Thank you to the other Orchid Geeks who have written directly to me to share watering tips. For a long time I have wished for a hose attachement like the Miracle Gro hose attachment for out door use where the food mixes with the water that I could adapt for use in my orchid room.
And, at last I have found an attachment perfectly appropriate for orchids. I must say I wish I had invented it since I have wished for one such as this for such a long time. It is actually marketed for car washing at Brookstone. To the small solution beaker I add a water soluable orchid food, Shakley's Basic H, Physan 20, and Liquid Karma and the rest with fill with water. (I don't have an exact recipe, but I would guess I added 1 1/2 T. Physan 20, 1 T Liquid Karma, 2 tea. Grow-More orchid bloom formula as my phaphs, paphs, and a couple of others are starting to spike, and fill the rest with water.) I have a reverse osmosis water purifier in the orchid room and that water feeds directly into the hose sprayer. The liquid Karma makes the solution very dark but the liquid Basic H and Physan 20 give the mist spray I use a different texture and feel to the water (slippery and slightly soapy) so I know the mixture is being diluted when it hits the plants. I have a fairly large orchid collection in an unheated orchid room off of our bedroom so it was easy to use the sprayer until the beaker became quiet dilute and I had mist sprayed all of the orchids. One can switch to clear water on the hose attachment very easily too.
The mist also also highlights any spider mite activity. Spider mites love living in the dry outdoors here and likely come into the orchid room regularly as they can be carried by the wind through the screens. Over the winter I have brought an orange tree and fig tree into the orchid room to preserve them over the winter. The fig is dormant now but the orange tree definitely has an infestation of spider mites which I hope are under control with Bayer tree and shrub 3 in 1. We don't plan to eat the oranges, but the fragrance from the citrus blooms is intoxicatingly beautiful and it carries into our bedroom from the orchid room.
My previous method of watering was to submerge the pots into warmed, orchid fed water, to saturate the bark which can become very dry on the exterior in this desert like climate. However, I had a huge increase in diseased plants as some unknown culprite plant was spreading the 'germs'. I had also temporarily run out of Physan 20. I wanted a way to speed up the watering process and yet still be able to provide some micro nutrients and physan 20 to every plant. This has really made a big difference in my watering routine. I also feel the misting is far more 'natural' than my previous dunking method. All of the pots still sit on orchid trays with water in the base portion. I also can accomplish this method of watering earlier in the day rather than when I have time which can easily run into the afternoon. With the variety of orchids there are also different watering needs. I do the feeding routine once a week and the water misting for phrags and paphs one additional time each week. I also give the catts and dendrobiums a second water dose each week because they are on shelves very high in the sloped roof and only about 12 inches from the skylights (with sheer curtains over the actual skylight to shade the intense sun from the south facing room.
I hope some of the other geeks will find this tool helpful. It has been a Godsend to me. And I would never have found it if I hadn't been scouring the store for some way to exchange a Christmas gift that wasn't quite right.
On another note, there have been some threads about cinnamon. When I cut out diseased leaves/portions of leaves, I spread dry spice cinnamon on the fresh cuts. If I notice crown rot (rarely) due the metal frame of the sky lights sweating, I sprinkle straight cinnamon into the crown. (that residual water has occasionally sabatoged my early watering routine). I have been able to thwart any spreading disease on the trimmed plants and I've been able to rescue a few of the sweat plagued plants. I also use a Scripto butane charcoal lighting wands to flame-sterilize scissors and scapels when I'm trimming and repotting to trim dead roots and leaves. With the right mix of air and fuel I can get a blue flame and while it may not be economical, it is far less intimidating that the butane blow torch. I also sterilize plastic pots using concentrated dishwasher fluid with hot water. It appears that I am able to ruin fewer outfits with straight bleach and water than with dishwasher fluid though I still have to be careful. There is bleach in the dw fluid.
I appreciate this site and the many helpful contribtutions from others. Is there also a 12 step program or site for orchid addicts?? If one ever thought about giving them up, those new spikes serve to real us in like hooked fish, don't they?
And is there a spell check feature I haven't found. I'm neither a typist or a great speller but I hate sending out misspelled posts.
Jaki
Jaki
01-13-2008, 02:06 PM
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