FLUSHED!!! - Orchid Board

Ray · #1 07-31-2018, 10:56 AM

Anyone seen Noah lately?

We have had an average of over 1" of rain every day for the entire month of July. Some days we've seen as much as 3"-4". All of my slippers are grown in semi-hydroponic culture out on my deck, so I am reasonably certain they're well flushed at this point.

Phals are in sphagnum, and they're getting cleaned out pretty well also.

For others in similar situations, be sure to feed the plants, even if they don't need watering! This warm, wet weather is great for growth, so they're gonna need fuel. I'm also adding Inocucor to that about once a week.

Leafmite · #2 07-31-2018, 12:34 PM

Rain is free water! With the water softener, I am a big fan of free water.

Gil · #3 07-31-2018, 05:03 PM

"Phals are in sphagnum, and they're getting cleaned out pretty well also."

Maybe I'm thinking this thing through too much for a rookie, but I thought having the plants outdoors in a well draining mix such as small/medium bark would be better than having them in water retaining sphagnum. Would just have to water more frequently during dry spells of course.

Ray · #4 07-31-2018, 05:24 PM

I agree with you, Gil, but in this environment, the flooding by the rainwater actually oxygenates the root mass as it drains though, so I'm seeing no suffocation issues.

Stationary water blocking airflow is the killer, and once we can get past the monsoons, I am planning to repot them all into fresh, less compact moss.

SaraJean · #5 07-31-2018, 10:02 PM

Same. It’s our rainy season (although this past spring was much more wet than I remember) and I’m sure we will be getting some tropical disturbances heading our way soon, August and September are the worst for those. It’s that time of the year and I’m not sure anything is really going to dry out until October. Oh well, I do need to remember to feed them but it is nice not having to water every day or worry about flushing pots! It’s been a nice break from our heat index being in the 110f range, too. All of my stuff has kicked into high gear with the growing- especially the Bulbos, Dens, Stans, rupic Laelias. I’m just letting them be and picking off snails

Leafmite · #6 07-31-2018, 11:09 PM

I especially like having the medium of my other plants flushed. Some of my other tropical plants would probably die if I stripped their roots of soil for a transplant. Orchids are so much less fussy about being transplanted.

Subrosa · #7 08-01-2018, 01:18 AM

I woke up this past Monday to a flash flood alert. The stream 40' in front of my house was near the top of its banks instead of 12' down like usual. Listen to the thumping in this video. I felt that through my feet, standing on a 5' high wooden porch. It's large boulders rolling downstream underwater. From early morning Monday until late Tuesday, we saw about 13" of rain. Should have been snow........

Apparently I can't upload the video because a security token is missing. I didn't know I needed one.