Watering, My Memory Guide
Ah, easy you say, you only just have to water them all at once and the problem is solved!
Some say to pick up the pot and if it feels light, it’s dry, great if you have a fantastic memory to remember the wet/dry weight of every pot in your orchid house.
I do not use a hose but a two litre watering can with a rose spray head attached. This may seem slow but it makes sure each pot receives the right amount of water.
How many a seedling have you had die because you over watered or not watered them at all.
I like to use rain water when it is available, but have to rely on town water most of the year. I store this in 20 litre plastic buckets for at least one day, this helps to get rid of all the additives they use in the town water supply.
This is my Watering Memory Guide - as we grow older and grow more orchids in different size pots, different species that have different watering requirements, etc. The problem of when I watered each lot last arises, especially for me.
To overcome this problem I work on a system of tags, designated for each lot of orchids I am growing.
I deflask and grow lots of seedling orchids. They need constant attention to their watering needs for the first year. In summer they need watering every one to two days, constant misting on hot days to keep the foliage damp as their root system has not developed enough to supply water needs from deep down in the potting mix.
In summer orchids of say, 50 mm pots may require watering every day. Other orchids in 80 mm pots maybe every two to three days, other bigger size pots maybe on a four or five days' cycle.
I try to group each pot size together to make watering easier. I group all the 80 mm pots of Paphs together as it also makes watering easier to remember. These groups are given a tag showing a day last watered and last fertilized on.
In summer orchids of say, 50 mm pots may require watering every day. Other orchids in 80 mm pots maybe every two to three days, other bigger size pots maybe on a four or five days' cycle.
I try to group each pot size together to make watering easier. I group all the 80 mm pots of Paphs together as it also makes watering easier to remember. These groups are given a tag showing a day last watered and last fertilized on.
I made these tags out of an old aluminium gold coloured blind, picked up cheaply at a recycle depot. I have cut them at about 100 mm in length, drilled a hole near one end and made up a ring out of 2.5 mm galvanized tie wire.
I put seven of these pieces onto each wire circle and write the seven days of the week on them, i.e. Monday, Tuesday, etc. I then hang them close to the group of orchids that they refer too.
On another wire circle I put a tag with “Fertilize last watering day” on one side and on the other side “Fertilize next watering day”. These I find help me greatly in trying to remember each group or different size pots I water every day.
Finally I put one tag on a wire circle and write the name of the orchid that they refer too.
Then the hardest part is now remembering to turn each tag over after watering or fertilizing... this I try to do on each group as I water. It may not be fool proof, but saves me a lot of worry and so far I have not lost a plant to over or under watering since I started using this system.
There is on the market, a "Moisture Probe” that measures the degree of moisture in the soil. Plant nurseries and farmers use them with great success, but maybe OK on the more compact Cymbidium mixes, but the other more open types of mixes may cause a problem trying to get accurate measurement.
I hope I have been able to pass on a few tips that may make your hobby of growing orchids more easier and enjoyable.
Cheerio and good growing.
Ron Boyd [email protected]
I put seven of these pieces onto each wire circle and write the seven days of the week on them, i.e. Monday, Tuesday, etc. I then hang them close to the group of orchids that they refer too.
On another wire circle I put a tag with “Fertilize last watering day” on one side and on the other side “Fertilize next watering day”. These I find help me greatly in trying to remember each group or different size pots I water every day.
Finally I put one tag on a wire circle and write the name of the orchid that they refer too.
Then the hardest part is now remembering to turn each tag over after watering or fertilizing... this I try to do on each group as I water. It may not be fool proof, but saves me a lot of worry and so far I have not lost a plant to over or under watering since I started using this system.
There is on the market, a "Moisture Probe” that measures the degree of moisture in the soil. Plant nurseries and farmers use them with great success, but maybe OK on the more compact Cymbidium mixes, but the other more open types of mixes may cause a problem trying to get accurate measurement.
I hope I have been able to pass on a few tips that may make your hobby of growing orchids more easier and enjoyable.
Cheerio and good growing.
Ron Boyd [email protected]