Holiday Time

[tom499]

Its that time of the year when i go away for 2 weeks and leave my beauties all alone This year is harder still as i seem to have even more plants than ever. Most are in pots: phals, paphs, onc's, dens, but i have a few masds one is very small mounted, as well as 2 vandas.

One vanda has been potted up in big bark which should help, i will do the same with the other. I have basically put the basket within a pot and filled the gaps with soaked bark.

I should be able to get a neighbour to come round after one week, but that will only be to "water some pots" and i cant expect them to be dunking my vandas for an hour a day and misting my mounts morning and evening

I am going to stick my plants in the bath, in trays, and run water around them, help keep the humidity up. I will have presoaked all my pots for at least 2 hours each (somehow ).

Are there any other tips for keeping them damp, many are in bud and i would hate to see them dry out and suffer when there most vulnerable.

[Vivienne]

Tom - it sounds like you have this well planned out. I haven't left my 'chids alone yet... the last time I did leave was only for 5 days and my children were home to mist them. One thing to remember is that in nature there are droughts and rainy seasons, so orchids can adjust. It's just hard for us to let them.

Hope you have a delightful holiday!

[Tobi]

Tom,
The wife and I went on vacation back in May for about 1 1/2 weeks. I just
watered the potted guys really well very similiar to what you are doing and
the mounted ones we took on vacation with us. Now I only have 2 mounts
so it was not a big inconvience for us. However at least this way I was able
to mist daily and water the bark every 4-5 days. Good luck, I'm sure that
they will be just fine.

[tom499]

I suppose they'll be ok As long as i keep the temp around 15-16 celsius they'll be warm, but not too hot to be losing too much water.

And now i think about it, a weekly watering for a plant indoors in a cool, semi light spot is about right.

I think im going to leave my neps with my school friend, then i wont confuse my neighbour with different watering timetables

Taking orchids with me is a nice idea, but im not sure what customs would say my parents even more so

[PhalPal]

Tom I recently went away for 10 days and left my orchids all alone and low and behold they survived without me. The nerve of them. I watered them very well the day before we left, didn't trust my pet sitter to touch them, set the house temp at an appropriate place and they were just fine.
I worried most about my outdoor cyms not knowing how hot it was going to get when we were gone and they were fine too.
Like Vivienne said - they will adjust just like they will in nature. And just maybe they will appreciate us a little more when we return to them!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Sphag & Bag your mounts and they will be fine while you are away. You may want to do something like it for your Vanda, with a bag from the dry cleaners. But keep these out of direct light while bagged.

[PhalPal]

Good tip Cynthia!

[tom499]

The whole plant in the bag? or just the roots? and what if i dont have any spag?

[Vivienne]

Great idea Cynthia. I think I'll have to employ that idea at Christmas time!!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Mounts can be put into a bag right after watering, and what ever water is on the mount should do the job. For a Vanda, probably the whole plant. But do what you can. If only the pot goes into the bag, the evaporation from the pot will be mostly eliminated, but the plant can still suck the pot/basket dry if it is in very dry air. You'll have to decide on a plant by plant basis. I have used it for about a week so far, but I think I could have gone longer with the mounts that had a little moss on them. Since this is not going to be a long term thing, consider some other marterial to hold some moisture.

[stragged]

I have actually just gotten back from an eight day trip. I live in South Florida, and I have a majority of my collection as the Vandaceous species, so I water them at least once a day. They were in the middle of rapid growth, and I hated having to leave them outside with such high temperatures, yet out of the rain, under my porch. I put down some extra shade cloth to stop the intense direct sunlight, and put down some large containers of water underneath them for some extra humidity. I also made sure to fertilize a few days beforehand, then watered them heavily the day I left.

I was so nervous the day coming back to see how they were doing, hoping that the plants weren't to dessicated and droopy. I was so happy to see that not only were they doing well, but they barely lost their growing spirit! Their aerial roots just slowed down on their growth, but I expect a full recovery within the week, and one even managed to sprout a new bud while I was gone!

It just goes to show how adaptive these plants can be for the short period of time, and how it takes a lot to really set the plant back a considerable amount of time. (I also had a few catt's, phals, and dend's that haven't even slowed down their growth, but they hadn't been my concern.)

[kmarch]

What about for 2 months?

[tom499]

eeek 2 months Kmarch, i thought you had a friend who watered them for your? or is he going away too?

[chefatplay]

Geez, I worried for 1 week, Kmarch, 2 months? Are you planning on coming to the WOS in January, too????