Why on earth do people water their phals with ice cubes?

[bil]

Originally Posted by marcmaubert

It's a little bit marketing, a little bit confirmation bias. You implant an idea using marketing, people take it as a fact, now it's really hard for them to accept it as false. .

Wasn't it Mark Twain that said "It is far easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" ??

[Mountaineer370]

There is a theme of "stubbornness" here, and I just want to say not all of us are averse to learning better ways. Some of us get our first orchid, not knowing anything about them, so we follow the directions to water with ice. We may be thinking this doesn't seem right, and so we do research and we learn. Some of our information may come from a place like the Orchid Board, and then we may join that board, where we continue to learn all aspects of the hobby and end up with more orchids (the number of "more" being limited by our growing space).

So, yes, I do think it is a marketing technique developed for the purpose of making a lot of money, but some of us actually want to do right by our orchids and do take the advice of those who are more knowledgeable

BTW, that very first phal I got survived the first couple months of ice water. The roots near the top are brown and woody but still alive and it is a happy, healthy plant, thank goodness!

[greenpassion]

Mountaineer, my first phal was also a "Just add ice" orchid. I found the site while looking for a mothers day gift for a friend. This orchid managed to live because as I started having trouble, and I found this board. Needless to say I have told many people who mention how cool it is (no pun intended) that you can grow these beautiful orchids and just stick an ice cube on them wa la!
I want to also add that I think there are people who buy these that aren't really all that concerned or caring about the health or longevity of the plant. As someone mentioned earlier, many folks buy a "dark corner ornament" and leave it at that. I was one the plant fanatical people and became fixated on what these plants need to be happy. And to Ray, I have to admit I am surprised to hear you say that it works? Or did I miss something in your post?

[estación seca]

I agree with Ray and the slow-melt. But there are some people who can't walk past their dog or cat without stuffing half a bag of treats in its mouth, and these people can't resist flooding their plants with daily ice cubes.

Look at the leaders of every country with free and fair elections to see how marketing works. They get the same leaders as in the nasty enemy countries.

Some of my favorite people are the ones who explicitly ask me for advice, then get angry at what I tell them.

Doctor: In my opinion, you need to stop smoking, lose weight and exercise more.
Patient: I want a second opinion.
Doctor: OK, your mother dresses you funny.

[VONDI]

Before I got the two orchids that I have now, my daughter and her sister in law brought home two others. They bought them for themselves but I ended up trying to care for them!
The directions on the tag told me to "water by laying two ice cubes on the substrate once a week." That didn't seem sensible to me...I mean, ICE?
Of course they soon died.
When I got these two a lady who had worked in a green house advised removing the plastic inner pot and allowing water to run through the substrate for a few minutes. Then when t had drained pretty well, replace it in the outer pot.
Is that the accepted way to water? It has worked well for me for going on three years now...

[estación seca]

If it's working for you, don't change it, unless you do a lot more reading and thinking first.

[Mountaineer370]

Originally Posted by VONDI

Before I got the two orchids that I have now, my daughter and her sister in law brought home two others. They bought them for themselves but I ended up trying to care for them!
The directions on the tag told me to "water by laying two ice cubes on the substrate once a week." That didn't seem sensible to me...I mean, ICE?
Of course they soon died.
When I got these two a lady who had worked in a green house advised removing the plastic inner pot and allowing water to run through the substrate for a few minutes. Then when t had drained pretty well, replace it in the outer pot.
Is that the accepted way to water? It has worked well for me for going on three years now...

Vondi, I think the advise you received from the greenhouse lady is a much better way to water than the ice cube method. However, I can't help pointing out that running water through the pot for "a few minutes," if you mean that literally, would be, IMO, a terrible waste of water. Depending on how high you have the faucet turned on, that could be a huge amount of water, way more than is needed.

Either do it for a shorter period of time, or use a household watering can and gently pour the contents over the plant. I use a two-quart plastic watering can, and depending on the size of the orchid, I may use anywhere from a quarter of that container to the whole thing. Almost immediately, water begins running out the bottom of the pot, though, so I try to gauge when I feel the medium has gotten a good wetting versus just wasting water.

Another option, though it's not something I do, is to immerse your pot into a container of water and allow it to soak for a while. Others would have to advise you on how long to soak it.

Also, I think many of us here do not keep our orchids in non-draining outer containers. Orchids need to be able to get air to their roots, and any inhibition of that ability could cause problems. But -- and this is a big but -- you say your methods have worked for three years, so sometimes you just have to say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[VONDI]

I guess when I said for 'a few minutes' I was exaggerating a bit. it's more like a couple minutes on a low stream. I rotate the pot and watch through the translucent plastic to see when the medium seems saturated. The pots I have are probably about two or two and a half cups in volume. One has drainage holes in the bottom. The other has tiny perforations all over the sides.
As I said, my two orchids seem happy.

I'm just wondering what other methods growers use.

[dounoharm]

I use cache pots for my bloomers....but I always toss corks in the bottom so my plant can breathe!....it is awfully hard on me to drink so much wine, but, well, anything for the orchids!!

[jkofferdahl]

As Ray said, there is evidence (I would call it anecdotal at best) that the ice cube method can work. Typically, when Ray says something I give it respect. In this case, though, I believe that more orchids have been killed by using the ice cube method than have survived. It's hard to see the logic of putting a frozen object onto a plant from the tropics, even while Ray's explanation makes sense. Somehow it feels like the same logic would say that if your orchid is too cold you should stick it in the microwave. (I wonder what a microwave would do to an orchid!)

Since the main selling point of the process, per Ray's interpretation, is to avoid overwatering a plant potted in sphagnum, I would say that it makes more sense to learn to water carefully - or to repot the plant into bark.