Just Add Ice orchid watering

[Greenthumbgirl]

Recently online I stumbled upon a site that suggested to water your orchids by putting ice cubes on top of the media once a week. As the ice cubes gradually melt, the orchid is watered slowly. I have never heard of this before, and was wondering if anyone has ever tried this method before? Pros? Cons?
Thanks for your thoughts!

[ArtGeekMark]

My advice is to not do it. You wouldn't give your dog or cat boiling water would you? Then don't give your tropical plants ice!

[orchidaddict789]

Some companies decided to use the "just add ice" idea as a marketing gimmick. I don't find it very practical at all.

[Emma Grey]

Hi and welcome!

As Mark said, I wouldn't give an orchid plant freezing OR boiling water. It might shock the roots. In addition, it's not very much water. Go to the American Orchid Society and look at their culture sheets for your orchids. Some like to dry out between watering and some don't. I hope these culture sheets help.

[Greenthumbgirl]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll stick to the tried and true watering can.
Thanks for the welcome, Emma, it's nice to be around other people who are enthusiastic about these plants as I am!

[skiye021683]

Thanks for the culture sheets. I'll definitely take a look at them

[jpyerry]

I have heard this water with ice thing so many times at supermarkets, retail box stores, even occasionally gardening stores from clerks. I don't know why this advice is so prevalent. When I first heard of it, it just didn't seem to make sense so I never tried it. But, I know quite a few people that have, and almost all them killed a plant in this way. So, whenever a store clerk gives me this advice, I try to re-educate, sometimes with success. I really think this boils down to part marketing gimmick (since a person might be more inclined to buy a plant that is easy to care for) and part old wives' tale.

The only logic that I can see with the notion, is that many Phals might need a temperature drop to induce spiking, and watering with ice might be a method to simulate this temperature drop. But, beyond this I really can't think of a solid reason why this notion began.

I think it much healthier and safer to water the plant with water that has acclimated to ambient temperature as one would under normal circumstances, and provide the temperature drop as a temperature drop in air temperature, like putting the plant outside during a chilly but frost free night for a few days.

As a side note, in the carnivorous plant world, the cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica) requires its roots to be bathed in extremely cold water since it grows near high elevation mountain streams, as such a common watering method is to apply distilled water ice cubes to the soil surface on a daily basis. I know that there are some orchids that also like to grow near mountain streams and might appreciate this kind of treatment, but certainly not Phals.

I hope this helps,
Justin

[kmarch]

Check out post #6 in this thread: Orchid Mythbusting

[PaulB]

Not to belabor the point, but if one is going to raise orchids seriously, then one should try to replicate the native growing conditions of the plants as closely as possible. Not always possible to do of course, but one has to try. That's part of the fun. True, orchids like other living things can adapt somewhat, but again, its going to depend on how seriously you take the challenge of growing them.

If its a "I don't have time" thing, then take up another hobby. Save the ice for your gin and tonic.

my 2¢

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by PaulB

...my 2¢

Where's you find that little "cents" sign? I haven't seen one of those on a keyboard for decades.

[jpyerry]

Originally Posted by kmarch

Where's you find that little "cents" sign? I haven't seen one of those on a keyboard for decades.

Kevin, most keyboards do not have that symbol, but you can insert it manually by holding down the "Alt" key and typing in 0162. Alternatively, you can access through the Character Map that should be available on your computer.

Justin

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by jpyerry

...holding down the "Alt" key and typing in 0162

0162
Alt 0162... º¡§™ ....doesn't seem to have worked....

[jpyerry]

Originally Posted by kmarch

0162
Alt 0162... º¡§™ ....doesn't seem to have worked....

Hmmm, you wouldn't happen to be using a Mac? If that is the case the ASCII encoding might be different.

[jpyerry]

Wait, I just remembered, you are in Australia. ASCII codes are American Standard Code for Information Interchange codes. You may have different codes since you are in a different part of the world. I will see if I can find the sequence for Australian computers.

[jpyerry]

Well, without doing a lot of research, I am not turning up any useful information on character encoding in Australia. So, the easiest way for me to tell you how to do it would be to access the character map on your computer, if you have Windows it should be under Start, Accessories, System Tools, Character Map. Find the cent symbol in the list of symbols and you can either use the tool to insert the symbol directly into the text or it will list near the bottom the appropriate keystroke sequence. If you are not using Windows and have another OS, I have no experience with those OSes so I would not be any help in guiding you on this issue.

Justin

[PaulB]

Originally Posted by kmarch

Where's you find that little "cents" sign? I haven't seen one of those on a keyboard for decades.

