Query re Hot Water
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years ago
Featured Answer
Comments (22)
DDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Query re: Phalaenopsis roots and other ??
Comments (6)Hi, again, Wishful, Just a clarification, first ~ Sending you off to read another thread of the Orchid forum was not intended as a "brush-off." I thought it would be the quickest way for you to get some good information on the culture of your Phal. The following are based on some things I have learned about my Phals and are personal opinion, not edicts handed down from any oracle of orchid culture. It is a very good sign that you have had your Phal for a year and a half, and that it has grown several good new leaves. You are keeping its pot out of water and it apparently likes terracotta (which helps to provide good even drying between waterings). As Orchid126 suggests, your Phal should benefit from being closer to your east window--much closer. It needs bright, indirect sunlight. Also, if it were Close to the window in your climate it would get that night time temperature drop that it needs to initiate a flower spike. To deflect heat coming directly up from the heating vent, you could get (or rig) a heat deflector for the vent--or even put the plant on a larger plant tray placed on a plant rack (or shelf) right at the window. I live in a Very dry place, do not use a humidifier, and rarely mist my Phals (except for their aerial roots, and those only occasionally). They have never shown signs of needing additional humidity. Watering on time seems to provide all the moisture they need. Speaking of aerial roots, I don't worry about those, either. Some Phals are very sedate (root-wise); others seem to like to kick up their "heels." Heck; let 'em express themselves. Your air circulation sounds fine, and, close to the window, convection currents will only increase. If anything, your temperatures are a bit on the warm side. In winter, our inside daytime temps are between 68 and 75. Night temps next to the glass doors where my Phals are can dip to around 60 degrees--or a few degrees cooler. As soon as this starts, they spike. They seem to love it cool at night. Your watering sounds fine, judging from the survival and growth of your Phal. Of course, we all want to water perfectly, but it is better to underwater than to overwater. A lot of new growers get nervous way before 7 or 9 days go by. Since conditions can change with the seasons, check with a rounded skewer, Qtip, or your finger (my preferred--3" or knuckle deep). If it is cool to your lip or finger tip, it still has moisture. (If you make a hole in the medium, gently close it over.) Ok; I've said enough. Do check out that other thread and give the forum some feedback to let us know when your Phal Spikes! Sc...See MoreHot water heater doesn't seem to hold a lot of hot water
Comments (5)"When you think about it 40 gallons isn't a lot of water." I disagree. That is a lot of HOT water at 140°. If you were to draw it all down at 2.5 GPM, it would take 8 minutes. ThatÂs theoretical, because the way you draw it is to push it with COLD water. But thatÂs OK, because you arenÂt going to take too many showers at 140°  one, maybe. So to make it comfortable, you mix in 40 gallons of water at say, room temperature, and now you have 16 minutes at 102°. All the time, the fire is burning in the heater. If you have not been drawing a quart of water from the bottom of your heater once a month (And I know you havenÂt.) then you may have a scale at the bottom. This fools the thermostat into thinking you have many gallons of hot water, when all you have is a thin scale of hot deposits. Pinoke...See MoreWill this save $-re. furnace/hot water
Comments (5)Our boiler heats the hot water too, and it used to switch on several times a day just to bring the hot water back up to the set temperature. We added more insulation to the hot water storage tank and also insulated the bare pipes attached to it because they were allowing a lot of heat to escape. Since then the boiler only turns on to reheat the water after we have used some. We did consider only turning it on when we need hot water, either manually or with a timer, but I wasn't sure it would work so well. Our hot water tank takes a long time to fully heat up, and if you only use some of the heated water the rest will just sit there going cold afterwards. I believe that reducing the heat loss has had a better savings effect and we still have hot water whenever we need it (provided the ancient boiler is in a good mood that day!). At any rate, our bills have gone down enough that I'm not worried about making any more savings on the hot water as their return would be very minimal....See MoreBeverly and Summer Romance- queries re health
Comments (7)I've had both since late last summer and really minor BS for each one, Beverly maybe a bit more than Summer Romance, but I just assumed it was because they're young and also because I don't spray. SR is more vigorous (and thorny) of the two. On the other hand, Beverly has bloomed quite a bit last year and this year while I still haven't seen a single flower for SR; I've gathered from the threads here that it can take its time before it blooms, so I'm just going to wait it out and pinch it every now and then for form....See MoreDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoDavidR
4 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years agoweedmeister
4 years agoJake The Wonderdog
4 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years agoJake The Wonderdog
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA) thanked Jake The WonderdogDDinSB (Z10b Coastal CA)
4 years agoJake The Wonderdog
4 years ago
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