Steve,

Well, I don't know whether they really missed me, since they did thrive
without me quite happily. :-)

Actually, of the 20 plants, I took 6 over to the house of friends of ours,
who already had a bit of orchid experience since they have a Phal of their
own, but just in case I provided them with detailed instructions including a
calendar with most likely watering schedule. I was the one who got these
friends into orchids in the first place. :-)

3 of the orchids that I took over to the friends are too small and require
more frequent watering, 2 were in flower and one was in bud very likely to
start flowering while I was gone. Basically the flowering and spiking ones I
added for the friends' enjoyment to make this a treat for them, and not just
a burden. They loved having the plants over, and the plants seemed to enjoy
their stay there, too.

My other 14 orchids are big enough, so that 14 days without watering is no
problem for them. However, I did soak them thoroughly during the day before
I left. They were all fine.

By the way, I once forgot to water one of my Doritaenopsis for about a
month. Its leaves were a bit wilted when I discovered this, but once I
started watering it again more regularly, it was just fine, and did not seem
to suffer any long term damage. This is one of the plants that is in bud
now, almost exactly a year after last time. I guess that we probably worry
too much about whether or not our orchids will be fine while we are gone for
vacation, and I suspect that most of them could easily make it without water
longer than we are willing to leave them, as long as this is a one time only
and not a regular underwatering regimen.

Best,
Joanna

"Steve" wrote in message
...


J Fortuna wrote:
Hi all,
......................................
.. while I was gone. Half of all my orchid plants (10 out of 20) are in
spike,
bud, or flower, and that seems unusually good for me in the middle of
summer................................

Wow, your orchids must have really missed you!

I see in your other post that you were gone 2 weeks. I'll be gone 8
days starting on Friday afternoon. My smaller Paphs are used to
being watered twice a week. What I have done with them in the past
is to sit them in a pan with just a little water. That keeps them
far to wet for a day or 2 but then they are only too dry for a few
days at the end.
I'm wondering how you managed 2 weeks. Are all your plants big
enough that 2 weeks of drying does no real harm?

Welcome home. :-)

Steve