"Dry by night time"

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by JScott

sheaths

Oh geez ....... true. Water in open sheaths of developing flowers (eg. catts with sheaths) can be a show stopper for sure. Show stopper for flowers and more. Good point.

Originally Posted by Roberta

Too many plants, many of which are mounted, to water "surgically".

Very true! Considerations about how and when to water are also necessary for relatively large collections.

[thefish1337]

Never had an issue with leaving water in the crown, if its really built up in a sheath sometimes I'll blow out the water but most of the time I'm too lazy. I have a small fan that keeps airflow to the orchids. Better to water more often than ever have to worry about rots.

In my opinion, another thing that plays into this is the dissolved oxygen at various water temperatures- watering with really warm water promotes rapid, anaerobic bacterial and fungal growth because it does not hold much oxygen and the temperature accelerates microbial activity. It can also make it easier to "drown" the roots if you aren't growing in an adequately airy mix. Watering with 68F water holds about 20% more oxygen than 86f water. These are the maximum possible ppm values so the numbers can be a lot lower in stagnant reservoirs, hoses with out sprayers, ect. Orchids like rain water which pretty much always is at maximum oxygen saturation.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

JS ....... the post about watering plants in the evening didn't mention whether the leaves were watered too. Whether the leaves were watered or not isn't the actual issue. It just wasn't clear about what was meant by 'watering at night' heheh. I don't mean your post. I meant the former.

When I water at night, Usually just take the hose and hose them all down, leaves and all. But in the summer, it is warm enough at night that it doesn't matter.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by thefish1337

In my opinion, another thing that plays into this is the dissolved oxygen at various water temperatures- watering with really warm water promotes rapid, anaerobic bacterial and fungal growth because it does not hold much oxygen and the temperature accelerates microbial activity. It can also make it easier to "drown" the roots if you aren't growing in an adequately airy mix. Watering with 68F water holds about 20% more oxygen than 86f water. These are the maximum possible ppm values so the numbers can be a lot lower in stagnant reservoirs, hoses with out sprayers, ect. Orchids like rain water which pretty much always is at maximum oxygen saturation.

I think this is the sort of details that will help with education of us orchid growers! As in ----- when people have some idea about generally what actually happens - even basically - when water is hanging around under certain conditions on or between leaves or roots etc, then that will be quite handy information to know. For the benefit of orchids and growers.