watering and misting

[ewbie]

Hi! Even if my orchids are with me for a year and a half already, (well, i bought them in bloom) until now they haven't bloom for me.
I have encountered on another thread about watering. My question is : is watering and misting the same? I often read like for dendrobium they want to be dried before watering again. So, I followed it but I noticed that spider mites tend to attack my plants. But if I mist the leaves, the medium tends to get wet again. So what is the right watering and misting? If the medium would always be wet then my dendrobium will be leafless and keeps on producing babies.
Thank you in advance.

[mayres]

Hi ewbie!
There seem to be more people who mist than don't, but many people seem to think there is not much benefit for plants that are potted. Plants that are mounted are another matter - as this does to a degree amount to a watering - as well as the more intense soaking they also often get - depending upon who, what and where. I think you will find that most people when they talk about misting are home growers that are just spritzing their plants with a spray bottle to add humidity, which in reality is not doing much to add room humidity (or even in the plant's vicinity). If the plant is on the dry side it certainly will benefit somewhat from this kind of "watering", but usually when people talk about watering they mean running water through the media and to a lesser degree soaking the pot/media in a container of water for a period of time. Of course commercial and even home greenhouses are often outfitted with automated humidifiers that let out a mist periodically to maintain desired humidity within the enclosed environment.
I would think spider mites attacking your plant would be a different issue unrelated to whether or not you are watering or misting?
Will see how others respond to your question........
mike

[atcrosby]

I am not understanding the comments about spider mights when watering your plants. Misting your plants at the wrong time of day leads to fungus on the orchid but never draws bugs. The exception to this is if it's really really dry then they're looking for water source.

I would recommend you use NEEM Oil which is natural treatment for insects. Do a search on this forum and there are several threads on using this to treat bug infestations. The good thing about NEEM Oil is it will also drive away bugs since there's something in there they just don't like.

Here's a link to the thread .. NEEM Oil

[arleneg]

I just wanted to add to Mike's comment on misting. Misting is helpful for orchids that have roots growing out of the pots. Watering (running water) gets the roots within the pot. Misting will get the roots out of the pot. Plus, it will help prevent them from drying out, especially if you live in a low humidity environment.

[mayres]

I'm going with what you are saying as being the truth Arlene, even though I have never been sure how much benefit is actually being achieved. I have a number of phals in my office environment - it is air conditioned and dry to be sure - so I do try and mist the air roots at least once, if not twice, a day Monday through Friday. I've never done a test of one with and one without to see if there was any difference, but they have flourished for a few years now so something good must be happening? Until proved otherwise I will stick with the misting......

[ewbie]

Thank you for all your responses. Actually, I'm from Asia and neem oil is not yet popular here. What I have is insecticidal in powder form.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Bcoz spider mites attack the plants if humidity is dry, so what I do is mist the plants in the morning. I thought it could increase humidity. Now that misting doesn't do any good in preventing the mites, should I apply insectide every week to prevent it? Or is once a month enough?

Sorry for the confusing questions. But, I really have problems with mites. They are the silent killers. I always buy the very healthy plants but I notice when it's under my care it's health would deteriorate. And when I try to wipe the leaves with cotton I would see them on it. Grrr...

Thanks in advance.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Most insecticides will not kill mites. You need to check the label to see if mites are listed as something the product is effective against. Do you live in a very warm climate? There are other oils that are effective against mites, but warm weather is not compatible with the various oil sprays. Putting your location in your profile is a help to those of us that will be answering your questions. Cynthia

[ewbie]

how do I edit my profile? anyway, am from Phils. in SE Asia

[mayres]

Click on "User CP" at the top left at the header, Select "Edit Profile" from the next list on the left, Scroll down a ways till you get to "Additional Information", fill in the input cells for "Location" and/or other potential information.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Ewbie, if you have cooler weather in the winter time, and the daytime temp gets down to 70F (21C) or less, you probably can use an oil spray. Maybe even 75F. Also, spraying in the evening, or on overcaste days, or better yet, in the evening when over caste is expected the next day may be best. If you can order things on the internet, you may be able to find a miticide that is not an oil spray, but experiment on a plant or two first, then wait about three weeks for any signs of stress in the plants before treating them all. Cynthia

[ewbie]

Cynthia and Mayres, thank you so much for helping me out. I'll try what you've suggested.

Btw, Cynthia, I saw the pictures on your web page and I so envy them. I sure hope someday I could have those beautiful flowers in my garden. Even just a few of it. I'm inspired.

Thanks again.