Stone
Well-Known Member
I realize watering is probably furthest from the minds of the Northeners but ''watering season'' is not that far away.
Anyway, at our club meeting the other night it was mentioned by in passing that there is a growing trend amongst some paph growers here to sit their plants in water over the growing season and i'm also experimenting with this this year. It got me thinking: If so many of these plants do well with wet feet, then maybe the method of letting them dry between waterings is misguided? If they enjoy so much water without their roots rotting then its obvoiusly not the water causing the problem but possibly an imbalance in the bacterial population in the mix...insufficient numbers of supressive bacteria which feed on the pathogens as occurs in a natural ecosysyem.
I had a look through an old orchid book (1951) to find the following lines. "
'' So far as comopst is concerned, the Cypripediums (paphs) are adaptable to numerous materials. They can be potted exclusively in tan-bark (spent bark from tanneries), good Todea fibre (like osmunda), course leafmold and cow manure and various native barks stripped from dead trees and leafmold and humus gathered in the forest''
Many of these materials are now known to supress pathogens for up to 2 years where as pine bark for only 6 months or so!
With regard to watering, the 1951 advice was: December (June in the north)
'' It is practically impossible to overwater the great majority of orchids this month, so give AT LEAST! two copious waterings EACH day, one in the morning and the other at nightfall, or at some time about sunset when the sun has lost the intensity of its heat''
''Wooden reseptacles require very close attention and plants mounted on fern fibre or other quickly drying material such as a block of wood need constant dipping''....''Make the plants grow by regularly watering them''
All this water and such a water retentive mix and no root rot!
When you think about it, during monsoonal downpours, the plants can be saturated for days at a time and thrive! on it. So theoretically and in the right environment ( warm and windy) you should be able to water every single day or more and get the ''wild vigour'' that we all want. maybe we are paying too much attention to feeding techniques and not enough to setting up an environment where we can ''really'' water the plants as they have evolved to thrive on.
Just a thought.
Mike
Anyway, at our club meeting the other night it was mentioned by in passing that there is a growing trend amongst some paph growers here to sit their plants in water over the growing season and i'm also experimenting with this this year. It got me thinking: If so many of these plants do well with wet feet, then maybe the method of letting them dry between waterings is misguided? If they enjoy so much water without their roots rotting then its obvoiusly not the water causing the problem but possibly an imbalance in the bacterial population in the mix...insufficient numbers of supressive bacteria which feed on the pathogens as occurs in a natural ecosysyem.
I had a look through an old orchid book (1951) to find the following lines. "
'' So far as comopst is concerned, the Cypripediums (paphs) are adaptable to numerous materials. They can be potted exclusively in tan-bark (spent bark from tanneries), good Todea fibre (like osmunda), course leafmold and cow manure and various native barks stripped from dead trees and leafmold and humus gathered in the forest''
Many of these materials are now known to supress pathogens for up to 2 years where as pine bark for only 6 months or so!
With regard to watering, the 1951 advice was: December (June in the north)
'' It is practically impossible to overwater the great majority of orchids this month, so give AT LEAST! two copious waterings EACH day, one in the morning and the other at nightfall, or at some time about sunset when the sun has lost the intensity of its heat''
''Wooden reseptacles require very close attention and plants mounted on fern fibre or other quickly drying material such as a block of wood need constant dipping''....''Make the plants grow by regularly watering them''
All this water and such a water retentive mix and no root rot!
When you think about it, during monsoonal downpours, the plants can be saturated for days at a time and thrive! on it. So theoretically and in the right environment ( warm and windy) you should be able to water every single day or more and get the ''wild vigour'' that we all want. maybe we are paying too much attention to feeding techniques and not enough to setting up an environment where we can ''really'' water the plants as they have evolved to thrive on.
Just a thought.
Mike