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My neighbor swears you should water orchids with ice cubes, and after 6 dead plants I finally know why that's wrong
When I moved to my apartment in Minneapolis 4 years ago, I had 3 orchids. My neighbor Carol kept telling me to drop one ice cube on the roots each Friday. I did this for a year and lost 2 of them to rot, because orchids are tropical and cold water shocks the roots. Ice also doesn't melt evenly, so some roots get soaked while others stay dry. Last spring I switched to watering deeply once a week with room temp water and letting it drain out, and all 3 of my current orchids have sent up new spikes. The ice cube thing works for some people by pure luck, but it's really just a lazy way to measure water. Anybody else had a plant die from advice that sounded simple?
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the_brooke13d ago
Ice cubes are such a trap because the cold water can shock the roots and cause rot, plus the cube melts slow so one side of the pot gets soaked while the other stays dry. I killed two phals the same way before I figured out the deep water and drain method. Now I just take mine to the sink once a week, let room temp water run through until it comes out the bottom, and let it drip dry before putting it back. My spikes have been way more reliable since I stopped messing with the ice. Carol probably means well but that advice has taken out a lot of orchids.
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