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Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen from vanveenbulbs.com. In this segment we're going to talk about,
when is the best time to water orchids. Books will tell you to water them in the morning,
because that way they won't be sitting in water all evening and not drying out, so that
they have all day to soak up the water. You don't want to water them in the heat of the
day, because then they can get burned, because the water sits on the leaves. But these are
indoors, so they seem to handle water pretty much anytime of the day. And whenever I get
a chance to water them, is the best time to water them. So this plant- and the easy way
to tell when is the best time, or when they need to be watered, is when they're really
dry. This one is still really wet, I'm sticking my finger in it, and it's still wet. And the
good way to tell is, if I put this upside down, and there's no water coming out, but
it's still really wet, then I know that this one is doing really well, and it doesn't need
any water at this point, so it's fine, I don't need to water that right now. But this orchid
feels really light, it's really, really light, and I can feel it is just bone dry, there's
a little moss in there and it is so dry, and the leaves itself too, you can tell they haven't
had water in a while. So my rule of thumb is, once a week water your orchids in the
heat of the summer, and in the winter, sometimes I go once a month and I don't water them at
all. So when I water them too, a key that I found is not to use cold water, make sure
and use lukewarm water, closest to the outside temperature and the inside of your house temperature,
so you don't want it too hot or too cold, more lukewarm. And I try to wash off all the
leaves too, because they get dust on them, and this way if you wash the leaves off, they
can get air back into the leaf, because the dust covers them up, and it clogs up all their
pores, just like our skin, it clogs it up, so you want to wash all of that off. And I
really run the water through it, because you want all the salt to run back out that's gathered,
and the chlorine and all the other different contaminants that buildup, so I really try
to soak, and soak, and soak my orchids. And what I do too, since this one is so dry, is
that I would just leave it for maybe 10, 15 minutes with the water in it, it doesn't have
a hole on the bottom, so the water is not going out, it's soaking inside. So that can
be dangerous, because you don't want that sitting in water all the time, so you want
to make sure that there's no standing water. So what I would probably actually let this
sit for 10, 15 minutes, so it can really soak up the water, and once it's pretty much soaked
up too, I just pour all the loose water out, because you never want water sitting in it,
so make sure that you always take all the extra water out. Another good thing you can
do for your orchids, is to actually wipe off the leaves. If you leave the water on the
leaves, they kind of dry out and they make spots, but if you wipe it off, it's just like
cleaning your face, you're wiping off all the impurities that can clog up the pores
of the plant. So you want to actually wipe off your leaves here and there too. I don't
go to this trouble every time I water, but at least once a month, I try really cleanup
my orchids. And they seem to do really well that way. And when you have orchids in bloom
too, I wouldn't put water right on the blooms, because I always trash them, I might mist
them a little bit, or stick them in the bathroom with me when I take a shower, they love the
moisture. So the best time to water your orchids is when you think about it, we all lead very
busy lives, and so, when they're kind of droopy, they're letting you know when they need water,
and I water them really well. But the key is to let them dry out again, never let them
sit in water, because you can kill them with taking care of them, much more than neglect.