Sprinklers for orchids hanging in tree?

[WaterWitchin]

Thank you SO much Roberta. I sure haven't reached that level yet, but I'm working on it! Maybe I just need more orchids to give me that last push?

[Benno]

I'm interested in the same thing it's not just the time factor, in our relatively mild winters, on work days the only time I can really water is when I get home in the evening which is not ideal.

However I have a mix of phals, dendrobians, oncidiums and cymbidiums - in different levels of maturity in different sized pots, all in orchiata bark and if I set up a timer to water the most thirsty orchids, the cattleyas and dendros are never going to dry out... Currently each individual plant is watered independently when needed. (Which does mean most days I'm watering something).

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Benno

Currently each individual plant is watered independently when needed. (Which does mean most days I'm watering something).

One of the tricks to successfully automating watering is to - by proper selection of pot, basket, mount, and medium - make the "when needed" factor be at the same time for all of your plants.

I did find, in that process, that I moved toward everything needing to be watered more often, but since it was automated, that's not an issue. The bonus is that more frequent watering leads to faster growth.

[Roberta]

Ray nailed it... if you can pot/mount/basket and adjust media, you can properly water plants with a wide range of needs together and have each get what it wants. For instance, I have Laelia anceps (which must dry out between waterings) mounted or in baskets with minimal media hanging above the Cymbidiums that like to stay damp, in plastic pots with small bark. Choice of location was that this was the spot with the ideal light for both (a lot). In the middle of summer, I may water every day - the L. anceps are dry in two hours, the Cyms stay damp. So make the container/media decision when you pot (every few years) instead of worrying about when you water every few days or so. Much easier.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Originally Posted by Roberta

You're correct.. I have a 1 HP shallow-well pump for the RO, and another one for the waste that waters the front yard. They generate enough pressure and volume to do what I need them to do.

Here is my setup. The RO barrel is on the right. The effluent barrels are on the left, the pump on the effluent system is under the blue cover and is identical to the RO pump. The lower set of sprinkler controllers are for the back yard (RO area and others) and the upper set manages the front yard. The RO system is just behind the effluent pump, on the wall (I have black cloth over the filters which have clear housings, to keep algae under control)

this picture is like orchid porn for me...really well done setup!!!!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

this picture is like orchid porn for me...really well done setup!!!!

Thanks! It does what I need it to do. The last couple of weeks (horrendously low humidity) I have been beating the daylights out of my system, watering mounted plants twice a day. The front lawn is happy too... because I also have to dump effluent. Enough capacity to get what I need when I need it, just have to run it harder and longer than usual. Hopefully, won't have to do that much longer, forecasts looking better.

[DirtyCoconuts]

this thread inspired me a while back so i wanted to share this little quarantine project.

i had a bum sprinkler head in the yard so instead of replacing it i made a drip line....in the trees.

It all indirect...it flows down the branches to maximize the rain wash effect



Tree rain by J Solo, on Flickr

Tree rain by J Solo, on Flickr

---------- Post added at 11:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 AM ----------

the pics are a bit deceiving - the sprayer head is about 20' in the tree and the orchids hang quite a bit below them