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

"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...
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.

"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
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 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
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.

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.

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.

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.


K Barrett

"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...
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.

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

"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...
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.

Watering a large collection is why I finally built a greenhouse.

I used to spend 5 hours a weekend watering plants from a dishpan (and
watching football in the fall).

Could you use shade cloth to make a closed greenhouse that would keep the
grasshoppers out but still allow you to water with a hose? The shade cloth
would help to cut on the sun as well but may raise the heat since it would
trap some heat.

Could you carry the collection outdoors and water with a hose and then carry
back into the house?

If you could "find" some bread trays like they use at McD's for hamburger
rolls you could move more plants at a time in and out.

If you are growing under lights and have a drain nearby could you rig up
some trays that would drain into the drain? I used to get some great trays
for that purpose from the companies that make plant carts. With some basic
plumbing parts and garden hose you could rig up the trays to drain the
excess water away from the plants.

Good Growing,
Gene



"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...
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.

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
. ..
Have you thought about the bathtub?

It would take all day walking them back and forth from the sunroom to the
bathroom tub. They're at the opposite end of the house.

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.

There are too many to carry back and forth. That's only workable if you have
a few plants or the bathroom is within a few feet of the windows.


Do keep in mind that if you put multiple plants in one "bath," you risk
spreading any problems you might have. Kenni

Same problem with the deep dishpan method as well.



"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...
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.

"Gene Schurg" wrote in message
news:XQJzi.23$Ah3.18@trndny04...
Watering a large collection is why I finally built a greenhouse.

I used to spend 5 hours a weekend watering plants from a dishpan (and
watching football in the fall).

Could you use shade cloth to make a closed greenhouse that would keep the
grasshoppers out but still allow you to water with a hose?

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
would help to cut on the sun as well but may raise the heat since it would
trap some heat.

Could you carry the collection outdoors and water with a hose and then
carry back into the house?

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.

If you could "find" some bread trays like they use at McD's for hamburger
rolls you could move more plants at a time in and out.

If you are growing under lights and have a drain nearby could you rig up
some trays that would drain into the drain? I used to get some great
trays for that purpose from the companies that make plant carts. With
some basic plumbing parts and garden hose you could rig up the trays to
drain the excess water away from the plants.

That's not possible in our sun-room. I guess I'm stuck with the "traveling
dishpan." :-))


Good Growing,
Gene



"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...
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.

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:51:33 -0500, "Manelli Family"
wrote:
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.


When I grew in Window Sills I took the dish pan to catch the drip -
but I watered with a hand pump sprayer that held a gallon or two.
We had a good number of plants and a 18 inch deep 8 foot tall gh cut
in the end of the living room. During the winter the doors were open
to the house and during the summer the plants lived hung on a fence
under a tree in the back yard. The water was close to the carpet but
with a dishpan to catch the over flow I could water in-situ.

If you run the hose on the floor of the gh 2-3 times a day. Early
noon and about 3 it should push the humidity up and cool the space
off. Our gh has not caused the heat alarm with over a week of 96
degree days. We have had a very hot July in the 95-100 degree range.
It is surprising how much cooler it is when the floor is wet. Now I
do have a crushed gravel drain bed for a floor in the gh. That allows
the excess to drain away.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

What do you grow in the greenhouses? I would get swampcoolers for the heat
of summer.
Cheers Wendy
"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...

"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
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 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
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.

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.

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.

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.


K Barrett

"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...
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.

Hi,

This is a problem that's been solved many times over - swamp coolers and
other devices can be used in hobby greenhouses to get the temps under 100.

Who out there has a greenhouse where the days regularly top 100? What do you
do? Do you just tailor your collection to grow plants you know can take that
level of heat? Do you have a misting system that keeps the humidity really
high? Plants can take the heat better with more water in the air.

Sorry I can't be of much direct help - San Francisco is the natural cloud
forest of America, even in summer.

Good luck!

-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org
www.plantworld.org

Hi Eric

I have a greenhouse that regularly gets over 38°C (100°F) during summer.
Because of last year's drought we were on water restrictions able to only
water the garden between 6 and 8 in the morning two days a week and fixed
sprinkler systems were banned. I increased the shade cloth cover for the
sensitive plants but the rest of the collection (about 550 species from
various growing regions both in pots and mounted) had to survive on what
water I could give them 2 days a week. I had a large garbage bin full of
water in the greenhouse into which I could dip the mounted plants and the
plants that needed more water and the fans were running continuously trying
to keep the conditions bearable. The water-dipping got quite tedious due to
the considerable number of mounted plants hanging around the collection but
it helped keep the humidity higher as the water dripped off onto the floor
of the house. (I topped up the bin on days I could water inside the
glasshouse.)

At the end of summer, I had not lost one plant. The new growth on a few of
the more thin-leafed, water/humidity loving species had developed accordion
leaves, but all survived the reduced watering and lower humidity. In fact
some of the plants did better on a more infrequent watering program. I know
I can be a bit heavy-handed on the watering at times so the drought had some
hidden benefits.

