Leaving instructions for long-term orchid-sitter

[shhcat]

(Here's my main thread where I detail my orchid adventure).

My husband is starting a summer contract job 2000 miles away and I'm going with him. I'm not going to be able to take all my orchids with me, and I'm not sure it would be a good idea even if I could -- a four day car trip in the summer, when we also have to deal with two cats? Sounds like a recipe for forgotten orchid mush, even ignoring the space considerations. We have a housesitter (one of my husband's grad students who was otherwise couchsurfing for the summer), but I don't know how much of a green thumb he has. I'm guessing not much of one.

I have 5 Catts and 3 Phals, so not a huge collection. I'm trying to write up simple instructions for the housesitter so he doesn't kill my plants but also doesn't get overwhelmed. Does this sound good?

The orchids are the plants in the clear plastic pots on the white shelf. They have skewers stuck in the pots. Pull out the skewers and see if they are dry/almost dry and water the orchids then, probably about once a week. Water AROUND the plants, hitting the roots but not the leaves, as much as possible. Don't water when the skewers are still damp. If there is still water in the saucers after half an hour or so, please pour the water out. Orchids don't like their roots to stay wet.

If any of them flower, please let me know and take some pictures of the blooms!

I tell him either tap or rain water are fine. I'm not going to ask him to do anything with fertilizer because I think that's courting disaster, and also is more work for him.

Is this a decent bare minimum writeup for a orchid-sitter? Or should I just give up on this guy and take the plants to my friend's house, where she has a couple of thriving supermarket orchids?

ETA: my house does not have AC and it gets pretty hot here during the day, although it cools off a lot at night.

[fishmom]

I have done this often and it's been pretty successful. I think your directions are fine. It would be helpful if you are able to demonstrate the difference between "damp" and "almost dry" to your house sitter, assuming he will come to the house before you leave for a walk-through.

I think you are wise to forget fertilizer; the plants will be fine without it. I always specify to water in the morning to allow the leaves to dry. If your pots are clear and you can see the roots turn green, I would demonstrate that for him also, to be sure he gets a thorough watering.
Be sure to tell him that less water is better than more, so if he has to decide whether or not to water, it is better to wait, if that is your practice. That is what I do, but I have decent humidity every night; Utah may be different.

Good luck!

[charlesf6]

Good directions, they should be easy enough to follow.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Have him read the directions. Then have him take care of the plants while you observe (know in advance which plants need water, which do not). See if he understands and can follow the instructions. Demonstrate anything he is not clear on.

If your tap water is usually OK for orchids, you can simplify his life just by asking that he use tap water for the time that you are gone (assuming it will be 3 months or so (?)). Another simplifier: just ask him to water on one day of the week. Maybe mark a simple calendar "watered" when he does this.

[shhcat]

There are time constraints -- I'm not going to see him again until I leave on Sunday -- but these are all good suggestions!

He's a smart, competent guy in his mid-20s, so it's more I want my instructions to be clear and uncomplicated, and less I think he's going to screw everything up and needs hand-held. Although I've known some smart, competent people who kill plants just by looking at them! He didn't seem terrified of taking care of plants so that's a good sign.

It sounds like my instructions work, with a few tweaks. Thanks!

[rbarata]

He's a smart, competent guy in his mid-20s, so it's more I want my instructions to be clear and uncomplicated, and less I think he's going to screw everything up and needs hand-held. Although I've known some smart, competent people who kill plants just by looking at them! He didn't seem terrified of taking care of plants so that's a good sign.

He's a potencial/probable victim of orchid addiction in a near future.

In two weeks I'll need to leave my plants under someone else's care for 10 days. Since I soak some of them when I water I'll need to put tags with nºs in each one of them and in the container I use to soak them. I don't want mixes and try to isolate each orchid when I water so I must be sure that each one uses the correspondent container.
When I start to explain this people think I'm crazy.

[Bulbopedilum]

Looks good! Instructions depend on what orchid you have though. For example, if I had a bulbophyllum (which loves water), I would put, for example,

The bulbophyllums are the ones with really round bases at the leaves. Some of them are hanging on slabs of wood. You need to water those guys every day, but don't get water into tight spaces.

Just sayin, although you dont have any bulbos.

[MattWoelfsen]

This might be too late but, tell your house sitter to be sure to drain or mop up any water in the crown of your Phalaenopsis.

[jcec1]

Ask him to send through some pics of the orchids every couple of weeks or so, and you can keep a watch on them or if you're really inclined, video chat with him and coach him through a watering session. Youngsters do everything on their phones these days so I'm sure he wouldn't think it strange.