BLC Cornerstone "Fine Circle" in Sheath!

[james mickelso]

Interesting premise. Watered well, many orchids can survive without water just fine. These have not been watered for two weeks. It's been both humid and dry during that time. I find the flowers last longer when not watered frequently. Again, the pbulbs hold enough moisture for the plant to flower. It is an adaption to seasonal variations in weather. No it is certainly not good for the plant. But they can and do survive and flower without moisture. Rupicolous laelias flower during the dry season in Brazil when no rain falls for a month or more. These laelias grow on rock with little to no moisture reserves in the rock. If you can keep your apt cool, that would help even more.

[NYCorchidman]

I guess I'll repeat myself by saying that in the wild, the "dry" season is a lot wetter than many people wrongly believe. It is actually not dry at all.
It just means the amount of water whether in the form of rain or heavy fogging is less than "rainy" or
"wetter" season.

No rain does not mean no water as plants still get quite a bit of water on a daily basis.

Plus, the example plant you mentioned, which I know still does get moisture during dry season (just much less but they still do), is not in any of my catt hybrid, so it is not relevant anyway.

Regarding my cattleyas, I'm not concerned about their survival as I know two weeks without water will not kill them, just probably makes them very dry, which is not healthy for the plants.
I'm just having a bad timing. I'm going on a vacation and plants are just getting ready to start blooming season.

By the way, you said it's been both humid and dry, I don't think that makes sense to me.
My place will be bone dry as it usually is other than a couple months of summer when humidity is higher.

Keeping the apartment cooler is an option but I rather not because leaving AC on 24/7 for two weeks will raise my bill more than I want to.

I'll have to see what happens when I get back. I love my plants but I need vacation and it is more important.

One more thing, you also mentioned that you find flowers last longer when plants are kept dry. This is also not logical because just take fresh cut flower for example. When they do not take up water well because the cut end goes bad, then the flowers wilt. You trim off those cut end just a little big revealing the "fresh" cut end again, then flowers often refresh themselves given that they were not gone too far, of course.
Flowers still attached to the plant get continuous water from the plant. Yes, cattleyas have some water stored in their pbs, but drying them too much while in bloom actually shortens up the life of flowers. When there is not enough water, it naturally just dries up. I think by saying dry, you meant not too wet. Then again, we are not using exact numerical figures but relative terms anyways, so there.
I know you grow lots of catts, but I buy MANY of them in bloom just to enjoy the blooms and toss.
Trust me, keeping them dry, and I mean dry dry, will kill flowers fast.

[james mickelso]

When I say dry, I mean no water at all for up to two weeks. Humid and dry in the span of one day is not unusual for here. Today is around 40% and by noon tomorrow will be around 10%. And warm. Orchids differ somewhat from terrestrial flowers like roses, chrysanthemum, or dalias in that the pbulbs if grown well have lots of moisture in them to sustain the flowers for quite awhile. And not all phals grow in rain tropical forests. The central highlands of Vietnam, which I am painfully aware of from the 60's gets very dry for up to 3 months of the year. I understand your reluctance to leave your orchids for your well earned vacation, but it looks like it's either vacation or orchids. Your choice. Me....I'd opt for a vacation. Let the orchids fend for themselves, get someone to come in and water once a week, put them in an orchid hotel, or since I am on enforced furlough from the government, send me a ticket and I'll water them once a week.

[james mickelso]

Here are some BLC's that haven't had water in two weeks. The white with deep red lip opened today and it hasn't been watered in over two weeks for fear of the buds rotting. The humidity has been anywhere from 10% to 60% depending on whether a santa ana was blowing. Also this orchid has numerous pbulbs which are supporting the flowering pbulb and flowers. There is ample moisture in the pbulbs to keep this plant going for awhile with no additional watering. No, definitely not good for the plant in the long term. But just to support my statements.