The purple flowering plants in a beautiful decorative pot are the perfect gift for your loved ones. It symbolizes beauty, charm and the reminiscing of the precious memories spent with your friends and families. They are expensive because they are rare and endangered, making orchid care necessary. This can be done by watering orchids with ice cubes.
1. Ice Cube Method
This method involves putting three ice cubes, or more, if they are small, at the base of the plant in the pot weekly instead of watering them daily. This method is helpful in many ways, like preventing overwatering, which prevents excess water waste and stops root rot. Ice watering also helps give the plants just the right amount of water, which keeps the plants and flowers healthy. Also, as the ice cubes melt, plants slowly but surely get water.
People who love to grow flowers at home often come back disappointed, even after caring for their plants. The ice cube watering method helps determine how much water the plant requires to increase flower longevity. Flaccid or limp leaves are signs of underwatered plants, which means more ice cubes can be added. Overall, this method helps give the plant just enough water to help it live.
2. Tropical Plants
Tropics are regions around the Equator, so naturally, tropical plants thrive in moisture-laden environments with warm temperatures. Still, direct contact with sunlight is not preferable. These grow abundantly in homes when met with enough moisture and humidity.
However, Orchids are not negatively affected by cold temperatures caused by ice cubes. Research was done on potted phalaenopsis orchids, which are famous for growing at home. This was done by adding three or three ice cubes equivalent to room-temperature water. After months of evaluation, it was found that the display life of individual flowers and flower longevity were not negatively affected by freezing temperatures caused by ice cubes.
Therefore, it was concluded that orchids with ice were a viable option, as the orchids remained unaffected by ice cube irrigation in bark media. Bark media is a growing medium of tree bark and materials with water-retaining capacity.
3. Orchids with Ice Cubes
Hence, orchids with ice cubes can be a popular way to sustain their life, especially when planted at home. Most orchids die due to over-watering, so watering orchids with ice, especially moth orchids, is suitable for their roots. The water must be drained well in the pot so that the orchid receives just the right amount of water; this can be achieved if they are watered weekly by using ice cubes.
Peer-reviewed studies have shown how the leaf and root health of plants irrigated through ice cubes leads to glossy green leaves and decreases the amount of flower wilted. It is the same for orchids, which grow enormously into bright pink flowers with suitable irrigation. Not only are the orchids alive, but also they grow into healthy orchids.
4. Orchid Roots
Most orchids absorb atmospheric moisture as they have aerial roots that look for air rather than going down deep in the roots. These air roots help bring more water into orchids, increasing their water capacity. Therefore, it is elementary for them to drown due to excess water. However, except for the harmful roots, it is not advisable to cut these air roots, or they might completely cut off water transportation in orchids. This is one of the significant reasons why orchids with ice cubes are an effective property for their growth.
5. How Should You Water Orchids with Ice Cubes?
This depends on various factors, such as temperature and location. The most common way is to avoid direct sunlight and use two to three ice cubes weekly as the ice melts gradually. However, if the orchid is in a brighter room and in direct sunlight through your window or roof, it is advisable to use more ice cubes.
Watering orchids with ice cubes is a complicated process that needs time and patience. Home orchids must be looked after carefully for weeks to see the improvement in their growth. This can be done by placing a few in similar places and watering orchids with ice cubes differently. Whichever plant shows the most vibrant colors with glossy hand-sized petals can be considered the best way for you to apply the same technique to all your orchids.
6. Orchid Water Studying
Ohio State University and the University of Georgia first published an orchid ice cube irrigation study. They proved that ice cube irrigation was equally effective as traditional ways of watering plants, with no side effects and minimal water wastage.
It had no adverse effects but minimized root rot as the roots would gradually absorb water, preventing over-draining.
The research was conducted by planting orchids with an equivalent amount of water, both through traditional methods and ice cube methods. The days were counted in both these flowers from the day they were planted to the day they wilted. It was found that they both had the same display life and flower longevity. Leachate volume is water that seeps through a solid media and contains soluble or suspended articles. It was seen the same in both these groups of orchids or less in orchids with ice cubes. This was collected after 24 hours of planting orchids for a month.
Finally, the leaves were separated from the roots to see if there was any damage due to frozen water, it was seen that the root systems were similar in both sets of plants.
7. Conclusion
Many people were worried about the transition of ice cubes to water in potting media. They thought using ice cubes might damage orchids’ root systems. However, various studies, especially those conducted by Ohio State University, concluded that using ice cubes for planting had no ill effect.
Ice cubes are rather considered a better option due to the prevention of water wastage and death of orchids due to over-watering. So, the next time you buy an orchid, try rinsing it with ice cubes.
Last Updated on by Sathi