How to Control Water for Orchids? Methods and Techniques Explained

In orchid growing, watering is key. As the saying goes, "watering takes three years of skill." If you grow orchids without using your head and without experimenting, even thirty years won't give you the skill that others gain in three. So when watering is done well, many problems are easily solved. First, watering must suit the orchid, and you must understand the orchid's growth characteristics; second, water according to the orchid's characteristics, combined with your own growing environment and potting medium; third, water according to the orchid's different growth stages. In fact, it all comes down to the first point, which ultimately means matching the orchid's growth characteristics. The vast majority of friends just starting to grow orchids are afraid the orchid will dry to death, so they water as soon as the pot surface dries, or they frequently mist the orchid leaves, and some even keep the bottom of the pot soaking in a tray of water. This keeps the pot too wet for long periods, affects root respiration, causes root death and scorched root tips, and sometimes forms "hydroponic root" shapes; once the plant is unpotted and dries, the roots are hollow, and transplanting makes it hard for the plant to settle in. It also easily lets harmful bacteria multiply rapidly and the orchid become diseased. Some orchids look like a full pot of shoots but simply never bloom, and so on. These are all kinds of problems caused by watering too frequently. During a year of growth, orchids need only a moderate amount of water most of the time. If you can tolerate the pot drying out, then you have basically mastered watering. To achieve a dry pot, you need to control water for the orchid. Water control means controlling the water given to the orchid, also called withholding water. But during the orchid's growth process, it is not long-term water control; when it should be wet, it still needs to be wet, and when it should be controlled, it must be controlled. Roughly speaking, water control is needed during the following periods:

 

1. Water control during the orchid's flowering period. To produce good blooms, besides growing the orchid well and strong, you must also master water control during the flowering period. When the flower scape elongates and the flower bud is about to shed its bract, give the orchid one thorough watering. After that, until a few days after the flower is cut off, no more watering is needed. This way the flower becomes more spirited as it opens, the scape stands upright and the petals are proper, the petals are less likely to curl back and twist, the elongation of the outer petals and the long-opening drooping shoulders of the side petals are controlled, and the degree of the column opening the window and the backward curling of the lip are also reduced, and the flowering period lasts longer. Therefore, for flowers entered in orchid shows, to maintain a long-lasting good display, water control is very important. There was a flower entered in an orchid show that was awarded a gold prize on the first day, but by the second day its quality was not even worth a bronze prize. Apart from the flower's own staying power, the most important reason was that water was not controlled. For flowers with poor staying power, water control must be done even earlier.

2. Water control during the new shoot growth period. Nowadays, since there are not many orchid growers using completely natural cultivation, the timing of budding varies a lot, so it cannot be fixed to specific months. During the sprouting stage, orchids should be kept moist, leaning wet, in order to let the new buds emerge smoothly and produce more shoots. But after the new shoots come out of the pot and open up, water control should be carried out gradually, shifting from moist to mainly moist-but-not-wet. You can use the alternating methods of light watering, heavy watering, and empty-pot drying to control water. Light watering means stopping as soon as water comes out of the bottom of the pot. Heavy watering means pouring from above, letting it drain from the bottom, watering thoroughly, and you can also pour back and forth several times. Empty-pot drying means short-term water control to make the pot fairly dry. Depending on how moist the potting soil is, you can alternate heavy watering - light watering - light watering - empty-pot drying - heavy watering - light watering... Light watering can be continuous, heavy watering should not be continuous, and empty-pot drying should come before heavy watering. Through this semi-water control, you encourage the new shoots to grow roots, to support themselves, and increase the development of the new shoots' pseudobulbs, laying the foundation for the new shoots to grow strong. In Jiangnan, during the new shoot growth period there is a plum rain season. Through semi-water control, the probability of new shoots developing stem rot, soft rot, and other diseases is greatly reduced. When the plum rain ends and after the summer solstice of the lunar calendar, most new shoots have grown to half size, the weather gradually becomes hot, and the degree of water control gradually increases. Dryness can endure the heat of the environment; when relatively dry, orchids can endure 35°C or even higher temperatures. At high temperatures, if it is too wet and not ventilated, various problems will come one after another. Avoid watering at high temperatures, and the period when the pot shifts from wet to moist should also pass at a lower temperature. Therefore, orchid growers schedule summer watering at night when the temperature is lower, so that by the time the temperature rises the next day, the pot is not too wet. Through my observation, orchids can still grow rapidly at 32°C, so high temperatures are not to be feared. The key is to achieve water control and ventilation; both are equally important. If you have cooling facilities such as an air conditioner, you can carry out a semi-water-control state, and in one summer, a second generation of new shoots will emerge. 

3. Water control to promote flowering in orchids. Starting from when the new shoots open, gradually control water, and Cymbidium goeringii will produce its first batch of flower buds. Earlier buds appear in April, which is quite normal. Sometimes a flower bud takes nearly a year from formation to blooming, and with proper later management it can bloom completely normally. But most Cymbidium goeringii flower buds form after August, that is, after the start of autumn in the lunar calendar. Because after the start of autumn, the temperature is still high, but the air begins to dry out. Even if you do not control water, the pot will develop an effect similar to water control. If you deliberately control water, you can make the orchid produce more flower buds. Water control to promote flowering is different from ordinary water control. If an orchid is not easy to flower, you must control water until it is very dry, making the orchid "feel" a sense of crisis, then give a light watering and control water again, repeating this many times for a satisfactory result. Do not be afraid the orchid will dry to death, but weak and diseased plants cannot be treated this way. For Cymbidium faberi to flower, the vast majority respond well to water control. In this season at the turn of summer and autumn, although the new shoots are already large, the leaves are still tender, and with the autumn tiger heat, the temperature is still high, so orchid leaves are prone to black spot disease. Water control can also control the occurrence of black spot disease, so promoting flowering and preventing disease are achieved in one stroke.

4. Water control for orchids in winter. Winter water control is mainly because orchids grow slowly in winter and need very little water. It can also prevent freezing damage and ice formation at low temperatures caused by moisture in the pot.