Orchid Care for Beginners - How to water Phalaenopsis Orchids

Hey guys, it's Dani. Today we are continuing the Orchid Care for Beginners series that we started last month and we are going to address everything that has to do with watering Phalaenopsis orchids properly. Last time we talked about how to repot these orchids. So if you missed that video but would like to watch it, check it down below. I'll link it in the description. In that video we took a look at the different types of medium we can use with our orchids and today we will address how to properly water orchids in general and detail more how to properly do so depending on medium and environment. Today's video is sponsored by repotme.com which provides you with everything you could need to properly grow orchids, from fertilizer to pots, medium and even pest control. If you're growing African Violets or Bonsais, they do have something for you as well, so I'll link their website down below. Feel free to check it out at any time. And in today's video we will be looking at the Phalaenopsis we repotted last time. If you remember they were pretty sick and we will address how to properly water all those three types of orchid media we used last time which were provided by repotme.com. And because this video is a very detailed tutorial, let's start with the beginning. What type of water is best suited for Phalaenopsis orchids? Generally most orchids, Phalaenopsis included, prefer soft water or as soft as possible. So the source of the water can vary. Tap water can certainly be used in certain territories where hard water is not an issue. In many stores you can find distilled water, but be careful you don't buy that type of water which is meant for putting in your iron and contains perfume. That water is not suited. Many people have a reverse osmosis system in their home. If you have such a filtration system which delivers very soft water then that water can definitely be used as well. You can even collect soft water. Rainwater has close to zero minerals and is very suited for orchids. Also snow which is left to melt can be used. But just be careful in these instances that you are using clean water or clean snow. Generally if hard water is used you will see brown and dark patches on the roots on top of the medium. This is where most of the salts accumulate and start damaging the vellum and this outer coating of the root. Excessive patching on the top roots might mean the water you are using is not adequate. These patches can also form due to excessive fertilizing but that is a topic for another time. In any case if you see something like this check your water source just to be sure. The temperature of the water should be lukewarm or room temperature. Try to stay away from hot or very very cold freezing water. Despite what some companies use as their slogan very cold icy water can damage the roots in time. The Phalaenopsis on the market even the just at ice orchids are hybrids of species which are tropical. They never experience ice or freezing conditions in their natural habitat. Therefore they're not adapted to properly withstand it. With time and repeated exposure there is a very high risk that the roots of a Phalaenopsis will get damaged. The safest water to use is lukewarm. And as a final idea in some areas of the world there is a practice of using additives with a tap water. These additives might be dangerous for orchids so do try to find out as many details as possible about your tap water before using it. Next up at what time of day is it best to water orchids? Generally it is better to water in the morning but not everybody has time in the morning so whenever you have the availability to water that's when you should water. The whole story behind watering in the morning has to do with water evaporation. Sometimes water can pool in the crown or in between the leaves of an orchid which can lead to rotting. We will talk about it more later on in the video. If we water in the morning these pools have a better chance to evaporate faster because generally in the daytime temperatures are higher and water evaporates faster. That is theoretical. The reality is that if we make sure not to let water pool in the crown or in between the leaves we shouldn't have issues with rotting no matter the time of day we're watering. And if we do a correct watering and we make sure that the temperatures are adequate for our Phalaenopsis orchid even watering at night can be risk-free. But as I was saying we will elaborate the technique a little later in the video. Next up when does our orchid need water? Well that really depends. You will hear a lot of people saying water once a week, once every three days or five days and so on and so forth. And sometimes this schedule might work but other times it might not. Each home environment differs. We can have higher or lower humidity, higher or lower temperatures and water evaporation can be different from person to person. Also the medium in which our Phalaenopsis is potted can differ as well. Some media are more water attentive than others as we saw in our last episode. So expressing a fixed amount of time for everyone is wrong. The best thing to do is to look at the root system. Generally speaking Phalaenopsis orchid roots will become silvery or gray when they're dry. In some cases they can still be slightly green but definitely not vivid vivid green. When the roots of a Phalaenopsis orchid are completely dry then When the roots are wet they are generally green and look much plumper than when they're dry. And by putting these orchids side by side I think you can definitely see the difference. Phalaenopsis orchids generally like to become dry in between watering so we should water our Phalaenopsis when all of the roots are silvery gray. The general rule is water a Phalaenopsis when the medium and the roots are completely dry. But in some cases it could be a little hard to tell. Some orchid roots can have algae deposits on them and you might be tempted to say that they're wet when in fact they're dry. So if you're not entirely sure just look at the medium. In time you will learn how the medium looks like when it's wet and when it's dry but if you're not sure just poke a little bit in the medium with your finger and if the finger is wet or slightly damp your orchid doesn't need water. But if it's perfectly dry your orchid should be watered. Also in time you will notice that when the pot is wet it will be slightly heavier than when it's dry. Also in some cases you will see some condensation in the pot. If you see droplets of water or condensation then you don't need to water your orchid. You can actually wait another day or two. In very extreme cases orchids can become dehydrated and you will notice them by the appearance of the leaves. When you see Phalaenopsis with very soft limp leaves and if you look at the leaves you can see we actually have wrinkles then this is a clear sign that the orchid is dehydrated and if you know you haven't watered your orchid in a lot of time it is time to do so very very soon. As soon as possible actually. Careful though dehydration can occur if an orchid does not have roots. So first make sure that your orchid has roots. Look inside the