When to Water Orchids? Master the Best Watering Time

Mastering the timing of watering is a very key issue. Apart from patient observation and daily accumulated experience, there is no shortcut to mastering it.OrchidsWatering cannot be scheduled at a fixed time; you should seize the best moment to water. What is the best moment to water? It is when the potting medium appears dry but not parched. The ancients had excellent experience with watering: "Orchids delight in moistness but fear wetness; they delight in dryness but fear parchedness." This is quite logical. "Moist" and "wet," "dry" and "parched" are distinctions of differing degrees.Orchidsmust not be too dry, nor too wet. Too dry means parched, an excessive lack of water, which will causeorchidsto suffer stunted growth; wet means too much water, which will suffocate and rot the orchid roots. Dry and moist, that is, moderate moisture, is the state orchids love. For example, regardingCymbidium goeringiiandCymbidium faberithere is the summary of experience: "Not dry in autumn, not wet in winter."

As for watering frequency, generally orchids in March to April are watered once every 2 to 3 days, or a small amount once daily; in May to June, water once daily; in July to September, water thoroughly once every evening; in October to November, water once daily; from December to the following March, water once every 4 to 5 days. In winter, if you want to water with a large amount at one time, you can do it on a cloudy or rainy day to prevent frost damage; because on a cloudy or rainy day the water will not freeze into ice right after watering. This is the watering pattern in the Yangtze River basin area. However, each region has its own watering habits. For example, at the Lizhu Flower Garden in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, according to the old master, they water only 3 times a year. In Beijing indoors, if winter heating makes the air excessively dry, watering is needed almost every day or in small amounts. As for watering time, in summer and autumn it is best around sunset, so that the leaf surface can dry before nightfall; in winter and spring, around sunrise is best. Avoid pouring cold water suddenly onto orchid pots under the scorching sun; a sudden drop in potting soil temperature will affect root water absorption and disrupt physiological balance.

In summer, when there is a thunderstorm and the weather is muggy, after the rain you must water the potting soil thoroughly with clean water to remove residual heat; otherwise the orchid roots are easily damaged or even killed.