fertilizing and watering

[Marih]

How do I fertilize a mounted orchid? And watering? Do i just spray it or dunk it in water? Sorry for the silly questions but i never had a mounted orchid before.

Thanks

[arleneg]

You can either thoroughly spray it down or soak it in water for several minutes. To fertilize, I think it's best to soak it in water with fertilizer for several minutes.

[kmarch]

I have about 16-17 mounted orchids and I just fertilized them ( those who know me as the no-fertilizer-guy are now all in shock). I dissolved the fertilizer (very weak) in a pail of water and soaked the mounted plants for about a hour each. When watering them, I do the same thing but without the fertilizer in the water.

[JamesK]

I do a bit of both. I have a big "orchid soaking" routine every Saturday, since that is when I have the time. Lots of my plants are in semi-hydro pots, but get a good hour soak then. During the week, I mist in the morning (or when I think about it) and in the afternoon. Not before bedtime, so they have time to dry.

My house is very dry in the winter, and I watch the humidity closely. If it gets too humid, I don't do much misting, just the soak thing.

[PhalPal]

Just recently I attended a seminar given by Andy's Ochids who are know for their mounted species. He suggested to generously spray all your mounts, wait 20 or so minutes and spray again. This gives the roots time to soften and absorb some of the initial watering and even more on the second. In his opinion this mimics what nature will do in a rainy jungle.
He was also very against soaking mounts, simply because if the first plant you soak has a health problem it will be spread to those soaked after it. (assuming you use the same water or bucket)

[kmarch]

Andy is fantastic and very knowledgable and I've bought lots of fantastic plants from him. He does make a good point about any pests or diseases that a plant might have beign transfered from one to the next via bucket-of-water. That is certainly a possibility. However, in conditions less than the ideal conditions found in a nursery, and with lives, habits, and growing areas that don't allow for daily watering by spraying, other methods can be employed. It also depends on what kind of spraying we're talking about. I would guess that for vast majority of home growers, spraying means using a spritzer-type hand sprayer while commercial growers have large drenching sprayers or overhead sprayers that give the mounts a good soaking. Further to the point, out household sprayers don't drench a plant like a soaking rain would. We spend 30-40 seconds spraying contrasted with the 30-40 minutes of soaking rain a plant would receive in the wild. There's a big difference inthe volume of water there. With my mounted orchids, using a bottle sprayer, even if I spray until water runs off, the inside of the mount (inside the sphag and tree fern) where the roots are, doesn't get wet.

Now to the point of watering then watering again later with fertilizer, this is a good way to fertiize. I hear this recommendation for potted orchids as well, to water them then go through and water again with fertilized water. It reduces the likelihood of fert burn to the roots.

[PhalPal]

On that point Kevin, he did acknowledge that not all of us have the professional sprayers. (not to mention professional time) The minimum he recommended is one of those top-pump hand sprayers. I have one ($10) and it does work very well. I also find that if I touch the tip of the sprayer to the moss and pump the water on it that way it gets wetter faster. I am only guessing that it gets soaked at the core, but my mounts do well as long as I get in there often enough to water them. I also water the bark itself as well as I do the moss.

He also recommended watering at night (horrors!) because the tropics get rain in the evening. If you have a greenhouse full of blasting fans this is okay, but not for most of us. Just passing on the information.

Marih if you only have an orchid or two, soaking them in anything you have will work just fine. When I had only two I ran them under my kitchen sink faucet. Hey, they got wet!! Add a little diluted fertilizer to the water occasionally and you are in business. And......Welcome to the forum!!! There are NO silly questions, please, just ask away!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by PhalPal

The minimum he recommended is one of those top-pump hand sprayers. I have one ($10) and it does work very well. I also find that if I touch the tip of the sprayer to the moss and pump the water on it that way it gets wetter faster. I am only guessing that it gets soaked at the core, but my mounts do well as long as I get in there often enough to water them. I also water the bark itself as well as I do the moss.

He also recommended watering at night (horrors!) because the tropics get rain in the evening. If you have a greenhouse full of blasting fans this is okay, but not for most of us. Just passing on the information.

Marih if you only have an orchid or two, soaking them in anything you have will work just fine. When I had only two I ran them under my kitchen sink faucet. Hey, they got wet!! Add a little diluted fertilizer to the water occasionally and you are in business. And......Welcome to the forum!!! There are NO silly questions, please, just ask away!

