How to Water Orchids with Ice Cube ?

How to Water Orchids with Ice Cube ? The purple flowering plants in a beautiful decorative pot are the perfect gift for your loved ones. It symbolises 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. So, how do you water 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 useful in many ways like preventing overwatering which prevents wastage of excess water and stops root rot. Ice watering also helps in giving 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 come back disappointed even after taking care of their plants. The ice cube watering method helps in getting to know how much water is required for the plant increasing flower longevity. Flaccid leaves and limp leaves are a sign of under-watered plants which means more ice cubes can be added. In all, this method helps in giving the plant just enough water which helps in its longevity.

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 due to cold temperatures caused by ice cubes. Research was done on potted phalaenopsis orchids which are popular for growing at homes. This was done by adding three ice cubes 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 was not negatively affected due to freezing temperatures caused by ice cubes.

It was therefore 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 consisting of tree bark and materials that have water-retaining capacity.

3. Orchids with Ice Cubes

Hence, orchids with ice cubes can be a popular way to sustain their life especially when planting at home. Most orchids die due to over-watering, so watering orchids with ice, especially moth orchids, is good 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 the right irrigation. Not only are the orchids alive but also they grow into healthy orchids.

4. Orchid Roots

Most orchids absorb moisture from the atmosphere as they have aerial roots which 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 very easy for them to drown due to excess water. However, except for the harmful roots, it is not advisable to cut these air roots or it might completely cut off the water transportation in orchids. This is one of the major reasons why orchids with ice cubes are an effective property for their growth.

5. How Should You Water Orchids with Ice Cubes

This is dependent on various things such as temperature and location. The most common way is avoiding direct contact with the sunlight and using two to three ice cubes weekly as the ice melts gradually. However, if the orchid is in a brighter room with direct contact with sunlight through your window or roof it is advisable to use more ice cubes.

Watering orchids with ice cubes is a complicated process which 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 of them in similar places and watering orchids with ice cubes differently. Whichever plant shows the most vibrant colours 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

Orchid ice cube irrigation study was first published by Ohio State University and University of Georgia where they proved how ice cube irrigation was equally effective as traditional ways of watering plants with no side effects and minimal to no water wastage.

Not only did it not have any negative effects but it minimised 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 it was planted to the day they wilted. It was found that they both had the same display life and the same 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 lesser 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

The transition of ice cubes to water in potting media was worrying for many people. They thought using ice cubes might damage the root system of orchids. However various studies, especially those conducted by the 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 irrigating it through ice cubes.

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