Watering and Pots

[bobloes]

Hi All,

First post and first orchids.
I have a new phalaenopsis, and approximately 18 months in my care dendrobium berry ora and paphiopedilium charlesworthii.

The dendrobium has flowered for the second time albeit with limited blooms and the paph never and looks like it is dying. As a first question, and before I do the same damage to the phala, I have been submerging the plastic pots in cold tap water for 30 minutes and then letting them drain away before putting them back into their ceramic pots (no drainage holes). I do this approximately every 7-10 days but it has been longer. Should I change any of this?
I have heard that I should use transparent pots both for the inner pot and the outer. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance and I promise there will be more questions.

Bob

[Paphluvr]

Clear plastic pots are not necessary but they do allow you to continually assess the health of the plants roots. Good drainage and air circulation are more important. I use plastic pots for my Phals and Paphs, but use clay pots for Dendrobiums as they tend to be top heavy. As for your watering frequency, it depends on a number of factors such as temperature, air circulation and type of potting mix. Can you tell us more about your conditions?

[MrHappyRotter]

Cold water sounds like a terrible idea. Soaking, however, is generally a good idea. Using tap water can go either way, some areas have excellent tap, others have shitty tap. If your tap is of poor quality, you can collect rain water or use pure water (distilled, reverse osmosis, deionized, etc) -- just mix in a little tap water and fertilizer when appropriate.

As for watering routine, that's going to be different for different conditions, growing environment, potting mix, etc. Any recommendation to water every 7 - 10 days is just a guestimate. And anybody telling you to water more often or less often based only on the content of your post would only be guessing. It's something that you'll need to figure out by observing the plant, noticing if the potting mix is drying out between waterings to a sufficient degree and monitoring root color (whte = dry, green = wet) as well as general health of the plant. That being said, 7 - 10+ days sounds like it could be reasonable if you have a moisture retentive mix, moderate air flow, mild temperatures, shaded light, and you're using a cache pot.

Transparent pots are not necessary at all. You can pot these up how you want. Transparent pots are, however, especially nice because you can more easily monitor the root health and level of hydration in the pot without disturbing anything. Cache pots are fine (i.e. outer ceramic pot with no drainage) provided you allow the plant to drain entirely before placing it back in there.

[Fairorchids]

You need to water more frequently. Neither Phals nor Paphs should dry fully between waterings, so plan on every 3-5 days in summer, and once a week in winter.

For the Dendrobium, same during spring & summer, but taper off to once a month in fall & winter. Once buds form, increase frequency. Also, this plant would like brighter light than the other two (with very high light throughout summer & fall).

You do not mention fertilizing. Light dose every 3 weeks or so for all 3. For Dendrobium only, stop fertilizing on Sept 15th; do not start again till buds are close to opening.

[Pippa]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

You need to water more frequently. Neither Phals nor Paphs should dry fully between waterings, so plan on every 3-5 days in summer, and once a week in winter.

OP is in the UK - I guess maybe temperatures are lower here than in the US? My Phals are getting watered every 10-14 days over winter. Summertime it's more like weekly. I only watered more than weekly once last summer when we had a really hot spell.

[Fairorchids]

Originally Posted by Pippa

OP is in the UK - I guess maybe temperatures are lower here than in the US? My Phals are getting watered every 10-14 days over winter. Summertime it's more like weekly. I only watered more than weekly once last summer when we had a really hot spell.

Indoor conditions are pretty much the same, whether in the UK or US (as well as in DK, where I am from).

Obviously, it does depend somewhat on what medium is in the pot (if spaghnum, it holds water longer). However, in my 'other job' I see a lot of Phals in houses, and despite owner trying to follow the instructions on the label, they are generally too dry.

[Pippa]

I think I probably keep my house cooler than most - it's at the lower end of a Phal's comfort zone!

[Mountaineer370]

Welcome to the board, bobloes. I'll second the suggestion by MrHappyRotter that cold water is not doing your orchids any favors. I have a small number of orchids, so I am easily able to let watering cans sit out on the counter overnight before I water my orchids (Phals and Paphs). I don't soak, I just drench, but the water is room temp and additives like chlorine have had a chance to evaporate before I use it (or that's what I'm told, anyway).

Also, it may be counterintuitive and different from what others do, but I have personally found that I have to water just as often in winter as summer, the reason being, I'm guessing, that the humidity in my house drops quite low in the winter. It's 30% as I write this, which is common for the season, and the plants dry out quickly. They are all in Orchiata bark. I don't know what the conditions are like in your home, but it's something to consider.

[aliceinwl]

If you pot up your Phal in a clear pot, you can use the root color as an indication of when to water: when the roots are silver it’s time to water, when the roots are green don’t water.

I keep my Paphs wetter than my Phals. I try to water these before the media totally dries out. In clear pots I gauge the color of the bark through the sides. For those in opaque pots, I look at the bark through the holes in the bottom and go off the weight of the pot. When the media hits the point where it’s just damp, I water.

[bobloes]

Hi All
Firstly thanks you for all the replies and my apologies for not getting back sooner. Life does not always play the game when you want to concentrate on one thing!
I do not know what the potting medium is for any of them although they were purchased from reputable nurserys and have a similar texture to other healthy ones that I have seen.
Paphluvr asked about conditions. I live in Weymouth, on the south English coast, and the dendrobium and paph live in the south facing living room, centrally heated, where the temperature fluctuates between 18C during the day, as much as 21C during the evening and could be as low as 14/15C overnight. They are rarely, if ever, in direct sunshine, being about 2 metres from the window. The phal lives on the north facing kitchen window sill brought into the warm side of the curtains when they are closed. These are the winter temperatures. In summer generally above 15/16C the whole time. Not a huge amount of ventilation during winter but continuous during summer except overnight. They are all in drainage hole opaque plastic pots inside opaque undrained ceramic pots. I have just put the paph on a dish of wet gravel for humidity.
Thanks for the advice re cold water and I will exchange the pots for transparent ones so that I can monitor the root colour.
To my shame I have not fed them at all. I shall rectify that immediately, using rain water - I have plenty!
I have attached a photo of my dendrobium and paph as the latter has lots of aerial roots and looks very top heavy with limited bloom growth. Should I prune these off-shoots?
If you reply to this I shall try to answer more quickly. Thanks again.
Bob