A Detailed Guide to Water Control Techniques in Orchid Cultivation
In orchid growing, watering is key. As the saying goes, "watering takes three years of skill." If you grow orchids without using your head about watering and without experimenting, even thirty years won't get you the skill others gain in three...
Inorchid growing, watering is key. As the saying goes, “watering takes three years of skill.” If inorchid growingyou water without using your head and without experimenting, then even thirty years won't give you the skill others gain in three, so once watering is done well, many problems can be readily solved. First, watering must suit the orchid: understand the orchid's growth characteristics. Second, water according to the orchid's characteristics, combined with your ownorchid growingenvironment and potting medium. Third, water according to theorchid'sdifferent growth stages. In fact, only the first point matters; in the end, it all comes down to matching theorchid'sgrowth characteristics. The vast majority of friends just starting to grow orchids are afraid theorchidwill dry to death, so they water as soon as the pot surface dries, or they frequently mist the orchid leaves, and some even set the bottom of the orchid pot in a tray of water, which keeps the pot overly wet for long periods, affects root respiration, causes root death and scorched root tips, sometimes forming a “hydroponic root” appearance; once the pot is dried out the roots are hollow, and after transplanting the plant has trouble settling in. It also easily lets harmful bacteria multiply rapidly and the orchid become diseased. Some orchids look like a full pot of growth but simply won't bloom, and so on. All these problems are caused by watering too frequently. During a year of growth, orchids need only a small amount of water most of the time. If you can hold out and let the pot dry, then your watering is basically up to standard. To make the pot dry, you must 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, you don't control water long-term; when it should be wet, it still must be wet, and when it's time to control water, you must control it. Broadly speaking, water must be controlled during the following periods: 1. Water control during the orchid's flowering period. To produce a fine display, besides growing theorchid plantwell and strong, you must also master water control during the flowering period. When the orchid's flower scape elongates and the flower bud is about to shed its bract, give the orchid one thorough watering; afterward, until a few days after the flower is cut off, no more watering is needed. This way the flowers open more and more spiritedly, with upright scapes and proper petals, and the petals are less likely to curl back and twist; the outward stretching of the outer petals and the long-opening drooping of the side petals are kept in check, and the degree of the column opening its window and the tongue rolling back is also reduced, and the flowering period lasts longer. So for flowers entered in orchid shows, to have a long-lasting fine 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, yet by the second day its quality did not even reach a bronze prize. Apart from theflower'sown keeping qualities, the most important reason was that water was not controlled. For flowers with poor keeping qualities, water control must be done even earlier.
2. Water control during the new shoot growth period. Nowadays, since there are few orchid growers using completely natural cultivation, the timing of sprouting varies a lot, so it cannot be fixed to specific months. During the sprouting stage, the orchid should be kept moist, on the wet side, in order to let new shoots emerge smoothly and produce more shoots. But after the new shoots come out of the pot and open, water control should be carried out gradually, shifting from moist to mainly moist-but-not-wet. You can use an alternating pattern of light watering, heavy watering, and letting the pot go dry. Light watering means stopping as soon as water runs from the bottom of the pot; heavy watering means watering from above until it drains from the bottom of the pot, watering thoroughly, and you can also pour back and forth several times; letting the pot go dry means a short period of water control, bringing the pot to a relatively dry level. Depending on the moisture of the potting soil, you can alternate heavy watering——light watering——light watering——letting the pot go dry——heavy watering——light watering…… Light watering can be done consecutively; heavy watering should not be consecutive; and letting the pot go dry comes before heavy watering. Through this semi-water-control, you encourage the new shoots to grow roots, to support themselves, and to 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 chances of new shoots developing stem rot andsoft rotas well as other diseases are 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. Being dry lets them withstand the heat of the environment; when relatively dry, orchids can endure 35°C or even higher temperatures. When it is hot, if it is too wet and not ventilated, all kinds of problems come one after another. Avoid watering during high temperatures; the period when the pot goes from wet to moist should also pass at a lower temperature. So 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, and both are equally important. Friends who have cooling facilities such as air conditioning can carry out a semi-water-control state, and in one summer, a second generation of new shoots will come out.
3. Water control to promote flowering in orchids. Starting from when the new shoots open, gradually control water, andCymbidium goeringiiwill produce its first batch of flower buds; the earlier buds appear in April, which is quite normal. Sometimes a bud takes nearly a year from formation to blooming, and with proper later management it can bloom completely normally. But mostCymbidium goeringiiflower 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, even if you don't control water, the pot will develop an effect like water control. If you deliberately control water, you can make the orchid produce more flower buds. Water control to promote flowering differs from ordinary water control. If an orchid is not inclined to produce flowers, you must control water very dry, making the orchid “feel” a sense of crisis; then after a light watering, control water again, and repeat this many times before you get a satisfactory result. Don't be afraid the orchid will dry to death, but weak and diseased plants must not be treated this way.Cymbidium faberiFor it to produce flowers, in the vast majority of cases water control gives better results. 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 keep black spot disease in check, so promoting flowering and preventing disease are achieved in one stroke.
4. Winter water control for orchids. Winter water control is mainly because orchids grow slowly in winter and need very little water; it can also prevent frost damage and freezing caused by wet conditions in the pot at low temperatures. No need to belabor this further here.