Orchid Care Tips (Part 2) - 3 Step Orchid Watering Technique

Do you have an orchid collection or are thinking of getting one. Well than read through this post for some great tips on orchid care.

The cause of most deaths of moth orchids is improper watering. Orchids that are not watered correctly also do not bloom as often as they could. And they do not bloom as long as the orchids that get the correct amount of water and humidity.

One main rule always applies which is that you should not water your orchids according to your time schedule but according to the colour of their roots. If this rule is broken you can be sure that your orchids will not bloom the you want them to and the chances that they will die prematurely are far greater. To understand this rule better please read Orchid Care Tips (Part 1) - Understanding The Colors Of The Orchid Roots. This will give you the understanding to properly use this watering technique.

Orchids natural habitat is tropical forest which makes orchids tropical plants. If one looks at the weather conditions in the tropical rain forest he will found out that there are seasons with plenty of rain followed by a dry seasons. And that is exactly what your orchids need. They needs to be watered heavily, so that their roots stand in water for up to 12 hours. After that all the water should be drained from their pot and the orchids should gather the moisture they need from the potting material that surrounds the roots in the pot.

In nature the roots of orchids are soaked well from the heavy rain that falls in the rainy seasons. But when the rain stops falling the water is drained away fairly quickly and the orchids gather the moisture they need for growth from the bark of the trees that they live on. This is the reason we grow our orchids in a pots filled with pieces of bark. In the rain forest the bark dries up slowly because there is not much sunlight that comes through the foliage of the high trees and all the vegetation that surrounds them. So when the dry season comes the bark is moist for a long time and orchids can gather their needed water and moisture from this moist bark.

This is the way the nature waters them and this is the way that they should be watered at home also.

It is definitely better to leave the roots of your orchids dehydrated for a few days than to keep them standing in the water for a few days. For the roots of the orchid will rot if they will stand in the water for longer periods of time.

3 Step Orchid Watering technique

Step 1:

Fill the ceramic or glass pot in which the plastic pot with orchid roots is standing to the brim with water. You can do this with watering can or you can simply do it by holding pot under the tap. Make sure you use lukewarm water to prevent any shocks to your orchid which cold or hot water might cause. The picture below shows the ceramic pot filled to the brim with water. In this pot there is the plastic pot in which the roots of the orchids are growing. Plastic pot is covered with water.

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Step 2:

Leave the water in the pot for up to 12 hours.

Step 3:

Pull the plastic pot out of the ceramic one and drain water from both of them. You will have to to hold the plastic pot in the air for a few seconds and the water will be drained through the holes in the pot. Make sure all the water has drained out to prevent roots standing in the water when you place the plastic pot back into ceramic one. I suggest you do this over a sink or out in the garden not to get water over the floor in your house.

If the plastic pot in which the roots of your orchid grow does not have holes on the bottom, you will have to turn that pot upside down to drain them, but you have to make sure that the roots and the substrate do not fall out. Or you could create some holes in the bottom of the pot. But most stores sell orchids in plastic pots with holes so this shouldn't be an issue.

One very important thing to watch out for is to make sure that you do not get the water into the crown (the point from where the leaves are growing) when watering orchids. Because this may cause rotting of this part of the plant and consequently its death. If you get any water into the crown wipe it out with a kitchen paper towel.

During the day the water must evaporate from the crown of the orchid and the crown should not be moist during the night while evaporation is not as intense. If you get any water into the crown it will spill in to lower parts from which the green leaves are growing. If that happens you should also wipe it from those parts.

Below are the pictures of a healthy crown and the crown that is rotting as a consequence of the water that was standing in the crown.

Healthy crown:

The picture below is showing a healthy crown of an orchid. Always make sure that if you get any water into the area inside the red circle to wipe it off with a kitchen paper towel or a cloth.

Beside the crown you also do not want to get any water at the points from where the green leaves are growing. Getting water in this spots will cause the crown to rot the same way as if the water would be standing in the crown. Below are the pictures of such points marked with red circle. Remember that you should get all the water out from the places that are inside the red circles if any happens to get there by you pouring it in or if the water has spilled into this points from the crown.

Example 1	Example 2

Rotten crown:

The pictures below shows the rotten crown of an orchid. Rotting of this crown is a consequence of water that was standing in the crown. When the crown is rotten the death of the orchid is only a question of time since it can not grow any new green leaves and with that its growth is ended.