Growing orchids on an urban balcony in summer: ice packs come in very handy

How hard is it to grow orchids on an urban balcony in summer? Perhaps only those who live in the city can truly understand it: dry heat, muggy heat, even the air feels scorching. And orchids fear this kind of climate most of all, so what can be done? Orchid growers have thought up many methods, such as hanging water curtains and running fans.

But the results are still not ideal, because the overall environment in the city in summer is just muggy and hot, and no amount of fanning makes much difference. So what should we do? How can we get orchids through this summer safely? An orchid grower from Guangdong shared a method with Hao She Nong Fu, and I think it is worth spreading.

He puts mineral water bottles in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, freezes them into ice blocks, and then places them in the gaps between orchid pots, so the local micro-environment can be cooled down. One bottle of water per pot of orchids; one bottle takes about four hours to melt, and it is replaced three to four times a day. Local cooling can also drive air circulation, forming a breeze cooler than room temperature, which an electric fan cannot do.

Hao She Nong Fu thinks the melting time of mineral water bottles is a bit short, so he suggests using large ice packs; a large ice pack like this can keep melting time at 6 hours (at a room temperature of 32 degrees). Hao She Nong Fu has done experiments: orchids with ice packs placed nearby tend to produce dew, perhaps because of the temperature difference.

If you do not grow many orchids and your balcony space is convenient, you can try this method; the advantage of this method is its low cost. Hao She Nong Fu is a rural person, and most things he does start from cost, so city friends may laugh at him.

Orchid growers, do you have any better tricks for getting orchids through summer? If so, please leave them in the comments, thank you!