I was amazed by how hardy the plants were in general. I wouldn't recommend
these growing conditions but most orchids can tolerate adverse growing
conditions far better than most plants.

I just hope we get a lot of rain between now and the next summer season as
our dams are currently 38.5% full and the prospect of no water restrictions
are looking grim. I am currently looking at installing a rainwater tank as
insurance.

John

"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This is a problem that's been solved many times over - swamp coolers and
other devices can be used in hobby greenhouses to get the temps under 100.

Who out there has a greenhouse where the days regularly top 100? What do
you do? Do you just tailor your collection to grow plants you know can
take that level of heat? Do you have a misting system that keeps the
humidity really high? Plants can take the heat better with more water in
the air.

Sorry I can't be of much direct help - San Francisco is the natural cloud
forest of America, even in summer.

Good luck!

-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org
www.plantworld.org

"Wendy7" wrote in message
...
What do you grow in the greenhouses? I would get swampcoolers for the
heat of summer.

The Harbor freight is too small at 6' by 8'. The Rion is 8' by 16' so isn't
huge either, and don't swamp coolers need a constant water supply? How much
would a swamp cooler cost for a GH that size?

"SuE" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:51:33 -0500, "Manelli Family"
wrote:
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.


When I grew in Window Sills I took the dish pan to catch the drip -
but I watered with a hand pump sprayer that held a gallon or two.
We had a good number of plants and a 18 inch deep 8 foot tall gh cut
in the end of the living room. During the winter the doors were open
to the house and during the summer the plants lived hung on a fence
under a tree in the back yard. The water was close to the carpet but
with a dishpan to catch the over flow I could water in-situ.

If you run the hose on the floor of the gh 2-3 times a day. Early
noon and about 3 it should push the humidity up and cool the space
off.

Nope. It just makes it a temporary steam bath and only a few degrees cooler.
No more than 4 to 5 F cooler. That's nothing when the inside is 120F.

Our gh has not caused the heat alarm with over a week of 96
degree days.

What is your heat alarm set at? When it's 99 and over I can't see how
anything other than a solid cover and real A/C would cool a GH. The heat
builds as fast as the fans can remove it.

We have had a very hot July in the 95-100 degree range.
It is surprising how much cooler it is when the floor is wet. Now I
do have a crushed gravel drain bed for a floor in the gh. That allows
the excess to drain away.

How much cooler than the outside temperature does wetting the floor in your
GH make?
Gravel is what we have in the Rion. Crushed limestone. The HFGH has a
brown gravel. Wetting it down will bring the temp down to 115, maybe 110
for a very short time but the humidity is then unbearable... much too hot
for plants - or people.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This is a problem that's been solved many times over - swamp coolers and
other devices can be used in hobby greenhouses to get the temps under 100.

But where do you get a swamp cooler? Are these home made? What do they
cost? I'm also under the impression you need a constant water supply to the
GH for a SC. Because of the limestone just under the surface it's cost in
prohibitive. The GHs are not near the waterline. Leaving the water turned
on using a hose on the surface isn't an option. We've ended up with huge
water bills several times over the years when the hose split and no one saw
it for hours - or we weren't home.

Who out there has a greenhouse where the days regularly top 100? What do
you do? Do you just tailor your collection to grow plants you know can
take that level of heat? Do you have a misting system that keeps the
humidity really high? Plants can take the heat better with more water in
the air.

Misting requires a constant water supply.

Sorry I can't be of much direct help - San Francisco is the natural cloud
forest of America, even in summer.

Good luck!

The uncontrollable heat was the reason I took all the plants out of the GH
this spring. We though the shade-cloths and fans alone would keep the GHs
at least the same temp as it was outside, boy were we ever wrong.


-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org
www.plantworld.org

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.

Bob
"Manelli Family" wrote in message
...

"Eric Hunt" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This is a problem that's been solved many times over - swamp coolers and
other devices can be used in hobby greenhouses to get the temps under
100.

But where do you get a swamp cooler? Are these home made? What do they
cost? I'm also under the impression you need a constant water supply to
the GH for a SC. Because of the limestone just under the surface it's
cost in prohibitive. The GHs are not near the waterline. Leaving the
water turned on using a hose on the surface isn't an option. We've ended
up with huge water bills several times over the years when the hose split
and no one saw it for hours - or we weren't home.

Who out there has a greenhouse where the days regularly top 100? What do
you do? Do you just tailor your collection to grow plants you know can
take that level of heat? Do you have a misting system that keeps the
humidity really high? Plants can take the heat better with more water in
the air.

Misting requires a constant water supply.

Sorry I can't be of much direct help - San Francisco is the natural cloud
forest of America, even in summer.

Good luck!

The uncontrollable heat was the reason I took all the plants out of the GH
this spring. We though the shade-cloths and fans alone would keep the GHs
at least the same temp as it was outside, boy were we ever wrong.


-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org
www.plantworld.org