated working outdoors for prolonged periods when temperatures were well over 100 F. Beneficial for me? Probably not. Doritis grows quite well when you don't bake the roots in the sun, so why would you subject a plant to this kind of stress?

I can't think of any reason why this hot water treatment would be advisable for orchids. I would need a lot of scientific proof to even think about trying this.

[Ray]

I keep my RO tank between 75° & 80°F. It's more of a benefit in winter than summer, but the plants seem to like it.

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by bil

First or second hand?

whatever hand works.....for you. Haha.

[Fernando]

Ehhmmm, ... to say the truth, both!


Just one word about orchid roots. Dry velamen does tolerate extreme conditions, i.e. hot rocks in the sun. Moist velamen will not tolerate hot (What is hot - boiling hot?) water as soon as the stored water rises at more than 43ºC, which is the tº at which most protein denature.

So, please, as already has been said, a bit of common sense, a beer, and a second hand!

[bil]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

whatever hand works.....for you. Haha.

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

[Ray]

As "Mouse" said, we're all making a lot of assumptions. Ashley is having success, so who are we to challenge that?

I'd bet we all have images in our minds about what's going on, and we're likely all wrong!

[malteseproverb]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought one idea behind NOT using hot tap water is that when your tap water is heated in a metal water heater, it picks up minerals and other stuff from the basin and pipes more easily than cold water. Hot water from my tap tastes worse than cold water from my tap, for instance, and I don't use it in my kettle even though that may accelerate boiling because it leaves more scale in there. OP, are you using tap water or filtered water? Not to mention... it is summer. I don't know what the weather is like elsewhere but my orchids probably appreciate cooler water temps right now.

I used to use warmer water in the winter on my orchids but stopped, and I've seen some improvement that may or may not be contributed to that since.

[Ray]

if you have an electric water heater that has built up too many minerals on the heating element, you might be adding a bit, but it is unlikely to be appreciably greater than the incoming water, nor damaging.

I find that warming the water in winter is a major plus, especially to plants that truly like hot conditions, like phals.