to water or not to water, thats the question

[uffe3667]

After reading about the "Skewer method" i thought i sound a solution to my watering insecurity. However I'm now more in doubt than ever.
After having inserted a bamboo skewer into all of my phals, i am seeing dry looking roots (on the outside of the pot), all silvery white, but wet feeling skewers (inserted in the middle of the pot). Will the outside rots survive if i postpone watering untill the center of the pots dry out?
(Growing Phalaenopsis in bark and pots with slits on the side of the pots)

[mehitabel]

Another way to tell if a pot needs watering is simply to lift it. Next time you do water, lift the pot and feel the heaviness of it. When the pot feels light, then water. Takes only a few trials before this becomes quite accurate.

You can also use several signals -- skewer + lift the pot + feel with your finger, etc etc

[katsrevenge]

When I have this, I lightly mist the outside roots but not the pot. That way everyone stays semi happy.

[patticake]

I agree with the response from "kats" above! I water with a hand pump sprayer. I water all the medium with it. The spray dampens the mixture on the surface, without getting the lower part soggy. I've learned with time and practice, which ones to hover over longer, and which ones to give a quick spritz to.

[maiseymoo]

I agree with mehitabel, lift the pot to see how heavy it feels. If the pots are clear you can also tell by looking for condensation in the pots, if there is condensation don't water if there isn't water them, I grow inside using bark and generally water about every 10-14 days depending on the plant.

[FLBob]

I think you are dealing with a common problem with Phals that results when you have roots inside a pot and roots outside the pot.

Which set of roots do you attempt to maintain? The fear is that if you wait to water the roots in the pot when they are dry the roots outside the pot are shriveled and dying.

I find that just misting the roots outside the pot is just not sufficient to keep them hydrated, and they will eventually dry out and quit growing. I water the outside roots deeply until they become dark green.

And while I'm sure that I'll get flack for the next statement... here goes.

The roots in the pot will be just fine not drying out. Water and wetness does not harm the roots, the medium breaking down does. The wetter the medium stays then the quicker you can expect the medium to break down, and since Phals really don't mind being repotted, changing medium annually and selecting a pot size that matches the root mass is a terrific way to maintain healthy Phals.

So keep the outside roots hydrated by watering deeply at a greater frequency, keep the inside roots in fresh quality medium that is well drained, and don't worry so much about letting the pot dry completely.

To understand what I mean by deeply, when I water my Phals, they get a shower over a period of time (minutes) and they get multiple showers. You need to adapt your approach to watering deeply for your environment.

[uffe3667]

:-) not sure how to make this clear. What i actually meant are roots that are inside the pot, growing against the inner wall. sorry for the misunderstanding.

[Brooke]

If you see your roots then you must be growing in a clear pot. If you see condensation on the inside of the pot, don't water, if you don't see it, water the plant. This should coincide with the roots you see being almost white which will green up after a thorough flushing of the pot.

Brooke

[11Orchid126]

Be guided by the skewer, it is the most accurate indicator of what is happening down in the root zone where the bulk of the roots are. Aerial roots can take care of themeselves and get by with a little misting. Don't worry about a couple of roots above, be concerned with most of the roots below.

[kmarch]

Since some have mentioned lifting the pot to see if it needs water, here's a handy tip I picked up to learn how to do that. First, before watering, lift the pot to see how heavy it feels. Next immediately water the plant thoroughly and immediately lift it again and compare how heavy it felt before watering to how heavy it feels now after watering. It might take a while to get used to this, to remember how the plants feel when dry/wet. It took me a long time, as in a couple of years, to be able to tell if the orchid needed water by lifting the pot, but then again people have told me I'm slow. LOL. Now after having done this for many years, I can just lift one side of my seedling tray off the bench and tell if the tray needs watering. It's a handy skill to develop.