Leaving a thirsty phrag for a week

[Tom-DE]

in my defense, when I left my plants with someone the trip was more like 10 days, not a week. I had not left any of them for that long before.

(indoor windowsill) For mature plants, even for 10 days, if you water them well before you leave the house, they should be fine...I have done that many times every year...and even almost 3 weeks(18 days)... They might be a little thirsty at the end but they were fine.
O/C I don't have a very low humidity issue like some of you may have....

 

[gonewild]

Leaving plants un watered for a week or two in no problem as long as the humidity in not too low.
Sealing plants in a plastic box with high humidity for a week could easily go wrong.

 

[Morja]

For mature plants, even for 10 days, if you water them well before you leave the house, they should be fine...I have done that many times every year...and even almost 3 weeks(18 days)... They might be a little thirsty at the end but they were fine.
O/C I don't have a very low humidity issue like some of you may have....

My issue is low humidity (like 30%, sometimes less) and several young plants. That makes sense to me though!

 

[Tom-DE]

Sealing plants in a plastic box with high humidity for a week could easily go wrong.

I am thinking the same...if I put them in the box, I will keep the lid semi-open.
I am not a fan of those indoor setups either that they are enclose too much.

 

[Tom-DE]

My issue is low humidity (like 30%, sometimes less) and several young plants. That makes sense to me though!

A couple of things you can test for yourself--after a week or 10 days, pull the test plant out and see how dry the mix is, or if the plant doesn't show too much stress, then it should be fine. If you use clear pots, you probably don't need to pull the plant out...you can see and feel the dryness of the mix.

 

[big923cattleya]

I know they are. But let me point out in my own defense, not that I need any, just kidding, that in the 50+ years I have been in this game, orchids in general are a lot more sturdy then they are given credit for!!
They do have a mystique if you will, a certain fear of them being difficult to grow. But if you learn what conditions you can provide and select orchids for those conditions, your success rate will go way up.

Just as a numerous side note, I had a woman in Florida complain one time that my society sold her “defective orchids”!!! A defective orchid???
After a few questions she admitted going North for 6 months to escape the Florida summer. Her orchids were left to fend for themselves. No water given. She just left them to Mother Nature. I tried to tell her that every living thing needs water. She brushed me off by saying that she had done this many times and some orchids did survive therefore the last ones she bought at our show just had to be defective!!!! Defective because they died.
She wanted us to replace them. Maybe she was around 80 years old and I could not reason with her.
What some people think.

 

[big923cattleya]

Oh Morja, stick around, keep growing. I have every confidence that you will get better and better at growing.

 

[Morja]

Thanks Bill! There sure is a lot to learn.

That lady sounds, uh interesting!

 

[big923cattleya]

Interesting? Maybe. Crazy? Maybe. It was memorable.

 

[Tom-DE]

Well, when you are old as dirt, you are never wrong...

 

[big923cattleya]

Except now I am old as dirt too!
I used to say things like “some elderly lady”. Hey, but now I am elderly myself.

 

[BrucherT]

I am beginning to have the opinion that this has kind of got out of hand.
If you are leaving your plants for a week, not a summer, not a month, a week, then how can they possibly develop any kind of serious problem in a week?? It makes no sense.
You mean that in just seven days, an issue can develop in 4-5 days of the week that can seriously damage their well being and over all health, and that issue can happen in just a few days??? That just seems out of line. Because if it was remotely true, you essentially made yourself a SLAVE to your plants!!! No fun, no joy, just a sense of impending doom and gloom. If that was remotely true, who would to be engaged in this hobby?? No one in their right mind, that’s who.
Now I know that a good many of us worry about our orchids but man oh man, that is just putting yourself under a lot of pressure. Just relax, take a few deep breaths and calm down.
No temporary greenhouse needed.
No plant sitter needed.
It is just 7 little bitty days. 7. Just make sure that they are hydrated upon your departure and trust that they will be fine.

I am officially a slave to my plants.

 

[Tom-DE]

I bought a few clear containers from Walmart yesterday...I am going to test the method with my smaller plants (with the lid semi-open/covered with the windowscreen that I have) once it cools off more in the basement...but definitely I will test it out before my trip in Jan.