Orchid care when one is away from home
 

Am wondering what is the best way to deal with one's orchids when one has to be away for up to three weeks? We have a friend who is willing to stop in once a week to water (she has orchids also, but we're both fairly new to this). Is once a week enough? Soak them well, or err on the dry side? I have them in trays that I can put water in to supply some humidity. Most are on shelves in east windows. Many thanks for suggestions.

I suppose it depends on the types of orchids , and the pot size/media,but there are things you can do.
Keep humidity high,soak well before leaving,double pot with moss small ,and or moister growing things,and even put in clear plastic (dry-cleaning)bags loosely closed.
Never let plants sit in water,and yes do err on the dry side.Keep temps cool.
Good luck

I wouldn't worry too much
 

Sunflower,
I too have had concerns about leaving / watering. I'm sure someone could correct me if i am wrong, but I'll bet most of your orchids would survive if you just watered them once before you left.

IMHO, a friend watering them once a week would be fine. I have a few different species and I am in the military and frequently have a friend water while I am away.

Have a good trip

J

I just got back from a three week trip myself. My mother was good enough to come water my orchids once a week and they all look fine (I did have her err on the dry side). Still, I think she came out of it more stressed than they did. Of course my orchids are all potted one way or another and I don't have any mounts.

---------- Post added at 11:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:24 PM ----------

Oh, and welcome to the board!
:welcomeflowers:

In the winter months if I turn down the heat and water very well before leaving, my orchids can do fine for 2 weeks. If I leave for 3 weeks then I usually ask someone to stop by after 10 days to give them a quick watering. Depending on what orchids you have and how cool you leave them, they could probably last the 3 weeks just fine.

I'm doing the once a week for another member's greenhouse and it works without a problem because I've done it before.

lower overnight temps -say 65 - and higher humidity would be ideal for a watering every 10 days. I have 2 cheap 2 gallon Walgreens auto shut-off humidifiers on timers that go on at different times for about 2/3 hours. Your friend would obviously have to refill these every week.
If you have a humidifier on your furnace ( that works! ), you wouldn't need the portables.
That's my winter care trip advice, I have used it and it worked well.

Somewhere I recall a thread where someone forgot to water theirs for a long time and they were shocked how happy the orchids were at the neglect. Of course, it does depend upon many factors such as medium, temp, pot size, mounted or not, humidity, air flow, and type of orchid to name a few.

My mounted and tolumnias I give to a friend or neighbors, the rest I just water really good before I leave and don't worry about.

As long as you don't have anything that needs water every day or 2, once a week should be just fine. Their tougher than you think.

Many many thanks to all of you who answered my plea and gave me such good tips and assurances; much appreciated, and I will not worry.... will water well andhave friend come every 10 days. May try the humidifier on a time switch also..... and leave temp. thermostat on 65.

I grow some of my orchids in vases and if I'm leaving for an extended period I will wrap a damp cloth about the roots...extends those every day or so orchids that need watering to several days.


Ryan

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That's a really good idea! I'll keep that one in mind.
That's one of the reasons I like to plant mine in baskets with sphag and charcoal. They don't need water every day then.

I just went away for 2 weeks, and had my boyfriend water the orchids at the one week mark. They were all fine when I got home, including my angraecum leonis which I grow in a vase rather than in a pot.

Aside from looking very thirsty when I got home, the only orchid that lost leaves from the dryness was my dendrobium victoria reginae. All my phals, paphs, and oncidiums were completely fine.

I've also once left a phal that was in spike without water for 3 weeks straight. It was very droppy by the time I got back to it and lost a bottom leaf... but it kept the flowers and recovered in no time.

Most orchids do prefer to be under watered rather than over watered.

I too grow some in baskets of hydroton but even then with my arid enviro I still wrap them. It's always the battled of desiccation here!!!!!!


Ryan

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Wrapping them is definitely a good idea. We get dry in the summer here, but in the winter the humidity can be 70 - 90% here in the house. I have a fan on them to be sure that they dry fairly quickly.

When I left for a ten day vacation, I watered my orchids thouroughly and kept the tempuratures a little cooler than usual. They were all fine when I got back. I used a self watering method for my mounted orchid. I used paper towels with one end in a dish of water and the other end covering the roots and it worked wonderfully!

I took a 10-day vacation last year and it was the first time that I didn't have to have someone come over to water the orchids for me.

For the orchids that needed to be watered every day (tols, mounted orchids, random water-loving houseplants), I bought a cheapo pump system that clips onto the side of a plastic 5 gallon bucket (like this one Automatic Plant Watering System with Bucket). It's a blunt instrument and poorly made - you couldn't use it year-round, but for a week or two here or there, it sure does the trick. These orchids / plants went in the sink and on the drying rack and the bucket with the pump sat on the counter. It took about 30minutes to set up and test, but then the whole system was on auto pilot. All of these plants looked good when I got back - they were well watered and no worse for the ware.

For the orchids that only need to be watered weekly or twice a week - I gave them a good soaking the morning that we left and then put them in gallon Ziploc bags with a damp paper towel. I only closed the bags half way, to allow some air circulation. For the orchids that didn't fit, I either put the bag upside-down over the orchid (so that the open end of the bag faced the ground) or I put the pot in the Ziploc bag and let the foliage stick out the top. This way each orchid had its own moisture-retaining plastic enclosure. I was a little worried about fungal issues - but committed to the experiment. I set the thermostat for 65 and left. I'm happy to say that when I returned, everything looked great and there were no fungal issues! Some of the seedlings phals looked better than when I left them!

It was a labor-intensive set up (for 40-50 orchids), but I didn't loose or damage any orchids... so worth the effort.

- J

Boy! That makes me glad that I have 80 year old Mary living only a few doors away! She looked after the whole lot, including a parrotlet, koi, fish tank and bunny.
It's good to know that If I need them there are alternatives.

Thanks so much Orchid Boy and jrodpad for you useful ideas; I may try the plastic bags on some of my orchids, for sure. My house is much too dry in the winter. I even have added a little sphagnum moss to my phals and phrags to keep more even moisture for them..... yes, am a bit concerned about the fungal issue.

I travel to see family every few months, usually for about 5-6 days. Most of my orchids can last for a week without water. The mounted orchids, I will often place a terrarium top over them (I hope open-bottomed terrariums--basically a glass case you place over plants).

Thank you Analyst; the terrarium would be a good idea for my two mounted Tolumnias.

You know, ironically I haven't put my mounted Tolumnia in the terrarium while away. I'm still trying to get to know it. I've had it for about 9.5 months and hasn't bloomed yet, but doing well otherwise.

Analyst, I have two Tolumnias which I bought 7 months ago while they were blooming; lovely little flowers. I have to soak them every-other-day to keep them moist. They seem to be doing well, but no new growth yet..... I fear my house is too dry, so have begun misting all my orchids with a hand sprayer (and rainwater) almost every day. Have seen some new root growth at crown level on some plants.

I water tol's every day and am interested in what others do with them on vacation.