Just Add Ice Orchids
new2orchids
14 years ago
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Comments (7)orchid126, Thanks for your concern. This is something I am aware of. I remove the inner container, water, let drain, and place it back into the outer container. I water in the morning before I go to work and check to see if there is any water in the outer container when I get home. If there is, I empty it out. I am getting the hang of letting it drain before I put in back into the outer container. So far, no extra pooling. Just a little dampness. When it's time to transplant my orchid, I would like to get a poetry container with the holes around the sides. When I was little, I remember watching Martha Stewart visit the studio of Guy Wolff, a wonderful potter from Bantam, CT. Wolff makes beautiful garden pots as well as orchid pots. I had a hard time finding his orchid pots on his site, but if you search for Guy Wolff orchid pots in Google Images, photos of them will come up. Do you think I should repot it now, or can I wait until it needs repotting? Thanks again, Matthew Indiana.Matt Here is a link that might be useful: www.guywolff.com...See More'Just add ice' orchids
Comments (3)I just purchased my first orchid back in July. It is a "Just add Ice" orchid. I'm not new to gardening or to growing house plants, but I am new to orchids. I guess I didn't know the ice thing was intended to force the plant to re-bloom. I believe the mane purpose of watering with ice is to give people who have a hard time with plants an easy way to care for their orchid without overwatering. I noticed my orchid's exposed roots had frost bite from the ice. So I got online and found out how to water my orchid with water. It's not that hard. My new orchid finished flower and is now growing new roots and new leaves. It is doing great! Matthew Indiana.Matt...See MoreHow to ID my orchid
Comments (3)If you call them, they may be able to tell you. If you buy orchids from an orchid nursery, they will always have a label. There's no way to tell what it is, most likely. There are tons of white with yellow or red lip, and more tons of pinks, and these are the most commonly sold orchids....See MoreThis orchid is my first ever houseplant. Is it ok?
Comments (9)Here's a little post I wrote trying to explain to an ice cube grower how orchids actually do grow In their native habitat. Orchids really do grow all over the world, even above the arctic circle, but this one was aimed primarily at a Phalaenopsis grower, so will fit for you. Hope it helps. Bill(Z 7 central SC) Lets give some thought about where epiphytic orchids (or at least the vast majority of them) actually grow, and how. First, all epiphytic (so called air plants) are tropical, or subtropical. I know of only one that grows in a climate where freezing temps are the norm in winter. These plants grow on the high limbs in the tree canopy in the forest, or on the trunks of the trees. The ones that tolerate more sunlight are higher with less leaf cover for shade, and the ones wanting less light, on lower limbs, or on the trunks of the trees. Now imagine these limbs and tree trunks, thickly covered with all kinds of lichens, mosses, bromeliads, and assorted multitudes of other plants. The orchids grow among all of this, with roots that burrow down to the actual limb or trunk and attach themselves firmly to these solid supports. The orchid roots may grow many feet up and down these limbs or trunks, or perhaps hang down. In the tropics it rains most every day of the year, Maybe only a light shower, but rain. Most of this rain comes during the middle or hot part of the day, so no sooner does it hit the plant encrusted limbs than it begins to drip off or drain down the trunks, and as soon as the shower passes the sun comes out and aids in the evaporation of any moisture on the limbs. If there is a dry season, and the rains don't come every day, the mosses and other plants on the limbs do retain moisture for a considerable amount of time. So, orchids grow in trees, lightly shaded with their roots climbing around for yards, growing through bare areas, into constantly wet limb "crotches", and through the masses of other plants up there. They get completely soaked when it rains, but as soon as it stops the plants begin to dry. If the dry period is very long, the orchid will be reduced to getting moisture only from those very wet limb "crotches", and other protected places the roots have grown through or into. Now, you have an orchid in your home, what does it want? It wants a potting medium that its roots can grow around in and attach to. Some of those roots may decide to wander out of the pot and hang down, or grow up and around the plant, who knows, remember.....they think they are high in a tree. The orchid also wants a as much sunlight as it can stand....you will have to research this depending on the orchid, and understand this usually precludes those nice lush green succulent plants that develop just before the plant wilts into a mess from lack of light. Lots of air motion is also highly desirable. this also prevents lots of plant diseases, and problems like mold and fungus growth. The orchid also would like to become almost completely dry before watering, and then completely soaked for a watering, and then allowed to dry again. Some research is needed here again, for some orchids want a bit more moisture all the time, and must be watered more frequently.....Phalaenopsis for example. Three ice cubes just don't cut it! Tropical rain is warm, even at night, and three cubes can't water the entire plant. I think the three ice cube deal was a commercial attempt to prevent folks from overwatering their orchid plants. Orchids will live and actually thrive much longer when kept dry and starved for water than they will if kept wet all the time. Root rot will develop in a pot kept constantly wet before you know it, and although the plant will look ok for a good while, it has no roots to supply moisture and nutrients, and the first symptoms the plant does exhibit are all the outward signs of lack of water.....inexperienced growers immediately begin to water the shriveled limp plant more and more because everyone says its dehydrated, needs water. This is one reason I suggest new growers shy away from plastic pots when possible. They hold water much longer than clay. Just my little rant for the day. Hope it helps someone. Bill...See Moreme_171
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