pot and see if you have viable roots because if roots have rotted off no matter how much you water the orchid will not get rehydrated. Watch the previous video we made as I showed there how dead roots look like and how to remove them. To summarize Phalaenopsis orchids don't need water every five days or seven days or three days. It really depends from person to person. These orchids need water whenever they're dry. When grown in bark or sphagnum or any of the more popular media you should water a Phalaenopsis when everything is completely dry. Don't let the orchid sit dry for too long but don't maintain it constantly wet. Next up how should we deliver the water? And here is where we're gonna debate a little bit. On the market you will find these Phalaenopsis in various media and the thing is they should be watered in different ways depending on this medium but don't worry it's really easy. If the Phalaenopsis orchid is potted in bark chips or a mixture of bark chips mainly like we saw last time you can water this orchid in two ways which are both efficient. The first way is at the sink. You can let water just run through the pot for about 10 seconds or 15 seconds thoroughly wetting the medium and reaching all of the roots or you can actually soak the orchid in a different container such as a decorative pot by pouring water until the level reaches the brim of the actual orchid pot the transparent pot not higher than that. You can even dunk the orchid by first placing the water in the decorative container and then the orchid but try to make sure that the level of water doesn't go above the rim of the actual orchid pot. You can let the orchid soak for 5 minutes or even 10 minutes while you do something else and afterwards in both cases we need to drain the orchid properly. Now why the different types of watering? Well it has to do with environment. If your environment is severely dry or very very warm soaking the orchid in a different container will make sure that the bark will get as wet as possible and that the orchid absorbs as much water as possible because it will transpire more than an environment in which temperatures are not so high or humidity is not so low. You can water your orchid in both of these ways it's perfectly fine but if you find that in your home or environment your orchid dries way too fast try soaking it. This will usually help you out a little bit and you might not have to water all that often. If on the other hand you discover that your orchid sits wet for way too long over a week then definitely don't soak the orchid just pour water through the pot and that will be a much safer way to water because the orchid will not sit wet for too many days. If your orchid is spotted in sphagnum moss then soaking is absolutely not necessary. Moss retains quite a lot of water and if we soak the orchid we might actually oversaturate the moss so the best thing to do with this type of orchid is to water it at the sink using either tap water or a source of appropriate water and then drain the pot very very well. Moss is a great medium for those homes and environments which are really really really dry and really warm. It makes it so that we don't have to water very very often which is just wonderful for people who don't really have all that much time but as I was saying moss can retain a lot of water and soaking is not really necessary. Also moss is very absorbent so even if we put just a little bit of water on the bottom of the tray or the decorative container the moss will absolutely absorb it which is another way to water moss but you need to be very very careful. It is a learning curve to know how much water to actually put. It is also a very good idea to flush every time we water so keep the technique in mind just so you know it exists and you know that the moss is very very wicking but I would suggest that you still run water through the pot just to give it a proper flush. And for orchids which are potted in a mixture of bark and moss well it really depends on the mixture. If you only have just a little bit of moss you can definitely soak the pot just like you would with bark but if you do have quite a lot of moss like I do, this is the orchid where we potted last time so you'll see more in that video how this looks like then definitely in this case I can just run water through the pot and again because the moss is just so wicking it will get moist very fast and very even so I really don't need to soak this orchid. Now one way to tell that moss is dry is by pressing on it. If it's dry it will be very crackly, very noisy. If it's wet it will not make noise so this is yet another way to tell if the medium is dry. If you don't have access to the roots, if you cannot see the roots, maybe your orchid is not potted in a transparent pot. You don't really need to insert the finger very deep because if the moss is dry the bark is definitely dry as well. Moss will hang on to water a lot longer than bark. In all of these cases and with all of these different ways of watering it is important that we don't let water just pull on the bottom of the dish or the decorative container. So if you see something like this definitely dump this water out and then put the orchid back in its decorative container. The reason for this is that the wetter this organic medium stays the faster it degrades so we will need to repot a lot faster. Also with degradation this medium can become more suffocating to the orchid roots so we want to prolong the life of the medium as well as health of the roots. Also no matter the watering technique we use it is absolutely crucial that we don't let water pull and sit in the crown of the orchid meaning this top center location or in between the leaves in the leaf joints. Water left here can accumulate bacteria and pathogens and lead to crown rot or stem rot which can be fatal to Phalaenopsis orchids. Nature has its own ways to with these issues. For starters we have a lot of wind in nature so water evaporates faster. Also Phalaenopsis orchids don't grow upright in nature but rather on a horizontal level attached to trees so water just runs off of the leaves. Also through rain water is replaced from these locations so pathogens cannot really accumulate there. So if you ever get water in the crown or leaf joints make sure to remove it with a paper napkin as much as possible and always try to maintain these orchids as ventilated and refreshed as much as possible. Stale air is not good for any orchid but leaving water in the crowns and in leaf joints can only make things worse. And that's about it on when and how to water Phalaenopsis orchids. I hope you guys enjoyed this video and found it useful. Thank you so much Repotme for making this video possible and offering us the medium and the wonderful pots and you guys know the drill like or dislike this video below. Subscribe to my channel for regular orchid videos, tutorials, Q&A's and other fun orchid subjects and if you like YouTube to notify you whenever I upload a new video just turn on notifications for my channel. Stay tuned for our next episode next month when we will talk about fertilizing Phalaenopsis orchids and with that said I'll see you guys next time on my channel. Bye!