It's been at or over 100 F for the past 3 weeks now. The severe drought continues, forcing the grasshoppers to go for anything watered. Today I started to bring my orchids back inside. I think the heat is getting to them also as they're getting a lighter green.
How do you guys water your indoor orchids? I've been using a dishpan to set them in 2 at a time but as the collection grows that takes a long time. I can't use a watering can as the water runs right through the orchid mix.
I used to use a tall sided baking dish to move my collection from the window sills to the kitchen sink where I'd run water through them, let them drain in the dish drainer, then carry them back to the windows. Eventually I changed out the baking dish for a taller sided kitty litter pan. (unused.) A friend of mine used to use kitty litter trays with a plastic grate cut such that the plants stayed an inch or two above the bottom of the tray, then he used his wet/dry shop vac to suck up any water that drained out over time. I found watering them at the kitchen sink to be much more effective, and it gave me time to go over the plants and inspect them. I did this until my collection got up to 80 orchids or so. Then I moved to a light set up and got some of those humidity trays (for sale at Charley's Greenhouse) and watered in situ. Less time to inspect orchids. Easier to water plants. By the time I had 100-200 orchids I got one of those greenhouse 'tents' which worked really well (I think Charley's has them and Costco has them). Then I built my GH.
K Barrett
I have too many to do in the sink. That's why I use the dishpan, soak them until thoroughly watered let them drain for a few minutes and put them back in place.
I did this
Does the water go up the bark by capillarity and become wet to the top? If the water is low my potting bark stays dry on top where most of the roots are. The water has to come up to the rim.
We have two greenhouses, a Rion and a HarborFreight, but they go up to 120F by midday. Much to hot for plants in the summertime.
Have you thought about the bathtub? A handheld sprayer from the shower would be easiest, but you could just fill a watering can. Different situation, but the "guest bath" is what we recommend to our customers for vandas that have to be brought in from cold or hurricanes.
Do keep in mind that if you put multiple plants in one "bath," you risk spreading any problems you might have. Kenni
Both are covered with shade cloths. There are fans. Without shade cloths they can reach 130+ F. The summers here are in the 90s and this summer has been over 100F in the daytime for weeks now.
The shade cloth
There are too many to make that practical twice a week. In the summer I always kept them outside and hosed them, then dipped once a month in a dishpan when they were fertilized. I did the pan number in the winter also. I was just wondering how others watered a nice size collection when kept in a house or sunroom. I had hoped to make good use of the GHs year round but never dreamed they'd be so hot witn open doors, vents, fans and shade-cloths. I looked into misting coolers but we can't get water to the GHs because of the rock just under the surface. Leaving pressure on a hose
24/7 is out of the question.
That's not possible in our sun-room. I guess I'm stuck with the "traveling dishpan." :-))
How about using a water metering device made for watering lawns. Set it for enough water (in gallons) to handle expected needs in the greenhouse plus 10 or 20 percent. Some of these are battery operated and would reset each day. This would go on the spigot before the hose.
Sams club carries a 120 or 125' hose that we have left on for months with no problems. Our water pressure runs 50 to 70 pounds per inch. The hose is priced in the mid 20 dollar range.
OK. I checked them out. The air here is not dry but quite humid from spring to fall. It's only dry in the winter but the plants still thrived even with the 20 to 30% humidity. Wetting the gravel in winter with the hose would bring it up to maybe 40 or 45% for a few hours - when the hose wasn't frozen. Then I'd use a 1g spray bottle. These swamp coolers wouldn't help much as they only drop the temps down 5 to 10F for the affordable one. That's not much when you're dealing with 120/130+ all summer long. Also, I don't know how many sq. feet the Rion is because of the roof shape. The larger SC is $590 and needs a constant water supply. Blasting the limestone to run a line is cost prohibitive as is this cooler. We've already spent a lot more than we figured on on the Rion GH, what with all the gravel, cement, rebar, bubblewrap, shade-cloth, fans, heaters, extra weather stripping etc. etc... etc... ad infinitum................
Yeah....somehow you never know how much a greenhouse would cost until you build one!
As a point of reference....in the DC area yesterday it was about as humid as it can get and the air temp was 100F. The min/max thermometer in my greenhouse was 86.7 degrees as a high. That is about the hottest the GH has been all summer and we have had a couple of days in the high 90s. I have
50% shade cloth on it right now and use tap water in the Swamp Cooler. Tap water is very warm this time of year so the cool is mostly coming from the air movement and the evaporation.Good growing, Gene
Can you tell me approximately how many gallons of water a day your SC uses?
I bought a portable Bonaire about three years ago for my third g/h!!! It worked quite well, has a 3 gal tank so you would have to fill it every day. You will have to do some research on where to purchase near you. I got mine at HomeDepot in S.Cal. & was close to $300
How far 'under the surface ' is the rock?
Bob
one of my units (I have two swamp coolers) has an 6x5 foot pad that is 8 inches thick and a water reservoir that holds about 15 gallons. If the water intake valve is shut off, this reservoir will go dry within the day. This tells me that in a 24 hour period I use at at least 15 gallons of water times 2. This does not include the bleed off tubes and the miscellaneous drips and spills which dumps out of the system who knows how much water per day so I don't get crusty buildup.
Thanks Gene. I've been doing some research online and read that they're not very effective in humid climates. It's very humid where I live. Think of a tropical jungle. The humidity drops off when the heat starts to drop, around the middle of Sept. The plants have to come in before the middle of Oct. which is our first frost date here. Is your climate also humid?
Yes, DC was built on a drained swamp. From mid-July through Labor day it can be very sticky. We also get that nice hot moist air from our friends from the south.
I think when they say that the swamp cooler isn't effective they are refering to places like Houston or NOLA.
My swamp cooler has a big squirrel wheel fan that moves lots of air through the greenhouse. I'm sure that's helping a lot too. I've visited Krull Smith near Orlando. They have walls of swamp coolers and I know when I stand near them I can tell the difference than the areas away from the cooler.
My greenhouse is often cooler than my house.....
Gene
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