LOL! That's cuz they stopped putting them on keyboards when typewriters became extinct. Geeze, you ARE old!
If you're on a Mac, (which makes perfect sense) Hit Option + $.

If you're on a PC, Hit Control+/+c.

[PaulB]

Shheesh! didn't even think about Australian codes. Try it anyway, If it doesn't work, move to California.

[La Dame Noir]

"Just Add Ice" has a facebook page that I stumbled across. All of their members swear by this method, but after observing for awhile I noticed that about everyone swearing by it were [I]very[I] new to the method and to orchids. When I asked about the ice water on the roots, I guess no one believed stongly enough or had been at it long enough to answer the question.
Adding ice seems an easy way out, the convenience means more than the results.

[syndywindy]

¢ HItting alt and 0162 worked for me. Nice to know. The question is, will I remember it the next time I need to use it?

[exotic_plant]

I see this method as a possibility for people who by orchids only for decoration uses. for us, orchid growers, this is not an option...

[chidfix]

I used the Ice cube method with my first orchid which is now in phal heaven. I advise against!

[Suncoast]

Originally Posted by kmarch

0162
Alt 0162... º¡§™ ....doesn't seem to have worked....

The fact that you got 4 extended ASCII characters tells me you did not continue to hold the alt key while typing the code 0162. Don't release the alt key until you've entered all 4 numbers.

Although.... while 0162 also somehow works, the correct extended ASCII code is Alt 155 ¢

[whalloper]

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO Dont do it lol! They actually come very healthy most of the time, but I guarantee you they dont water them that way in the "Just Add Ice" greenhouse.

[cerastes]

My experience with the ice cube water for orchids is that they all are grown in New Zealand sphagnum moss. The ice cubes are a mechanism to prevent over watering the orchid. I always repot such plants as soon as I see new roots developing.

[Epipactis12]

I know a woman who lives in an apartment and always has white phals in bloom. She swears by ice and says she only uses it. Who knows?

[Dendian]

Well, one thing you can find out - are they the same Phals? Do they live for years and rebloom for her? Or does she buy new ones when the old ones die? I know one person who used the Just Add Ice for about two years, then the plant died (they didn't know to repot - and the moss was rancid).

[vanda_obsession]

Originally Posted by kmarch

Where's you find that little "cents" sign? I haven't seen one of those on a keyboard for decades.

http://www.tedmontgomery.com/tutorial/altchrc.html


Here is a great websites for a bunch of ALT codes Not sure if they will still work for you but you can always save it as a copy and paste.


The JUST ADD ICE orchids are a great marketing program directed to people who don't have time to manage their plants, because they think that orchids are impossible to take care of. So the 'adding ice' takes all the 'work' out of them. I was given two ice orchids from people because they started to die on them for me to try to revive and they were both too far gone.

[Epipactis12]

I don't doubt it (that they would die or rot or what not). She claims they are the same white phals and she does it so she can maintain an elegant arrangement in an elongate container (porcelain?) - maybe 4 orchids. She is wealthy, I imagine she just tosses out an old orchid when it isn't performing....

[koshki]

I just repotted my mom's NOID phal. She had been faithfully giving it three ice cubes a week. Potted in bark, it was SEVERELY dehydrated.

In my opinion, aside from the marketing push which helps those who are not "tuned in" to caring for plants find an easy way to do so, I think the three cubes is really aimed at people who have a tendency to over water plants. Especially when those people own phals in tightly packed sphagnum moss, overwatering can lead to rapid death of the poor plant. By limiting the water to about 3 oz. per week, they won't thrive, but they won't drown either.

In my mom's case, the poor plant wasn't retaining much of the water, and was shriveling up on her. She is just one step removed from considering orchids as long-lasting cut flowers, and my admonishments really went over her head. I gave up, repotted the poor thing and told her to just soak the whole thing when she can no longer see any condensation in the clear pot.

My two ¢! (Need a lot of fingers to do that one!)

[Cmk]

My first orchid came with the just add ice tag/care instructions. I did the three ice cubes until I educated myself on raising phal orchids thru you tube and web. I think they came up with just add ice so people won't be intimidated by their care so everyone started buying them. My mother in law still does the just add ice and her orchids are dying. She doesn't even want to know about real orchid care. I told her how to properly raise them and that was too much work. My first orchid is now really big with new leaves and roots and two new spikes because I give it proper care. I do not recommend just add ice it just isn't the right way to treat an orchid. And I am a beginner to orchid growing.

[jsehorn]

Yeah, my grandmother got a Phal for mother's day a couple years ago, and she used the ice cube method. The plant stayed alive for about a year, and even rebloomed once, but that spike only had a few blooms. The plant continued to decline until it finally kicked it. It doesn't seem to be a good method for long-term care.