A Rookie - 1st beginner Q: How to determine when to water?

[wieb]

Hi, everyone. I am new to the orchid hobby. I have posted here once before, a long rambling message ... I have lots of questions and need lots of answers/opinions ... I'll post them separately and try to keep them concise, to the point. I'll start with some background.

First, our orchids:
One (1) Phalaenopsis with white flowers that I picked up at Safeway (grocery store) in summer 2007. It came in a pot with no drainage holes with instructions to not let sit in water . But I did not read carefully and simply watered periodically. Spikes started turning brown after flowers fell off & I thought it was dying. I recently re-potted and most of the roots were rotten. I carefully followed the instructions of Rebecca Tyson Northen in her book "Home Orchid Growing" on salvaging a plant in poor condition. We'll see if it lives.

My wife and I picked up two more orchids on the island of Kauai in Hawaii about a month ago (I know, lucky us! Our 20th anniversary , thank you very much!). One is a Dendrobium Miyoko Azuma and the other a Cattleya (no further identification). They are quite beautiful. But I really did not know what I was getting into ... I was told they would grow okay indoors if provided light ... I now know that was an huge understatement ! Nonetheless, I am determined to keep them alive and to have them bloom again and again because of what they represent. My wife has always admired orchids, and she really wanted to bring these home, so she, too, is committed to this venture, but without breaking the bank.

Below are some pictures of the Dendrobium and the Cattleya (pink) as well as my attempt at adding humidity to the environment with a tabletop fountain I picked up at Lowe's (the inverted copper bells). The saved Phal is in front of the fountain. We live in the wet, Northwest of the US, the Portland-area. With a digital meter that checks temp/humidity (also in foreground of picture of fountain), it was sometimes running in the low-to-mid 40% RH range. Since I added the fountain, it has been in the 48%-60% RH range (across some very wet & some very cold, dry days).

Anyway, for my 1st concise question: The two orchids from Kauai are planted in a stony (lava rock?) medium. The surface always seems dry. How do I know when to water? I can not dig my fingers very deep to feel for moisture (lots of roots, no room to push medium around). I've tried the "pencil" test 2 days after watering -- it came up dry. Right now I am just watering once a week because I don't want to over-water. Any suggestions on how to determine when they need water? Any neat little moisture probes/sensors that really work out there?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[wieb]

I just came across this link from another posting (Cynthia, Prescott, AZ) ... it is primarily about using new barbecue skewers instead of pencils (virus risk) and is detailed out nicely ... any thoughts on how this would work with my rocky medium? I will likely try this skewer approach.

I tried to post the URL for the skewer approach, but being a rookie, I am not allowed ... but if you search for "skewer", I'm sure it will come up.

Any other ideas are welcome. Thanks.

[sandra]

Wieb, the skewers are a good assistance in measuring water retention, especially for your plants in bark. Your Phal. looks quite healthy, nice root growing there too. Be sure not to overwater and wait for the skewer to feel only very slightly damp before rewatering. The bigger the pot, the less frequent the watering. Also, is yours in clay or plastic? That will also indicate how often, as plastic retains moisture longer so probably not as often if it is in plastic. Don't let the crown get wet when watering.

[Tobi]

Weib,
First of all, belated anniversary wishes and some beautiful orchids you picked up in
Hawaii. Both Catts. and Dens. like to be almost dry before rewatering. I also have
a few Catts that I purchased that are in a similar media. Since I'm assuming that you
are growing indoors, I would water once a week throughly. The skewer method is great
and if you can poke a hole into the media without damaging the roots, you can insert
a skewer to determine when to water. I also found that with mine in this type media,
I feel the weight of the plant after watering and then compare the weight in about a
week to feel the lightness. After a while doing this, you can almost tell when it's time
to water.

[wieb]

Yes, indoors and in plastic pots. Thanks for the feedback. I'll pick up some skewers and start playing around with them. The weight idea is good, too.

Any more ideas? Thanks.

[phalaephila]

Hi; no more suggestions for watering, but I may have an identification for you on the cattleya. It looks very much like Brassanthe Maikai (formerly a Brassocattleya, name changes...), a wonderful orchid!

Jeanne

[PhalPal]

To avoid piercing roots with a skewer I insert them slowly while twising it between my fingers. This way the pointed end bounces off the root rather then me just ramming through it.

[11Orchid126]

Dendrobiums and cattleya types need much more sun than phalaenopsis do. If you have them in the same window, keep the dens and catts up front and the phal in back of them. You may have to raise the phal up on an inverted delicatessin container.

[mayres]

Which direction does that window face Bill?

[wieb]

Bill? Who's Bill? The window faces East.

Thanks for the ID info, Jeanne. Cattleya Brassanthe Maikai? I was wondering about that.

And thanks for your tips, 11orchid126 and PhalPal. I will incorporate them ... they make a lot of sense.

[mayres]

Ooops! Thought I remembered name from another post. You know when you get to be my age the mind is the first to go.......sheesh. Sorry.
As far as I'm concerned that is a good direction for your plants to be facing. They could probably even take south this time of year until early spring. I've actually "cooked" a phal and a half in a NE facing window - on the ledge - so keep that phal back a ways when the warm season brings a lot of sunshine in there.

[phalaephila]

The name of the plant is Brassanthe Maikai, drop the Cattleya. It is in the cattleya alliance, but does not have any species from the genus Cattleya in its parentage. Sorry, this is confusing to me at times, I may not be explaining it well.

jeanne

[wieb]

No sweat, Mike. With 6 brothers, my Dad would call me 6 different names before getting it right ... I am used to it

Unfortunately, I don't have a South-facing window. I have a large West-facing window, but it gets less sun than the East-facing because of some huge maple trees on the West side.

Thanks, phalaephila. These taxonomic conventions seem complex and I haven't tried yet to understand them. The nursery tag in the pot says: "C Orchid Cattleya" and nothing else. Not even any Cattleya in its parentage even, huh? That is confusing. I've read about the cattleya alliance ... what does that mean? Anyone?

Thanks everyone.

[PhalPal]

When I first saw the picture of your 'catt' without reading your post, I thought 'Laelia anceps.' It is in the catt alliance and the flower looks very much like these. I can see how it could be generically tagged as a cattleya.
An alliance covers all orchids within a certain group that are basically similiar in body type and culture. Some alliances are huge and very confusing, especially when trying to pin down how you need to grow YOUR orchid. Using cars as an example: I have a car (car is the family of orchids) and it is a BMW. (BMW is the alliance) I hope this helps??

BTW - I don't own a BMW, but if I did it would be a convertible in steel blue with grey interior.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I would not worry too much about the first name right now. The taxonomists are arguing over naming, and the dust has not settled yet. Just treat it like a Cattleya, and you will do fine.

One more method for determining the need for watering is to start smelling the pot. With a good nose, you can smell the moisture.