PhalPal, you make some EXCELLENT clarifications and further points! The pump sprayer is an excellent point (not recommended for the living room :P). I've been thinking of getting one of those pump sprayers to make my tetragonum watering go faster. And I'm happy you mentioned putting mounts under the running tap. I forgot that I did that myself for some of my mounted orchids when I lived in Michigan. I should also add that I have watered my outside orchids in the evening on occasion but I would not do that for my inside orchids eventhough I have lots of fans going.

[Marih]

Thank you for all your wonderfull advice. Another question on the topic is how often? With my potted plants I will soak them once a week but i found with the mounted one it dries out quit quickly.

[kmarch]

It depends on the cultural requirements of the orchid. Does it need to remain moist (phal)? Does it need to dry out between waterings (Cattleya Alliance)? What kind of orchids do you have mounted?

[Marih]

its a Den nobile.

[jerrymeola]

I will have to join in. I mount probably in excess of 1000 a year. Needless to say it takes to long to soak, although, soaking is my favorite way to water mounted orchids.

I do not fear spreading disease as Andy's does. In a commercial greenhouse setting if you have diseased plants it will spread regardless. Most bacteria problems will spread airborne. Only vigilant observation and routine treatment will avoid spreading. In a small collection, you should know quickly if a plant is sick and quarantine it.

I agree with Andy on night watering. I was surprised to find literature that plants only absorb nutrients and grow after dark. It is logical since if the plant opened its pores to grow during the heat of the day it would be subject to much more water evaporation. Since I am feeding with worm tea, feeding at dusk is necessary to allow the microbes a chance to live. Spraying in the heat of the day will evaporate the water too fast.

Everyone talks about good humidity for orchids, well in SW Florida in certain months the dew settling on the leaves at night will soak the leaves. This is like watering at night every night for months. It is so much I sometimes check to weather to see if it rained that night. We seldom get night rain.

The double watering is better than one watering, because it gives the plant a longer time to absorb water, but still may not be enough. In a commercial greenhouse we need to water a minimum of 10-20 minutes each watering. This is for potted plants and mounts. You have to have water on the plant long enough for the plant to drink the water. Too short a watering (which is what most hobbyist do) is like wetting your lips when you are thirsty. It feels good for a bit but does not solve the long term need. I need to emphasize that you can not over water based on the length of time you water. 10 minutes or 2 hours, after you stop, the excess will drain away and the water remaining is the same in either case. Over watering is when you water too often not allowing enough drying time.

I have about 100 mounts that are in my personal collection rather than the commercial greenhouses, and they are grown in hobbyist conditions. Even my Cattleya which have all their roots outside the mount do not get enough water by spraying with a hose.

I soak when I can in Worn Tea, which will prevent the spread of parasites, and bacteria is prevented by good overall growing conditions. And I know this will upset people but viruses I do not even consider to be worth worrying about.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Marih

its a Den nobile.

An actual species Den nobile or a nobile-type hybrid? I'm not sure if mounting is best for these.

[jerrymeola]

Marih

I was surprised you had a mounted Nobile dendrobium. They look so good in pots that I seldom mount them. It is just a matter of ascetics for me. I have mounted them on request for customers and did not have any problems.

I assume you have a hybrid Nobile and not the species. It is what is most available, although, South Africa may be different.

The hybrids are easy to grow so you have a lot of leeway in its care. Species are recommended to have severe drying out periods.

I find the Yamamoto Hybrids I handle can take full sun all day long without shade and flower in shade as well. They can take a lot of water year round and should not allow their canes to shrivel from lack of water, but can go long periods of drought. I advise they have a temperature range of 32-100 F (0-100C), but recently froze some to under 25 F and they did not even drop their flower buds. Be conservative with fertilizer. Too much Nitrogen causes keiki growth at the expense of flowers. I recommend no fertilizer after August until flowers bloom in the winter.

[Marih]

Hi, On the tag it says Den nobile and i bought it mounted as it grows natural in that area. Autum is starting now for us, so should i stop fertilizing now? How many times a week can I water it?

[kmarch]

Den nobile isn't native to Africa. They're from South East Asia. Now I'm really puzzled. I dont' know the whole genus well enough to know if there are any dens native to Africa.

If it indeed the species, I wouldn't fertilize it at all, not even when its growing. When the new canes mature, gradually decrease watering until it's gettign no water at all. Don't water and give it high light during the winter months. Keep it cool, as low as 40F winter nights.

[Marih]

I'll post a pic as soon as i get home from work. Then you guys can tell me what it is. The area where I got it from is very tropical and humid and all sorts of orchids grow there. I think many of them are not even native to south africa.

[PhalPal]

Thanks for all the great information Jerry!