How to water the orchid at home

How to water an orchid at home? Few people think about it. The overwhelming majority believes that the more - the better. And this is fundamentally wrong. After all, the right watering is in second place after lighting. And it depends on him whether your tropikanka will please you with a long gorgeous flowering or will only grow foliage.

General rules

You can not just take and pour water on top. Remember the composition of the substrate for your beauty. Solid bark or ground coconut shell. What happens if you water this soil from above? Right. The liquid will quickly flow down.

Now carefully look at the pot in which your orchid grows. What we see? Holes. A lot of holes. And through them the water will pour out. And what will be left in the pot of roots? Dry bark.So they poured a flower, from the heart of what is called. Sometimes it happens.

Some owners have the opposite. The orchid is planted in a fat land, the pot is opaque, with one hole at the bottom. And they poured the poor girl every day and from the heart. Waiting for flowers, naive. And in one “beautiful” day, a Tropik woman waves a leaf to such owners and quietly walks away to another world.

Now, in order not to mess things up, we will properly water the orchid. The most common and convenient method is intended to saturate with moisture exactly the bark in the substrate, and not the plant itself. And this will allow the orchid itself to take by its roots as much liquid as is needed at the moment. At the same time, root decay is excluded, and hence the development of fungal diseases.

What water is needed for orchids

Of course, not plumbing. And not well. Both options are too stiff. This has a negative effect on growth and subsequent flowering.

In natural conditions, the orchid gets the right amount of moisture from the rain. But after all, the chemical composition of water there does not contain half of the periodic table, like rain in a megacity.By the way, even in a small town it may well go through a good acid rain or snow. Therefore, this option is also dismissed. Where to get water for an orchid?

From the tap. Just be sure to prepare it:

1. Pour water into a saucepan or bucket. The larger your collection, the more fluid you need.
2. Leave for a day at room temperature, during which time we mix thoroughly two times. This will help free chlorine to evaporate faster.
3. Bring to a boil and cool. What a chore, and what to do.
4. Merge with sediment. All water is ready.

Now, directly for irrigation, it must be heated to a temperature of + 35-44 ° C. Room temperature will be cold.

Council If you do not want to boil, you can freeze the water on the street or in the freezer. After thawing, it also needs to be drained from the sediment.

Water the orchid. Step-by-step instruction

Carefully read the instructions. We do not make mistakes, it is destructive for flowers. The meaning of the method of proper watering is to soak the plant pot in water. The method is described in many sources, but they do not write the main trick. After all, it is customary to water the orchid when the substrate dries out.Dipping pot fraught with what? The bark with roots is dry, everything floats, the plant falls on its side. Torment, not watering.

Now we learn to do it correctly and without the hassle. We will need:

• warm water a lot
• a small lattice, stand with holes, at worst an inverted glass with a flat bottom
• transparent container with a diameter slightly larger than an orchid pot (plastic bucket)
• plant pot
• small dipper, watering can for indoor plants or a regular mug
• thick old towel

Getting started. Carefully place the orchid pot in an empty (!) Container. We start to pour water from above, directly into the pot. Very carefully, make sure that water does not fall on the leaves, in the sinuses and the point of growth. Liquid will flow out of the lower holes and pour into a large container. We stop when its level reaches about a third of the height of the pot with orchid itself. The substrate will rise, but only slightly. Leave exactly 5 minutes.

Pour some water again, as described above. When its level in a large container rises to about two-thirds of the pot with a flower, we stop again. We are waiting for exactly 6 minutes.

After this period we add water from above.We stop when to the edge of the pot with the plant will remain about 1 cm. We wait 9 minutes.

While the bark or coconut shell is soaked with water, other pots can be watered. It will turn out the conveyor. In total, the root system of the orchid was in the water with us for exactly 20 minutes. It is quite enough for the substrate to absorb the liquid.

Now we need to carefully remove the pot from the container. Wait for most of the water to drain. We already have a grill or an upside-down glass on a thick towel. We put a pot on it and forget it for 20 minutes. During this time, all the excess moisture will flow out.

Everything, we watered the orchid correctly, you can return it to its usual habitat.

We led the time of soaking the substrate for a pot of about 2 liters. A smaller pot takes less time. The average calculation is a full 1 minute per 100 ml of pot volume. That is, a 0.6 liter vessel will get wet for 6 minutes (2 minutes each period).

Council How much time the pot spent in the water, so much time must be given to the runoff of excess. Notice required. Transfer the orchid to the place ahead of time - excess moisture will destroy the roots.

When it's time to water

It is argued that in winter and summer watering should be different in time. It's clear. That's just how to calculate these terms - is not told anywhere. Everywhere is the approximate time. But it's not right! Each house has its own microclimate, how can we recommend the number of days there, if everything is individual?

We reveal the secret.

For transparent pots. Periodically we look at the walls outside. Condensate is present, and the roots are dark beige or brownish. So it is too early to water. The walls are dry inside, and the roots are closer in color to the silvery white. Now is the time, you can water the orchid.

For opaque pots. We stick a wooden stick in the middle of the pot. We take out. Dry? It's time to water. Wet? Repeat the check in 2-3 days.

No wand. No problem. Carefully grab the substrate at the edge of the pot and look at the color of the roots and the presence of moisture. The description is slightly higher.

In such a simple way it is possible to determine absolutely at any time of the year whether the orchid is needed now, or if it is worth while to wait with it.

Council Universal recommendation for any pots.Weigh it in your hand. Heavy - in the bark is still full of moisture. Easy - you can water.

Useful tips

1. In order not to chill the orchid's root system in winter, place foam plastic plates or pieces of wool fabric under the pots. Cork coasters under the hot too fit.
2. In extreme heat or when the air in the room is too dry, moisten the air around the orchid often. She loves it. Just try not to spray the flower itself, otherwise there will be ugly spots on the leaves. And if only a few droplets fall into the sinuses or a growth point, a Tropican can start to hurt.
3. Instead of spraying, you can put a number of additional vessels with water. With a free space, it is better to place a wide pallet or tray with expanded clay, peat or moss nearby. Pour some water into it more often. Steaming, it will create the required level of humidity and microclimate around the orchid bush.
4. Do not water the orchid more often than the substrate requires. Under natural conditions, it also does not float on the lake and does not grow directly in a puddle. The root system suffers from an excess of liquid in the pot, and this is the main feeding organ of any plant.Will rot, which will have to be treated for a long time. Did they achieve this by dipping the pots into the water too often?
5. If you transfer the next watering about a week later, then this can provoke an orchid at the beginning of flowering. Just do not abuse the method, it is too stressful for the plant. Do not worry, a week without water the orchid will not die.

How to water an orchid at home? In fact, not very difficult. At first, the whole process may seem long and inconvenient. But having executed procedure once, you will understand all convenience and advantage. And the orchid will precisely appreciate your efforts and will thank you with beautiful flowering.

Video: how to water orchids