When watering crops, you should seize the right moment

How many days must pass before watering once? Or how many times a day should one water? These are questions we often hear, questions that are asked but miss the point. In my opinion, this way of asking cannot yield the correct answer I want to know, because how often to water once means the amount of time that must pass from the moment the last watering is finished until the next time watering should be done. Because of changes in season and climate, differences in the size and thickness of the orchid pot, differences in the coarseness of the growing medium, and differences in its water-holding capacity, the speed of drainage in the pot also differs accordingly, so it is difficult to find a standard to specify the timing of watering. Therefore, whether to water is not a question of how much time has passed, but should be a question of how fast the orchid pot itself drains. Perhaps the length of time is related to the number of waterings, but one cannot rely solely on the length of time that has passed to decide whether to water; instead, one should observe the wet-or-dry state of the orchid pot to decide the right moment for watering. If the length of time that has passed is taken as the standard for watering, then in the gloomy rainy season, when the atmosphere is filled with heavy moisture, after one watering, several days often pass and the water in the pot does not easily drain away completely. At this time, thinking the time has come, and while the orchid pot is still in a soggy state, watering again and again, one after another in succession, will leave the orchid roots forever without a chance to breathe, and they will lose their proper respiratory function! Conversely, on days of strong wind and blazing sun, when the air is dry, the orchid pot drains too quickly, and soon after watering it shows a state of excessive dryness. At this time, if because the time has not yet come one does not dare to water, then the orchid plant, beset by both hunger and thirst, will often lack water for a long time, lose normal development, and easily fall ill! We must firmly remember that constantly keeping it too wet or letting it become too dry is a kind of cruelty to the orchid, enough to harm its life functions, and is a major mistake made in cultivation. In my opinion, under what conditions should one water? That is what everyone wants to understand! If someone asks: "Under what conditions is it the proper time to water?" The apt and correct answer should be that the wet-or-dry state of the orchid pot determines the right moment for watering. That is to say: pay attention to observing when the water moss covering the surface of the pot, or the inner edge at the bottom of the pot, has completely drained off its water and shows a state of being dry but not parched - that is the most proper moment when one should water! If you can judge the right moment for watering from the wet-or-dry state of the orchid pot, and seize the moment to water, then you have already learned the highest skill of watering. (Wu Anlu)