Seems like I have to water constantly?

[GetsEclectic]

The idea of an inorganic potting medium is very attractive to me for all the reasons that people talk about on this board.

I have repotted about 12 orchids into LECA over the past two years and have been generally very successful. I did lose a couple to the mistake of repotting when they weren't actively growing new roots, but the rest seem happy and more than half of them have bloomed since their repotting.

My biggest issue now is that the medium always seems to dry out within 2-3 days. This isn't a problem as long as I'm home and taking care of them myself, but when I'm on vacation and asking other people to take care of them it is often an issue. I have had 2-3 plants that were about to bloom and then failed while I was on vacation.

I've tried a variety of different pots: tall, short, wide, thin, etc. I've also tried putting the drainage holes at various heights. I've tried a few different brands of LECA. I've tried adding a humidifer. Nothing seems to help.

If I don't water them for 3-4 days, they all become quite unhappy. Any ideas on how to improve this situation? Should I switch back to orchiata?

Attaching a photo of the most recent blooms to fail while on vacation. They have looked exactly the same for the past week so I'm pretty sure they're not going to open.

[Paphluvr]

They look like normal buds to me, not yellow and withered.

[GetsEclectic]

Yeah they don't look terrible but they seem to have stopped growing.

[Dollythehun]

Your plant looks great, I'd try to.be patient with the buds.

[GetsEclectic]

Yeah I will, just anxious I guess. Any suggestions for how I can lessen the frequency of watering anyway? I can water them every other day but it would be easier if I didn't have to.

[Dollythehun]

Switch to a moss mix.

[JScott]

I don't think that there is anything you can do to make the LECA retain moisture for a longer period of time. You could add other stuff to it, but all the moisture retentive stuff is organic, and adding that to LECA would defeat the purpose of using an inorganic medium.

I'm aware of the existence of rockwool, and I know people use that in their potting mixes sometimes. It looks fluffy like cotton, and it looks like it might be water retentive. I've never used it, but you might look into rockwool and see if adding that to your LECA would make it stay moist longer. But I think what you're hoping to find probably doesn't exist. If you can't water that frequently, you'll have to switch back to an organic medium.

[Ray]

If they're drying out that fast, you have to find a way to slow the evaporation.

The best alternative is to raise the relative humidity, but if that's not practical, why not experiment with a mechanical barrier?

One idea involves a piece of clear semi-rigid plastic - along the lines of a notebook sheet protector - cut into a circle about an inch smaller than the pot diameter, then slit to the center, where an opening is made to surround the base of the plant. No need to remove it when you water.

Evaporation will condense and drip back into the LECA.

[GetsEclectic]

I did buy a larger humidifer, we'll see if that helps. I tried to create a plastic cover over some of them with mixed success, will give it another go.

Thanks!

[Optimist]

I live in an arid environment, and in semi hydroponic can leave watering phals for a week to 10 days. My main problem is keeping ambient humidity up to at least 30% because buds and often new leaves will accordian in their sheaths and not break out formed correctly. Also, Phal buds can take quite a long time to develop.

As an epiphite phalenopsis orchids actually sit outside a pot, and gain their moisture from rain, mist, fog and other similar precipitation. This tidbit of knowledge can be used to rig up a method for keeping the orchid watered through a vacation.