Overwintering paphs in a greenhouse

[Markedg]

I would like to get peoples opinions. I live in Dublin, Ireland and grow mixed varieties of orchids in a 10' x 12' greenhouse that is heated to about 58F/14C in winter and lined with bubblewrap. This query is in regards my paphs/phrags. I am going away for 3 weeks in December. If I were to water the plants a day or so before I go away, would this be enough moisture for the plants until I get back? I know that they do go semi dormant at this time of year but I want to make sure that being watered once in 3 weeks won't cause a problem later. TIA.

 

[goldenrose]

Is this a minimum daytime high as well? Any supplemental lighting? What type of paphs & phrags? I'd say no.

 

[gonewild]

Very important to consider the air humidity. If the air is high in moisture you have more time than if it is dry.

 

[Linus_Cello]

Maybe your could get away with it for the phrags by setting the plants in pots of water (wet-feet). But not the paphs.

 

[NYEric]

3 weeks, no.

 

[gonewild]

Try it now. Stop watering and see how long the plants can go without suffering... then you know what your conditions will support.

 

[jtrmd]

get a lawn sprinkler and timer with the right settings for weekly/2xweek.It is small enough greenhouse to water with on,if you let it run long enough.Thats what I have done when I left for long periods of time.

 

[Erythrone]

You can put the plant on a florist foam and add a mesh on the medium for watering when you are not there:

http://www.orchidouxdingues.info/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18440

Sorry, the link is in French. Some people use this method all year long. IMO it is can be useful for most of us for short periods.

 

[Justin]

they will definitely need some water at some point...

 

[Ozpaph]

Try it now. Stop watering and see how long the plants can go without suffering... then you know what your conditions will support.

Great idea.
I would have a friend or relative check on them once a week, anyway. Whats the plan if the heater fails?

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Normally, I would say no. But my memories of Ireland, back decades ago when I visited, are of mostly cloudy days. Even when the sun came out, it was never for a full day. Under those circumstances, with high humidity, a heavy watering could well last the plants for 3 weeks.

 

[goldenrose]

Try it now. Stop watering and see how long the plants can go without suffering... then you know what your conditions will support.

The only problem I see with this is, is there enough time to evalute the stress on the plants before they're hit with another bout of drought? It might be better to continue to grow them as well as you can so they're nice & strong before entering into this drought phase.

get a lawn sprinkler and timer with the right settings for weekly/2xweek.It is small enough greenhouse to water with on,if you let it run long enough.Thats what I have done when I left for long periods of time.

That would worry me, too much water, not enough time for the plants to dry off, sequential cloudy days could end up in one big rot. Are you sure you can't find someone to look in on them at the half way point? They certainly should be able to make it 10-12 days, it's that 3rd week that puts it over the edge.

 

[gonewild]

The only problem I see with this is, is there enough time to evalute the stress on the plants before they're hit with another bout of drought? It might be better to continue to grow them as well as you can so they're nice & strong before entering into this drought phase.

In that scenario I would not actually let the plants go long enough to see them stress beyond a slight amount. If the foliage gets a little soft from lack of water for a day then the plant has not really stress much that would require a recovery time. Easy to stop before there is actually a problem.
If the plants last 3 weeks and don't have a problem the there is no problem.

My guess is that most of the plants will be fine without water for 3 weeks. But there will be a few that suffer some.
3 weeks without rain in Nature is not uncommon.

Here is an idea....
Sit the pots in a tray of water deep enough so the water would be wicked up during the first week (maybe 1"?). That is not long enough to rot any roots but satisfies the 1st week. The media will be saturated at the end of the week enough to carry through the second week. Then the 3rd week the media will be on the dry side but not to dry.
I've done this with individual plants but not a whole collection.

 

[Erythrone]

You can put the plant on a florist foam and add a mesh on the medium for watering when you are not there:

http://www.orchidouxdingues.info/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18440

Sorry, the link is in French. Some people use this method all year long. IMO it is can be useful for most of us for short periods.

Nobody thinks it would be an interesting method for watering pot for 3 weeks?:wink:

With the mesh (maybe should I write lash, wisp or...cord?) it is easy to make sure the potting stuff stays damp.

 

[gonewild]

Nobody thinks it would be an interesting method for watering pot for 3 weeks?:wink:

With the mesh (maybe should I write lash, wisp or...cord?) it is easy to make sure the potting stuff stays damp.

The correct English word would be "wick".

It is an interesting method and would work it seems.
I'm not sure how well the moisture would leave the foam as compared to a water reservoir?
Or how well it would work in an open media to spread to all roots. Maybe this is addressed in the article.

 

[Erythrone]

Thank you Rose!

I read people sometimes use several long wicks for a single large pot. It seems to be usefull because the water is not mainly on the bottom of the media as with water reservoir. How can I say... There is a better distribution of water in the medium than with sitting pots on a tray with water.