Flushing with each watering - is monthly flush needed?

[JeffreyR]

Why??

For “normal” Phal care (and yes, I know it is not normal to be right side up in a pot), I didn’t do much beyond watering well with filtered tap water (soaking the roots for 5-10 minutes then draining well) when they needed it. Plus any remediation needed to address problems.

I cared more when I started fertilizing frequently. Don’t want too much or you’ll burn the roots. Don’t want too little or you are wasting your time. Don’t want buildup. Etc...

Now that I’m starting into S/H and fertilizing with each watering, and where I’m not planning to ever replace the media, it seems like getting it right matters more. I’d rather figure it out at the outset than from trial and error with my time and money and orchids.

I’d prefer to enjoy them than deal with easily avoidable problems.

From my perspective, that’s why.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by richardb

I really wonder why people get so worried about such things as TDS. I have grown successfully since the 1980's and never bothered.

I was the same way for the first ~20 years of growing, but as I have learned more and made improvements over the last 25, I can really see a big difference.

Originally Posted by richardb

When I was in Colombia looking around the natural habitats I never saw the Almighty measuring TDS of precipitation and juices running down rain forest trees before letting it rain.

You are ignoring the fact that all of those juices, oozings, and especially the rainfall have very low levels of dissolved solids. Published measurements have shown <15-25 ppm most of the time.

Originally Posted by richardb

Orchids are plants. They take what they want and ignore what they don't want - be sensible just don't offer them anything toxic.

Another minor detail you're forgetting: normal, everyday contaminants in water that are great for you and I can be toxic to some plants.

Tiny pleurothallids from high in the Andes only ever see fog as a liquid, so can be quite sensitive to even low solids content when irrigated.

If you want to ignore stuff, you're entitled to do so, but don't criticise folks who take a more serious approach.

[claypot]

There you go again......I was criticising nobody. Just expressing an opinion about what works for me. Others can pontificate about what SHOULD be done, but we are hobbyists who try to enjoy our plants. Over complication by amateurs often brings disappointment. You have a lot of experience too, Ray, but please do not condemn others opinions because they differ from yours - and who knows, other readers might even pick up a different tip from someone else.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by claypot

There you go again......I was criticising nobody. Just expressing an opinion about what works for me. Others can pontificate about what SHOULD be done, but we are hobbyists who try to enjoy our plants. Over complication by amateurs often brings disappointment. You have a lot of experience too, Ray, but please do not condemn others opinions because they differ from yours - and who knows, other readers might even pick up a different tip from someone else.

Claypot,

My objection was richardb's expression of a "don't bother, it's not worth it" opinion, not because it's universally untrue, but that it potentially leaves others with an incomplete understanding.

To elaborate, I was blissfully ignorant about such things - many things - for the first 20 years of being in the hobby, and my plants seemingly did fine. As I got the time to satisfy my curiosity and delve into more details about their culture, I learned things that improved my culture and led to better performance of my plants.

Looking at it from a different perspective: plants are genetically programmed to grow and flower. Given the exactly correct cultural parameters, they will do just that to the pinnacle of their capabilities. Anything lacking in that culture will prevent them from doing so. We, as growers, control those parameters, and it is we that, knowingly or not, put the obstacles in the plants' way. Sure, we can grow plants anyway, but it seems to me that knowing what roadblocks we might be creating, or at least not preventing, will put us and our plants on a better path to success.

Oh yeah. That plants "take what they want and ignore what they don't want" was just plain incorrect.

[claypot]

We agree to differ, Ray. The whole idea of a forum is for participants to contribute, discuss and learn from one another. We all have our own experiences and opinions. The one basic factor which does not change is that there is no right way to grow orchids (or any other plant). It all depends on personal choices and available conditions. Hearing how others do things is never a bad thing.

[JeffreyR]

As the OP, I'll chime in here.

I don't expect everyone to agree with each other, and I actually benefit from differing viewpoints. But tone and delivery matter. I don't want to feel, especially as a beginner, that I'm being dismissed or shut down. I don't want to justify my questions or concerns.

I asked some specific questions and got very helpful answers and followup. I appreciated that.

Claypot, your answer "I fertilize every watering and never flush. With +/- 700 plants that has worked fine for me, but bear in mind that orchids are very weak feeders so "weakly weekly" is my motto." was great and non-judgmental and I appreciated it.

RichardB's answer, basically telling me not to worry , to just water and (I'm paraphrasing here) not do anything stupid, wasn't so much appreciated.

Perhaps I misread his tone or message. Others seem to feel the same. But I'm asking questions so that I don't do anything stupid. S/H is not intuitive and the details matter.

So disagree if you like on the details, and offer help (much appreciated), but don't give people a hard time for helping me.

Thanks.

[richardb]

Things are getting very sensitive here. Please take a look again at the posting you consider offensive. You will see that it begins "I often wonder why....". Thus the post was intended as musings not specific instructions or criticism of anybody - just personal thoughts on paper.
In fact, I find many of the responses to that posting as highly offensive on what was intended as a light hearted comment to demystify orchid growing. I have complained to the moderator accordingly. I remain convinced that simplicity is key to growing orchids by understanding their natural habitat. My own success and prizes attest to that. Everyone does it how it works for them learning about alternative techniques from others which they might or might not choose to follow.
Enjoying your plants is the key factor.

[Ray]

Richardb/Claypot (I suspect you're one person), I'll agree I may have reacted too strongly, but to me, the opening of that post was somewhat offensive, as it seemed to be passive/aggressively critical of folks who do care to look at the details, so think before calling the kettle black...

I certainly agree with your statement that a key to growing orchids is understanding their natural habitat, and that is precisely how I have developed my culture regimen for my collection, but I like to delve into the details, while you apparently prefer comfortable with a visual interpretation. Great! Different strokes for different folks!

I agree 100% that "enjoying your plants is a key factor", but let us understand that all of us don't enjoy them the same way.

[WaterWitchin]

I presume we're all talking about the OP's question here, which involves flushing in a traditional S/H setup? Not flushing or whether to flush with straight water once a month does not require the same answer as someone who grows in an organic media.

I'm not sure we're all on the same page. And yes, TDS can be a problem...depending on one's water and the type of "solids" in that water. So finding out what is in one's own particular water is important. In other words, I believe JeffreyR was asking for information specific to his particular cultural care, plus wanting to grow a better orchid instead of a survival of the fittest query.

Just sayin'... we're on the S/H thread here, so if the individual is to be helpful, post with specifics about questions of growing that way that address the question, not generalities. Or how many orchids one has, or prizes won. Irrelevant to the issue.

[Cheddarbob14]

Every single opinion on here should be taken with a grain of salt. We've all had our achievements and our failures, in our own growing environments. On this page alone I see Philly, NC, Kansas, (I assume) the UK, and now MI being represented. A wide range of growing conditions that should be taken into consideration with every bit of advice we all give, and receive.

On that note, as far as the OP is concerned, how frequent are the "regular waterings at 25ppm occuring"? I assume this would affect the answer on potential monthly cleansing