Watering is one of the most important factors affecting health and proper growth of orchids. Therefore, if you want to grow a beautiful and strong flower, it is best to learn all the details of how to water an orchid at home. The basic rule that applies to this fragile plant can be formulated as follows: it is better to undercharge than to pour. Too much moisture can be detrimental to the health of the root system and lead to its decay.
How often should I water a home orchid?
It is widely believed that you can arrange watering the orchid, moisturizing it once a week. This is not true. The flower should be watered only when the root system and substrate are completely dry. This time interval can vary depending on a number of adjacent factors, among which one can distinguish the illumination and humidity of the room, the ambient air temperature and the volume of the pot in which the flower grows. Therefore, the decision on how often to water the orchid during flowering should be taken, taking into account the entire set of factors affecting the drying speed of its roots.
What water is better to water the orchid?
The quality of water for irrigation is also important. It should not be very rigid, only soft or medium hard. To reduce the hardness of water from the tap, you can buy oxalic acid, which is sold in specialized flower shops. It is enough to dissolve the eighth part of a teaspoon of the powder of this acid in five liters of water and stand for 24 hours to get water suitable for watering an orchid. You can also use a household filter, which very well purifies water from the impurities of heavy metals and harmful fungi.
Being interested in what water to water the phalaenopsis orchid or any other variety, it should be taken into account that the temperature also matters. It is best if the water is infused and warmed to room temperature. It is optimal if the temperature is + 35-40 ° C.
Just before you start watering, you can enrich the prepared water with oxygen. To do this, it is sufficient to transfer the liquid several times from one vessel to another.
How to water the orchid?
There are several ways to water orchids. We will describe in more detail the most common of them.
"Hot shower"
This version of irrigation is the closest to the natural, and, therefore, the most effective, because in nature the orchid eats tropical rain. It is noticed that the flowers, which are watered in this way, develop more actively and blossom more often. Here's how to properly water the home orchid in this way: the plant needs to be placed in the bathroom and poured with warm water directly from the shower head. It should be noted that this method can only be used provided that soft water flows from the tap.
After the substrate is well saturated with water, leave the plant to dry for a quarter of an hour. Then, with the help of tissue or napkins, you need to remove excess moisture from the leaves to prevent them from rotting.
«Immersion»
This method involves immersing the pot with the plant in water. This is an excellent option for how to water the orchid after a transplant . The pot can be left under water for a few minutes. After that
Watering from the watering can
Watering the flower in this way, you should try to avoid getting liquid into the sinuses of the leaves. Watering should be carried out by a thin stream, until the substrate is saturated with a sufficient amount of moisture. Excess water should be drained from the pan.
Spraying
This variant of irrigation is suitable only for those flowers that are grown without a substrate . Spraying the roots of orchids in this way is best in the morning so that they can dry out until evening.