On Jun 5, 11:27*pm, "K Barrett" wrote:
I like what you've written. *The #1 advice I usually give for Phals is that
they like what you like. *Would you go to bed with wet feet? No. *Do you
like temperatures over 85 degrees? *No. *Or colder than 60? No. *No drafts,
either. Would you like to be doused with ice cubes unless you'd coached the
Super Bowl? *No. *So they like the same conditions that you like.

K"Pat Brennan" wrote in message

g.com...

Here is the new sheet I am going to this weekend's show armed with. *It
will
take forever to get it up on the web so I just cut and pasted it here.

Pat

How Do I Water My Orchid Properly if it's Planted in Moss?

We plant all our phalaenopsis and some of our other types of orchids in
long-fiber sphagnum moss. *This is not your usual craft store sphagnum
moss, which is a short, stubby fibered thing used for decoration. *This is
a sterilized, long-fibered moss from New Zealand, Chile, or other
locations around the world. *Because it is long-fibered versus short, it
will stay light and airy in the pot and not pack down into a wet mess. *We
really do favor this potting medium because we have found it to be clean,
less hospitable as a home for bugs than bark, and easy to detect when the
plant is ready to be watered.

So how do you know when to water your plant? *Well, you give it the "pinch
test." *Pinch the moss at the top of the pot, no deeper than the first
knuckle on your index finger. *If, when you pinch the medium, you can feel
moisture, do not water. *If the mix is dry when you pinch it, then it's
ready to be thoroughly watered with lukewarm or room temperature water.
Take the plant to the sink and water the pot until the water is gushing
out of the bottom drainage holes. I said pot, and I meant it. *Don't let
water splash into the leaf crevices and sit there. *That would encourage
crown rot, which is often fatal. *You water this way to simulate a quick,
tropical thunderstorm, which is what the plant would have gotten in its
natural habitat. *Let the plant drain thoroughly and then put it back
wherever it was growing happily. *When you put the plant back, do not turn
the plant like you would some houseplants. *Orchids like to maintain their
exact same orientation towards the light. *Turning them forces them to
adjust and will discourage and confuse them.

I must address some watering silliness that has popped up from big box
store sellers. *The watering instructions on some of the orchids they are
selling tell you to put a certain number of ice cubes on the plant every
week. *I can only assume that they believe your expectations for your
orchid are the same as if it were cut flowers. *Watering with an ice cube
will prevent you from killing the plant by overwatering while it is in
bloom. *Then they expect you to toss it in the trash like a spent bouquet
and buy another.

Tropical plants like orchids have never met an ice cube before. *An ice
cube touching a leaf or root will kill that tissue. *Over the long term,
ice cubes will not provide enough water to sustain the plant. *Food can
not be delivered through ice cubes. *If you plan to keep your orchid for
any period of time, do not put ice on it. *Enough said.

All of these instructions are appropriate for our plants potted in our
long-fiber moss mix. *If your plant is in bark, please ask the grower for
his instructions on proper watering. *Enjoy your plant.

I just ran into this the other day at a neighborhood picnic. But in
this case, the person said she'd had the orchid--a dendrobium for five
years and all that time had done nothing but put one ice cube on it
every morning. Then, she said, she met someone who was supposed to
know about orchid who sold her some orchid fertilizer and told her to
water with it, weakly weekly. And the dendrobium promptly died. Was
potted in bark mix of some sort, media looked fine. Totally bizarre!

Janet