Vacations are meant to be a break from everyday life, so it’s essential to prepare your orchids for your time away. Here are seven ways to keep them watered and hydrated:
- Watering: Use watering globes to water the orchid with three ice cubes on the same day each week.
- Using a self-watering system, such as an irrigation system or a self-watering pot, to keep your orchids watered.
- Observing the orchid’s growth: Water your orchids in-between waterings to ensure they receive the proper amount of water and nutrients they need to thrive.
- Watering early in the day to ensure the plant and its flowers are dry by nightfall. The ideal humidity level for orchids is between 70 and 80.
- Allowing the orchid to dry in-between waterings: If the media (bark/moss) looks wet or there is humidity inside the pot, do not water yet. Keep checking and watering as soon as possible.
- Watering everything well about three days before the trip, allowing the pots to dry a bit for one day, and half days before the trip, placing all the plants inside.
- Indirect light: Place the orchid in a north or east-facing location with enough humidity to keep the orchid happy.
- Misting the leaves rather than the flowers: Before leaving, give your orchids a refresh by removing dead leaves and flowers to reduce energy and water consumption.
In summary, it’s crucial to water your orchids while you’re away to ensure their health and longevity. By following these steps, you can ensure your orchids receive the proper amount of water and nutrients they need to thrive.
📹 Watering hacks for vacation! – No friends to water your Orchids required! 😎☀️
Going on vacation? Don’t forget to leave your orchids in good hands.. I mean water, in good water! 00:00 – Intro 00:45 – 1.
📹 Watering Orchids While On Vacation: 7 Ways that Work
You’ve kept up your watering routine and your orchids show positive signs that they are adjusting well to the conditions of …
I got to your article a day late … BUT … it made me remember to put my buckets out to catch some rain water!!! We’re expecting downpours this weekend. The rains have arrived!! (I hope!). Just yesterday, one of my orchid enthusiast friends dropped by and we spoke of if any of us might have the need to travel – a plan of action needs to be organised. We decided that we would visit the home, and do the necessaries. Both of us keep our orchids outdoors. What are friends for? Thankfully, she has a few growing on her trees (as do I – I have a few Vanda Miss Joaquim lashed to my mango trees), so that part has been taken care of by nature. Thanks for the “gentle reminder”!
I have most of my orchids in large lica pebbles and have the pots sitting in a shallow tray of water so they roots can get good airflow and can still be watered I normally empty the tray every weekend and let them dry Saturday and Sunday but when I’m on vacation I just let it sit and the orchids always turn out fine!
I bought a wifi humidifier. It holds 1 1/2 gallons of water. I am able to see the humidity level in the room and turn it on and off. It has an automatic sensor and can be set to a certain humidity level and auto shutoff and on. It is made by Levoit. It worked great for a few days. So I would turn it on every other day on low. I also had a regular humidifier I would leave running on the first day till it runs out of water. It has an auto-shutoff. So this lasted me a week. I also did a big no-no and left my orchids in a little bit of water at the bottom of their decorative containers. All my orchids are potted with sphagnum moss and bark and layered so that the moss absorbs the moisture and gives it to the rest of the pot. So that is why leaving some water at the bottom worked for me. Sorry for the very long comment : )
Hi Amanda, thank you for this article. I’m asking myself already couple of weeks (of months?) what to do with my orchids during vacation. A friend taking care for my orchids, this doesn’t sound that great to me. For sure I will use some of your tips, they are useful. Just because of your article I just have remembered that I have seen a device, which you can fill with water and this will bring the water through tiny flexible pipes (I don’t know the right word) to the pots. Some kind of automatic indoor drip irrigation. If I find the name of that device, I will add it to the comment.
I’m enjoying your book very much ♥️ I’ve only been growing my orchids for 10 months now, so I opted to record in pencil as I’m sure I’ll make adjustments along the way. I’m up to 30 different orchids now, so it’s taking me a bit to write everything down. I am leaving for Alaska on July 7th and I’m hoping your book will be useful to my mom….aka orchid babysitter. She’s staying with our kids too….funny how I don’t leave detailed instructions for them 🤣