Three years to master watering: it takes years of practice to grasp watering techniques
A locally collected Xiashan Douban orchid from Yunnan, an absolute masterpiece among lotus-petal orchids, with petal proportions reaching a 1:1 ratio, and no fragrance. The three outer petals are too round, making them very hard to spread open. It has already surpassed the lotus-petal standard, so calling it apple petals would be more fitting!
Watering is not about watching the clock; whether watering is needed is determined by a combination of factors such as weather, season, potting medium and environment. The best time to water is when the orchid needs water. Three years to master watering: the skill being trained is the ability to sense whether an orchid needs water. New orchid growers find this feeling very hard to develop, and it must be figured out through long-term growing. Sometimes when orchid friends sit together chatting and the topic turns to watering, they joke that the highest level of watering skill is being able to tell whether watering is needed just by standing next to the orchid bench. Although it is a joke, it really is true. For example, a grower who had always kept orchids very well suddenly could not grow them well after switching potting medium, which is what people usually call "switching medium and losing the ability to water." In the end, it comes down to not having mastered the watering skill, having no feel for whether an orchid needs water, and this feel cannot be explained clearly, it can only be sensed by oneself. This is the explanation of "one tip and you understand orchid growing" versus "three years to master watering."
Watering is only one part of orchid-growing skill; growing well is not simply a matter of knowing how to water. Management in other areas is equally important. Growing orchids emphasizes comprehensive management across many aspects, and a problem in any one aspect will lead to failure in orchid growing. When a problem arises during growing, everyone basically considers the potting medium and watering as the source of the problem, but this is one-sided and also incorrect.