Watering must seize the right moment; choosing the right time is key

How many days before watering again? Or how many times a day should one water? These are questions we often hear, yet they ask the wrong thing. In my view, this way of asking cannot yield the correct answer I want to know, because how often to water means the amount of time that must pass from when the last watering finished to when the next watering should occur. Because of changes in season and climate, the size and thickness of the orchid pot, the coarseness or fineness of the growing medium, and differences in its water-holding capacity, the speed of drainage in the pot varies accordingly, so it is difficult to find a standard to fix 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 decide whether to water based solely on how much time has passed; rather, one should observe the dry or wet state of the orchid pot to decide the timing of watering. If the length of time passed is used as the standard for watering, then in the gloomy rainy season, when the air is filled with abundant moisture, after one watering several days often pass and the pot is not easily fully drained; at such a time, thinking the time has come, while the orchid pot is still waterlogged, one waters again and again in repeated succession, and the orchid roots will never have a chance to breathe, losing the respiratory function they should have! Conversely, on days of strong wind and blazing sun, when the air is dry, the orchid pot drains too fast, and soon after just watering it shows an overly dry state; if at such a time one dares not water because the time has not come, then the orchid plant, beset by both hunger and thirst, will frequently lack water for long periods, lose normal development, and easily fall ill! We must firmly remember that constantly keeping it too wet or letting it dry out at will is a kind of cruelty to the orchid, enough to harm their life functions, and is a major mistake in cultivation! In my view, what conditions mean one should water? That is what everyone wants to understand. If someone asks: "What conditions are the appropriate time to water?" The apt and correct answer should be that the dry or wet state of the orchid pot decides the timing of watering; that is, pay attention to observing the water moss covering the pot surface, or the inner edge at the bottom of the pot, when the water has completely drained away and it shows a state of dry but not parched, that is the most appropriate time to water! If you judge the timing of watering from the dry or wet state of the orchid pot, and seize the moment to water, then you have already learned the highest skill of watering! Wu Anlu