Vacation care
 

I'm currently in the hospital for a few weeks. It's not exactly vacation, but I suspect that's the best general umbrella topic.

I'm lucky enough to have a friend who can look after the 'chids for me. That is, of course, to say water them. I don't expect more than superficial attention and wonder what happens when I'm not so lucky that she can help.

In general, how can I automate vacation care?

One thought I have is a big bowl of water and capillary wicks. About 1/2 the collection is Paphs and Phals. Would just laying the wicks on top of the medium suffice? Dryer plants are in coarser media, so I've got to believe they could do well too, if this is even plausible.

I'd be happy to hear alternatives, and I'd love to hear about successes and failures.

Thank you

Some growers elect for automatic misting systems to do the lion's share of the watering. I don't have this system myself (I hand-water with a battery-powered tank sprayer), but it has worked for others.

Edited to add - the link for the MistKing came up on it's own! Holy advertising batman.

Thanks.

I grow indoors, so misting a lot would probably not work. However, the Mist King prompted memories of drip irrigation. I had that in my previous apartment for a while, but with my current health, I'm probably not up to all of design, construction and management. It was still a good fantasy for the morning. Maybe later.

I travel a lot, so this is a topic I think about often. I have seen videos on the internet where people use a wicking method similar to what you described. In general, they used a microfiber wick and worked it into the bottom of the pot, not the top. I have never tried this method personally, so I can't comment on its efficacy. I use a simpler strategy in which I build a temporary terrarium for the plants using large, translucent plastic storage boxes you can buy at big box stores.

I put the lid of the box on the floor and place as many plants that will fit onto the lid. I then lower the box itself onto the lid over the plants. I do not snap the lid into place, because I want a little space for air at the bottom. I then keep the boxes right next to the light shelves where the plants normally live, so they still get a little bit of light on the normal day-night cycle. The humidity in the box stays at ~80%. I have left my plants in this set up for at least two weeks and come back to find that the media is still moist and the plants look great. They then go right back onto the light shelves and thrive.

I like this idea with the plastic storage boxes - and I'd want a little airflow from a tiny fan to ensure rot/mold/fungus doesn't take over while you're gone. You could get a small fan and clip it onto a stake inside the box to keep the humid air moving around the plants.

I agree that a fan could be a good addition. Thanks for suggesting it!

OK, I'm back from the hospital and there were only a handful of casualties. Most were ultimately my fault. There were details about how I water that I didn't think were truly important. Now I know.

A couple of casualties were pleurothallids. Nothing about them to store water just made them impossible.

Well, I'm coming back to the idea of a wick to keep them wet. I grow on a window sill and my mounted plants hang on a trellis over a lazy susan. There is a platter that catches and holds maybe 3mm of water. I'm thinking of affixing a wick to some of the more delicate ones and letting it hang in the water below. (Oncidiums will be fine I imagine.)

Any advice on what to use? What's a good wick diameter? How much does material matter? Will cotten rot and break down too quickly? Does polyester work as well, but not break down? What other questions should I be asking?

Thanks.

You can enclose a moist pleurothallid in a large sealed jar and it will remain fine for many weeks.

Interesting thought. I know there are mini "greenhouses" that I could probably use too.

What about air circulation?

My experience has been they don't need any. I use pickle jars with lids. I have grown Pleurothallis niveoglobula, ruscifolia, and Specklinia picta in jars.