I need some help-- watering and Phals

[Pilot]

Hi all--

As some of you know, I'm new to this illness of orchid growing and I need some clarification on watering my plants. When I repotted my plants, I soaked the mix in water for 24 hours before, so the medium was plenty soaked by the time I repotted the plant in it. I then gave them a drink for good measure and then let them be. So, I have no watered these guys since then! I check the clear plastic pots and found "dew" on the sides of the pot and figured they had plenty of water in the pot-- so I let them be even longer-- and now its been over a week and though I don't see dew on the inside of the pots any longer, the bark near the bottom has retained water.

So I'm apprehensive to water these things again because what if the center of the pot is also still quite moist? The roots near the plastic appear green and plump on one plant while another is looking silvery and shrunken a bit. Even though both pots have wet bark at the bottom-- should i water the one with the silvery roots?

I realize some plants will need watered while others wont and can't just decide to water all my phals at the same time-- but I just want to make sure i'm not setting up the situation for rot.

I should mention, they are above a humidity tray (not touching water) and we have a humidifier pumping moisture into the air-- so I KNOW I have to alter my watering methods as things don't dry out as fast.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[l.ania]

Hmm... I would water the one with silver roots
About the cork in the bottom: I prefer to make samo drainage in the bottom, to avoid water stayin in the pot for too long
Good luck

[Zoi2]

I water when the roots go silver. Is one plant closer to the humidifier?
Joann

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by Zoi2

I water when the roots go silver. Is one plant closer to the humidifier?
Joann

None of them are close to the humidifier. The humidifier is a warm mist one that helps the entire apartment. We get a decent amount, too-- probably 50-60% on a given day (despite Colorado being in the single digit %'s at times).

All of them are above humidity trays all in the same area. I'm not sure why one would be more moist than the other except if you consider perhaps one has more roots? Dunno.

[l.ania]

Originally Posted by Pilot

All of them are above humidity trays all in the same area. I'm not sure why one would be more moist than the other except if you consider perhaps one has more roots? Dunno.

I suppose it depends of the each plant- some of mine dry faster than others. Maybe that's because one plant needs more water than the other

[RosieC]

Mine tend to dry at different speeds as well. I think it can depend on size of the plant and roots because mine which has hardly any roots always dries the slowest.

Personally I would water the one with silver roots and leave the one with green roots for now.

[camille1585]

If the roots are silvery, time to water. But if you are having doubts, it never hurts to wait another day. Phals can take dryness quite well. Beter to err on the side of underwatering rather than overwatering. As for drying out at different speeds, it depends on the amount of roots, or the surface area of the leaves, and if the plant is growing or resting. Since I like to do all the watering at once the ones that get dry before the others get a little bit of water poured in the pot.

[jkofferdahl]

Different plants will dry at different rates. You can try as hard as you want to be able to water all of the plants at once, but the plants will always override you.

The plant with the silver roots is close to ready to water. However, if you still see a little bit of condensation on the pot then you might want to wait another day.

[Pilot]

Camille-- is an orchid considered at rest when it is flower but not yet growing leaves? Flowering to me would suggest the plant is active but I know phals are considered active when growing a new leaf. I have four phals total-- and each one has varying leaves both in shape an surface area.

[camille1585]

I don't know if a phal in bloom is considered active since it's not growing anything,(just sitting there and looking pretty!) but it does need to supply nutrients to the spike and blooms. So I guess it's still more active than a phal with no spike!