"Dry by night time"

[SouthPark]

I only recently saw a clip on a pretty good Australian gardening tv show ------ that featured an owner of an Australian orchid nursery - and interestingly his nursery is really called 'Australian Orchid Nursery'.

Quite a nice clip, and we can excuse the gardening show's mistakes with orchid name convention (eg. they wrote things like Dendrobium 'Flinders' instead of Dendrobium Flinders etc).

Anyway, at time 5 min 33 sec into the clip, the nursery owner mentioned something about watering ---- as in (quote) 'you want those leaves dry by night time so you don't get fungal and bacterial infections'.

Anybody heard this before? I reckon some explanation is probably needed there - such as some regions experience still or relatively still air when the sun goes down, or something. Or relatively less drying or evaporation effect at night time etc. Or those things mentioned, and maybe made worse if orchids are contained in a green-house that doesn't have much air-movement inside.

In forests or rainforest, and places out in the wild, and in people's back yards (with orchids out in the open outdoors) - there sure are going to be orchids having their leaves and stems wet at night time.

Australian Native Orchids at Australian Orchid Nursery - YouTube

[Keysguy]

I've heard it SP. A lot! And I don't buy into it.
It's absurd to me because this would infer that it never rains at night in native orchid habitat. If it did, we wouldn't have any orchids, would we?

[JScott]

I've heard it a lot. I don't think it matters that much. You should avoid getting water in the crowns of plants, or lodged in new Cattleya growths, as that can lead to rot, but having water on the leaves won't hurt anything.

I leave for work at 6 in the morning. I don't have time to water that early. I water whenever I can, which is usually early evening. I've never had any problems with water on the leaves causing disease. Especially if you have good air movement, which you should, the leaves will be dry shortly after you water, no matter what time it is.

[rbarata]

It depends on the orchid and season.

[Ray]

I think you’re trying to compare apples and oranges, or at a minimum, Cherry-picking details to support an argument.

“Home growing” and “in the wild” are totally different environments. In the latter situation, the environment is overrun with microbes, some of which are pathogens, but there are an equally large population of those that secrete antibiotics to kill the pathogens. In our homes and greenhouses, the “balance” is far more tentative, so can be tilted one way or another very easily.

Then there is growth habit. Those growing in rainforests tend to be more pendant, so there are fewer pockets of water, which can be great pathogen incubators. We artificially keep stuff like phals upright.

It also helps to think about the dynamics of the situation. That pocket of water in a “domesticated” plant just sits there, allowing pathogens to replicate. In a rainfall situation, that water is being constantly flushed, keeping it clean.

We should also keep in mind that plants in the wild do rot. Far more than is seen in our plants. Have you ever seen orchids in rainforests? They can be pretty nasty looking.

The bottom line is that plants left with standing water do tend to rot more often than plants that are dry by nightfall. Is it an “all or nothing” scenario? Of course not.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by Ray

I think you’re trying to compare apples and oranges, or at a minimum, Cherry-picking details to support an argument.

“Home growing” and “in the wild” are totally different environments. In the latter situation, the environment is overrun with microbes, some of which are pathogens, but there are an equally large population of those that secrete antibiotics to kill the pathogens. In our homes and greenhouses, the “balance” is far more tentative, so can be tilted one way or another very easily.

Then there is growth habit. Those growing in rainforests tend to be more pendant, so there are fewer pockets of water, which can be great pathogen incubators. We artificially keep stuff like phals upright.

It also helps to think about the dynamics of the situation. That pocket of water in a “domesticated” plant just sits there, allowing pathogens to replicate. In a rainfall situation, that water is being constantly flushed, keeping it clean.

We should also keep in mind that plants in the wild do rot. Far more than is seen in our plants. Have you ever seen orchids in rainforests? They can be pretty nasty looking.

The bottom line is that plants left with standing water do tend to rot more often than plants that are dry by nightfall. Is it an “all or nothing” scenario? Of course not.

Yes, when I'm watering late in the day I'm careful not to let water collect in hollow or depressions where it might stay overnight, such as on he crown of a phal, or a developing Cattleya growth. If I get water in those places, I typically just blow a strong gust of breath into the area where the water is collected to get the water out. But as far as having drops of water on the leaves, I've never had a problem. Especially when the nights are warm, that water will not take long to evaporate, leaving the leaves to dry. But I don't let water collect anywhere where it might stay for a long period and potentially cause rot.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Ray

I think you’re trying to compare apples and oranges, or at a minimum, Cherry-picking details to support an argument.

No comparisons between apples to oranges have been seen in this thread as yet. And no cherry-picking of details to support any argument has been seen as yet in this thread.

Originally Posted by Ray

“Home growing” and “in the wild” are totally different environments.

In general, yes it is. That is true. Although there are home growing environments that could be similar too.

Many growers will have orchids growing outdoors - and the leaves of their orchids get wet at night time (when watered), and no issues arise at all.

Originally Posted by Ray

We should also keep in mind that plants in the wild do rot. Far more than is seen in our plants. Have you ever seen orchids in rainforests? They can be pretty nasty looking.

They can indeed. This was recently mentioned in some other thread on OrchidBoard - regarding orchids in the wild - I can't remember which thread it was right now, but I mentioned that orchids in the wild that happen to be growing in suitable spots survive, while others that just so-happen to get dealt with unsuitable spots at any time may/will die/rot etc.

I just reckon that more explanation was needed from the comment about 'you want those leaves dry by night time so you don't get fungal and bacterial infections' - such as - for a greenhouse or any growing area with little or no air-movement.

My Angraecum and Dendrobiums living outdoors gets water bombed by lawn pop-up sprinklers around 1 AM almost every night (because I have to switch off the sprinklers if rainy to avoid waterlogging the normal plants in the garden), and they've been just fine for more than a few decades. Leaves, stem, crown, roots water bombed - nearly every night of the year (not on rainy days/nights) - potted in scoria. No issues.

[estación seca]

Orchids grown in less-than-ideal conditions are a lot more susceptible to fungus. Many people's homes are at the very low end of temperature tolerance for a lot of the orchids they grow. Many people's enclosed greenhouses are much more humid than ideal. This advice makes sense for constantly stressed orchids.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

They can indeed. This was recently mentioned in some other thread on OrchidBoard - regarding orchids in the wild - I can't remember which thread it was right now, but I mentioned that orchids in the wild that happen to be growing in suitable spots survive, while others that just so-happen to get dealt with unsuitable spots at any time may/will die/rot etc.

Found it. Click Here

[Keysguy]

In fairness, despite my rant I recently have started to mount all of my Phal's on cedar shingles. And obviously when I say "mounted" I mean "upside down".
Phal's to me are the #1 obvious candidate to suffer from crown rot due to water sitting in the crown so I decided to avoid the issue by doing what I've done as they are outside 24/7/365.