It depends on your individual micro climates.
He may be blessed with a cocoon of humid area where he does not need to water much. He may be even be living next to a lake or large body of water.
Your growing area on the other hand, may be exposed to wind and more drying so watering may be needed more often.

Thats the thing with microclimates: One thing may work for an orchid grower in that part of town, but may not exactly work for his neighbor only 30 feet away.

Do what you feel is correct for your plants in your area. Not based on his plants in his area.
DO learn important lessons from him, but adapt his techniques to match your local growing conditions.

Whitecat
I just posted something about this on your other thread:
"types of orchids to move outdoors"

I am seeing strong evidence that the Old - Timer is right, at least up our way

Clara

I have mine outside now, and now that the freaked out burned leave have fallen off (and i've made peace with that) I only water mine every couple of weeks. Mind you I live near a lake and have a nice fenced in yard, but now that I have a garden I've decided the orchids are going to have to toughen up.

I'm going Darwin on their bahookies.

Whitecat,

If you are getting good results and your roots aren't rotting, then you are doing something right...just keep that in mind

Watering is individual depending on a lot of factors. Generally, most people water too much. Do your own testing and make your own schedule.

I have found that the orchids are not as fussy outside as they are in the house because of the humidity. They don't seem to mind as much if I wait a day or two longer to water than I do when they're indoors.

I second the above statements. The microclimates really make growing different, more humidity = less irrigation; yet, more wind and hotter temps = more irrigation regardless of humidity. All of my orchids are at my parents house (I am still in school and live in Chicago). My mom has no idea which orchids are what - all she knows is "the purple one, the red one in the crabapple tree, etc." I keep all the weather elements in mind (humidity the week before, location of the orchids, ease of watering, amount of sun, in bloom or out, etc) and from school - I call my mom and little sister and tell them which ones to water. It seems like a difficult arrangement, but I have had them long enough, I kind of know when it is time to water, without actually examining them. It is more of an art than a science - but it comes with experience, relax everyone, if you find yourself watering an orchid more than you feel is appropriate, move it to a more ventillated space with a little less sun.

I think the original statement is much to vague and as stated by others there are lots of variables. Pot size, plastic or clay etc? I also tend to use a lot of styro peanuts when using bark. Sometime 1/4 - 1/3 of the bottom portion of the pot is peanuts with the bark on top. I could never go that long without watering.

Kevin

"if you find yourself watering an orchid more than you feel is appropriate, move it to a more ventillated space with a little less sun.

I would think that a little more sun would be approprite if you are increasing water and air?
Clara

>> "if you find yourself watering an orchid more than you feel is appropriate, move it to a more ventillated space with a little less sun.

>> I would think that a little more sun would be approprite if you are increasing water and air?
Clara

I think that bradarmi was thinking along the lines of:
If your pot dries out faster that expected, and you are needing to water more frequently to compensate, then perhaps you need to reduce the sunlight that the plant is receiving.

I find the plastic pots can really hold moisture. Add seasoned bark and you could go a few weeks without watering. Depends on air circulation and humidity. I use sphag in my mixes in winter because of dryness and my lax watering. In summer, I pull off the sphag and try to keep air at the roots. Depending on the weather, plants growing in bark and sphag have to be checked carefully. I like growing with inert materials over summer.

Clara, sorry for the mix up, wet feet is right on the money as to what I was trying to get at (that's what I get for trying to type the message quickly before a meeting, lol).

Anyways, there are too many variables to keep in mind, I think we all do the same thing, just look at the orchid and see if it needs water!

Thanks for the clarifications.

Brad- the way our weather is going, you won't have to call home and I won't have to run up to the roof! Love your "auto- water" phone system! May I have the number too? LOL

Jane- I have also found inert media seems to work better outdoors. For me, when winter comes it will probably be just as useful during "nap time" :-)

Clara

The deal is you normally grow inside, so your medium, type of pots and even plants, are best suited to growing indoors. Yes, they might love their 2 or 3 months of freedom but you still grow for intermediate, dry conditions year round. If I need to grow a plant damp, I plant it in sphag (the real variable being plastic or clay pots). If I need to grow a plant on the dry side, I plant it naked or in a fast drying medium. Both can get watered daily.

In the south, humidity is a given. The real variables are heat and light. Heat as in a "greenhouse" effect behind windows which gives a plant a longer growing season, even in the house and our higher light levels. There is just one zone difference between where I was in NC and here in Florida, but I'm having to re-learn the light issue all over again.

It would not surprise me a bit if you needed to continue growing your plants, even outside in the summer, as if they were inside. Even if your heat and humidity seem tropical this time of the year, your light levels will never come close, and that's what they really need to soak up the daily waterings we give them in the south.

tuezday hit the nail on the head. For the few months spent outside in our zone, the still air, high humidity and hot afternoon sun can spell disaster if potted for indoor growing. It's just too wet especially in plastic pots. Clay works better, but I'm not about to repot everthing for a few months.

We have to treat the plants the same way as indoors. But rain and humidity are major players. We can have days of heavy rains and steamy, still nights. Can't run fans outdoors. August can be a steam-bath. I am trying to use more inert material in my potting mix. I'm growing many plants in drier mixes indoors. I have to water more often. I remove any extra spagh used over winter.

Tonight it is supposed to be in the low 50's. Hot day, cool nights. Checked my outdoor plants today and they were still damp from the heavy rains of 2 days ago. Even the plants in full sun were still damp. I won't water until they are dry.

Jane

Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful, detailed answers. All my 'chids are in plastic pots to keep them from drying out too fast inside in the winter.

Before the old-timer said he watered every couple of weeks outside, I'd repotted the smaller plants that were in bark mix, adding sphag, afraid they were drying out too fast, even in plastic. All but a couple of plants in bark had been repotted between April and June, so they were drying quickly.

Jane, I remember your technique of topping your plants in bark w/ spahg for the winter or covering exposed roots. Doing that would make it easier to convert to the plain bark mix for summer outside.

And Kevin, you're right. I was so stunned that I didn't ask the guy what medium, what kind of pots, etc. Your styrofoam couldn't take less watering. I put marbles in the bottom of pots 'cause they're pretty and they add stability. The rest of it is the medium.

Putting clear Plexiglas on top of the lathe house this year has given me more control over the amount of water the sphag gets, esp. It hangs over the sides a few inches. When the wind blows the rain, it still wets the sphag, but it's helped enormously anyway. Last summer, a lot of plants got set back because the sphag didn't dry out fast enough between rains.

I'd rather water more often the few months the orchids are outside than water for lots longer when they're in the house.

Qylliam, DH teases me that the orchids have to toughen up here in the North - no more piddly-a-s wimps that have to have this and can't live with that.

And to all of you who said pay attention to my plants, yes - esp. because I'm such an underwaterer. I'd just never heard that watering every 2-3 weeks was possible anywhere around these parts. Amazing. Thanks for all the good comments.

Whitecat8