Many people get orchid watering habits backwards

For so many years, influenced by orchid-growing ideas learned through various channels, I have gone back and forth many times on the issue of watering, always obsessing over whether to water heavily or lightly, and even foolishly summing up some care creeds about what happens with heavy watering and what happens with light watering. But in the past two years, especially last year, the plants were grown very poorly, and it could be described as being burnt to a crisp.

When problems appear, we have to think, because I already felt I no longer knew how to grow them, and the more I grew, the more confused I became. Slowly, over the past year, it seems I have found the reason, and that is that I had not treated watering as changing the water, and the timing of watering was delayed; it had little to do with heavy or light watering. Indeed, this year the plants have shown some improvement, so I boldly write a few words to exchange with fellow enthusiasts. Everything said below applies to the growing season and high-temperature season, in well-ventilated, rain-sheltered balconies and flower houses; open outdoor areas without cover, full greenhouses, and the dormant period cannot be handled this way.

It is often said that soft media should be watered lightly and hard media should be watered heavily. In fact, under the same environment, it should be that soft media should be watered relatively heavily and hard media should be watered relatively lightly. What I use now is basically soft media, mostly Fushi original-ecology humus soil on the pot surface covered with grass carbon, and a small portion is Yixiang soil. It is usually thought that soft media dries slowly and hard media dries quickly, so the water content in the pot is the reference that guides watering frequency. But I overlooked one problem, which is the oxygen content of the water in the pot.

It is often said that watering is best on sunny days and should not be done on cloudy or rainy days. In fact, the more it is cloudy and rainy, especially during the plum rain and overcast summer days, the more one should water heavily on the day it rains. It is usually thought that with continuous rain, the medium in the pot will not dry for many days, so it should not be watered and one must wait for the sky to clear. But I still overlooked one problem, which is the oxygen content of the water in the pot.

It is often said that large pots and small pots, and breathable and non-breathable pots, should be managed separately: non-breathable large pots should be watered less, while small pots and well-breathable pots should be watered more. The actual situation is that, on the premise of giving full attention to setting up a drainage layer at the bottom of the pot when potting, large pots and small pots, and breathable and non-breathable pots, should be watered when they need it, without the need for unsynchronized management. It is usually thought that large pots dry slowly and small pots dry quickly. But I still overlooked one problem, which is the oxygen content of the water in the pot.

When the oxygen content is high and oxygen is sufficient, the freshness of the water is naturally high, and it should count as living water. Orchid roots love oxygen, so oxygen-loving bacteria and fungi in the pot will multiply greatly, and the population reproduction of these microorganisms is very fast; in number they can gain the upper hand within a short time, and wherever bacterial colonies and fungal filaments reach, they can quickly decompose the medium, release, absorb, and supply various nutrients to the orchid roots. Orchid roots live symbiotically with orchid fungi; there is no doubt about this. This is the result of tens of thousands of years of evolution in orchid media. When orchid fungi are strong, orchid roots thrive. Conversely, if the environment in the pot is dominated by anaerobic microorganisms, it means that everything in the pot, including the orchid roots, begins to rot and die.

So exactly how many days apart is best for watering? Just pay attention to air temperature and air pressure. Anyone who likes fishing knows that when air pressure is low, the oxygen content of the water body becomes low, fish will not bite, and after fishing all day sometimes not even one fish is caught. Everyone may have experienced that with high temperatures and overcast days, if a face towel is used in the morning, after a few hours if you pick it up and smell it, there is a strange odor. The principle is the same.

So now I water like this. In the winter dormant period I still follow the old path: soft media have a longer cycle, hard media have a shorter cycle; watering is best on sunny days, and not done on cloudy or rainy days; large pots and small pots, and breathable and non-breathable pots, should be managed separately: non-breathable large pots should be watered less, while small pots and well-breathable pots should be watered more. In summer, then, water once every one or two days, and when the high temperature is above 30, water thoroughly once a day. In spring and autumn, appropriately extend it, but on cloudy and rainy days and hot, humid days, still do not go by frequency; when it is raining outside, there must be one thorough watering that day.

A little personal reflection, not much verified by science, non-mainstream, an unorthodox path, purely my own subjective speculation about the nature of orchids. If you do not like it, please look away.