How to soak multiple orchids?

[jkofferdahl]

OW, I'm not trying to start an argument. I promise, and I hope that my comments haven't put you off. In nature, rain drops, even in a deluge, aren't utterly constant, though surface tension is going to keep the roots excessively wet. Yes, this can last much longer than a 30-minute soaking, and yes, I believe the roots develop some bloat from it. To regularly soak the roots, though, just doesn't make sense to me. It does to you, and you've been quite successful in your growing. I doubt we'll find ten successful growers who find success through the same methods.

A severely dehydrated plant, I agree, is another situation. An hour of root soaking can restore some firmness to the plant. In fact, with a plant like this I'll soak it several times a day, just allowing the roots to dry. Doing this is, I think, analogous to giving a severely dehydrated person an IV.

[estación seca]

Designer, learning when to water next is the hardest part of orchid growing. This makes orchid growing harder than growing many other plants. When you figure it out - and, I know you WILL figure it out - orchid growing becomes much easier.

When the leaves are slightly wrinkled like that, it means the plant does not have enough water. Having enough water is a balance between how often you water, how long the roots stay wet to take up water, and how much water evaporates/transpires/evapotranspires from the plant. You might see any of these terms for water leaving the plant to the air.

If the roots are bad, the plant cannot take up water. The plant needs to grow new roots. While this happens, the humidity around the plant needs to stay high, to minimize evaporation from the plant. A rooting hormone will often help, as well. I think your roots probably are fine. I can see just a few white things at the base of the plant in one photo. Cattleya roots normally stay alive when you underwater, which is what I think is happening with the plant in your photo.

If the humidity is low and temperatures relatively high, some orchids cannot take up enough water from the roots no matter how much we provide. Plants like Pleurothallis dry up in warm, dry air, no matter how much we water them. Cattleyas are fine with lower humidity, so I don't think too-low humidity is your problem.

Sometimes we frighten newcomers here on Orchid Board with all the warnings about overwatering. Most beginners do water too much, but a sizable fraction don't water enough.

A Cattleya needs to get its roots completely wet, and stay wet for a number of hours, in order to take up enough water. Then it has to dry a little, then get very wet again. If we frighten somebody, and they just barely dampen the roots, then wait for a few days until the roots are very dry to water again, the plant will gradually become more and more dried out.

If your indoor air is fairly dry, you should water Cattleyas as soon as most of their roots turn from white to green. They will not rot from being too wet if you do this. (Really, you should water just before they turn from green to white - but I can't predict the future as well as I once thought I could.) It might take just a few hours for roots to dry if you barely water the plant. It might take a day or more if you take it to the sink and get it really wet.

With a small amount of bark, and a shallow clay pot, the roots will dry much faster than in a larger plastic pot with more bark. A shallow pot with just a little bark is good for people who tend to overwater, and is good for learning. But most people don't have time to water their plants every day, or twice a day, so most of us don't use such small pots, clay, with just a little bark.

In a shallow pot like the one you showed, with a very small amount of bark, and a typical heated home during late winter, I would expect you would need to water every 1-2 days to keep the plant happy. You would need to give it even more water to recover from the drying your plant has.

The roots should stay wet for several hours after watering or they will not take up as much water as they otherwise could. This is where the soaking comes in. If the roots dry after watering before at least several hours have passed, it might make sense to soak the plant in water for several hours once or twice a week, and watering more often in between.

Different orchids respond differently to soaking. I have found I can easily soak my Vanda roots, during warm weather, for 24 hours without any problems. Cattleya alliance plants (Cattleya, Laelia, Epidendrum, Encyclia, and the like) will not tolerate such long soaks. I have found 12 hours is about the maximum for them. Dendrobiums tolerate even less soaking, and I try not to let them soak more than 3-4 hours. Tolumnias can take 12-hour soaks, preferably overnight when they open their pores. In fact, my Tolumnias do better when I soak them overnight on a regular basis.

[AnonYMouse]

tl;dr

This time of year, I soak plants coming out of dormancy. I do this in individual bowls, cups, buckets, etc. 3 inch net pots fit nicely in Solo cups (9-10 oz) that are labeled for each plant.

Although we have had record rains, I don't want to waste water soaking a single plant in the sink.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by jcec1

I am a soaker and have each orchid in a cache pot, so no sharing of water. I soak for a couple of hours and have had no problems with that. If I'm fertilising them, I then collect the leftovers and use it in the garden.

I do the same, but, not for nearly as long. I do this because I use clay and bark and want them both to be saturated. I soak maybe 10 min. I use the water in the garden also. I also disinfect each vessel with Lysol Power and Free after each plant. I store my used water in kitty litter jugs for reuse outdoors.

[DesignerofBeauty]

Thank you everyone who has responded! I appreciate all of your insight! Everyone here is filled with quite a lot of knowledge about orchids.

Estacion, I watered my orchids yesterday afternoon using just a regular faucet sprayer (I watered before making the post). This morning the orchid roots are white (although, they naturally seem to have a white casing, with green tips). The topmost media is dry, and a bit more moist towards the bottom. I'm going to do a soak for today just to rehydrate it. Or, as jkofferdahl mentioned as an "IV" to the orchid. Using a bamboo skewer will also be helpful as well.

Futhermore, the reason that the media is so shallow is because the roots are pretty shallow. This poor orchid had root rot due to overwatering, and mold. I mistakingly trimmed the rotted roots. At the time, I thought this was recommended. As a result, I didn't want the lower layer of media to get moldy again. So I planted the orchid with a shallow amount of media. I hope this was the correct approach.

[Roberta]

Shallow media is good... remember that orchids teach patience. With few roots, no matter what you do the plant can't absorb much moisture. Humidity is better than "wet" It will run on its reserves (pseudobulbs mostly) until it produces new growth and new roots. You may be able to help it recover by popping a plastic bag over the plant and pot (sort of a mini-greenhouse) to keep the humidity around it up, so that it loses less water through its leaves.

[Dollythehun]

Roberta is right! I often do that. Poke a few holes in it first.clear vegetable bag from produce section works well.

[DesignerofBeauty]

Thank you, those are great suggestions!

[greenpassion]

Hi all. Well I'm not actually new to orchids, for some reason I've asked myself the question of how long I should pour water over my orchids. I have phalaenopsis orchids 24 of them and some of them are Mini. They are all in bark. My smaller ones are in a finer bark mix. I have been pre mixing gallon jugs of the MSU fertilizer, and water them by pouring the mix over them, but I don't pour for more than maybe 15 seconds or so. Of course with the miniatures it's the same but less water. So my question is am I not watering them for a long enough time? They are in clear plastic pots so that I can keep an eye on their roots. I'm reading that some people soak their orchids, that leads me to believe I haven't been watering mine enough? They are all super healthy, and I have five bloomed.

[Dollythehun]

If it is working for you, it's not broken, don't fix it.😁