Watering Orchids Potted in Moss
Watering Orchids Potted in Moss
(our Phalaenopsis are potted in moss!)
Orchids potted in moss can not be watered at a fixed schedule!
How often to water your orchids potted in moss.
Water them ONLY when the top of the potting material (below the Spanish or green decorative moss, if there is any) gets dry. This may take one week or two weeks or three weeks or even four weeks depending on the type of container, on the size of the container, on the number of plants in the container and on the conditions in the room the plants are in (plants in similar containers but in separate rooms may very well dry at a different pace!).
Click here for our watering "Rules of Thumb".
How much water to use when watering orchids potted in moss.
This is the amount of water we use to water our Phalaenopsis potted in plastic pots, growing in greenhouse conditions:
- Pots sizes from 2.5" to 4.5": 1 oz of water per inch of diameter of the pot. So we water a 3.0" plastic pot with 3 oz of water and a 4.5" plastic pot with 4.5 oz of water. We usually water these size pots approximately every other week.
- Pot size of 6": we use approximately 12 oz of water when we water this size pots, but we water them approximately every 3 weeks. The larger volume is necessary because the volume of a 6" pot is approximately 2.75 times the volume of a 4.5" pot (2.75 times 4.5 oz = 12.375).
Notes:
We said "usually" and "at most" because the recent weather affects our watering schedule. If it has been cool for several days or hot and rainy for several days, plants will not dry as fast as if it has been sunny and dry. So we'll delay watering by 2, 3 or more days depending on the recent conditions.
Remember the diameter of the pot we are referring to is the diameter at the top of the pot!
Please see also our "Rules of thumb"!
How to water your orchids potted in moss
We prefer to pour the water slowly at the base of each plant. Slowly so that the water does not spill on the leaves or over the rim of the pot and therefore so as to give the plants the correct amount of water.
