Indoor orchid care in desert (Phoenix, AZ)

[bellc]

I recently purchased four Phals orchids and one Dendrobium orchid for my home. The ideal lighting and climate conditions appear to be in my master bathroom.

Living in the Phoenix, Arizona, area where the air is so dry, what is the best way to ensure my orchids get the proper amount of humidity? We take more baths than showers, so I want to make sure they get enough humidity in our dry air environment. I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can answer for care in our dry environment:

1. I would prefer to mist them if that is acceptable, as opposed to putting each one on a pebble tray. I would appreciate if someone could tell me which method works the best in dry climates.

2. Someone at the nursery told me not to mist the orchid flowers, only the leaves. Is this true?

3. If I water them weekly, approximately how much do I water them each time? How will I know if it's too little or too much? Is there an approximate amount of watering as a guideline for a weekly watering?

Thanks! I'm new to the forums and do appreciate any help you can provide

[jerrymeola]

Personally I am not too concerned about humidity for my orchids. Here in SW Florida we are extremely dry for 5 months and high humidity for the other 7.

The reason you do not mist flowers is that the water can cause mildew damage spotting the flowers.

Misting will never raise the humity enough to be worth the effort. The humidity disapates in seconds. A humidifier would be the only thing that would actually raise humidity. It is probably easier to let the plant adapt to your envirnment.

Watering quantities are not relavent. If the plant is well potted with a good draining mix the amount of water is the same if you water with a quart or 10 gallons. All the excess drains out. Last June we had 24 inches of rain for the month. There were no problems.

The important issue is the quality of the potting mix. Bark deteriorates in about 1-3 years and should be changed at least every other year. Sphagnum moss holds more water and lasts a bit longer probably needing change every 3rd year. Hydroponic rocks never need to be changed because the can not decompose.

[bellc]

Jerry,

Thanks so much for all your excellent advice. I have a couple good houseplant books, but none go into any great detail about orchids. You made a very good point about the plant adjusting to its environment and provided excellent comparison of potting materials.

Do I understand you correctly that it won't hurt the leaves if I mist them, but won't necessarily help....more of a cleaning than any addition of humidity?

Thanks again for your prompt reply. BTW, I had no idea it was ever dry in Florida....is that because you're on the SW side? Where do you keep your orchids and what types do you have?

Bella

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If you wish to mist, be sure to do so only early in the day as the plants must be dry when the temp starts to fall. I agree that humidity is not all that important, but early morning misting will be good for any exposed roots. Here are two orchid societies in Phoenix if you would like to see how others grow orchids and find others to talk to, including myself.

The Orchid Society of Arizona meets the first Monday of the month: http://welcome.to/orchidsocietyaz

The Desert Valley Orchid Society meets the 3rd Thursday of the month:
http://www.dvos-az.net

Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

[jerrymeola]

Bellc
Misting will not last long and the plants you have will do ok without it. A tray of pebbles with water in it will raise the humidity sonewhat, but my point was that they will adapt to the envirnment either way. This is not to say that there are not orchids that require special care, but the two you have are easy growing and will adapt.

As an aside I have young phals growing in a troical fish house of about 38,000 gallons of water and new water is sprayed into the fish tanks constantly. The very high humidity increases the growth rate of the phals significently. Phals apparently absorb water through their leaves.

Take Cynthia's advice and join a local orchid society. It is a great social activity and really great learning experience to see how others grow orchids. Just remember to that the only piece of advice that I can say is absolutely correct - that is not to follow anyones (mine included) advice without considering why they do what they do and whether it will apply to your growing conditions. Orchids are very strong plants and something that works for one grower may actually not be good for the plant, but the plant grows in spite of it. Take any advice you think sounds logical and test it for yourself.

[PhalPal]

BellC - I live in So. California where conditions are similiar to yours but not quite so extreme! (i.e. HOT) In summer we can have humidity levels down to single digits, and of course the indoor air conditioner is on when it is that hot. I grow phals indoors and mini-cymbidiums outside and both have adjusted well to very low humidity. Nothing is on a humidity tray right now. Inside where my phals grow it rarely gets over 40%, 30% is about average. Outside rarely gets over 50% and all my plants are happy. I mist both with a dilute solution of worm tea so I feel like I am feeding them while giving a bath. Helps ALOT when I have a failing plant that needs to absorb some nutrition through it's leaves.
Jerry is so right in his advice to listen to what everyone has to say and realize these opinions are coming from all over the world with vastly different conditions.
According to all the orchid books I have read, none of my orchids should be thrivng -yet they are. Go figure! Amazingly adaptable plants.
If you would like a few recommendations for books, let me know and I will list the ones that helped me the most at our level. I love books but don't want to assume that everyone else does! This is a great forum; you will learn a lot!