Can I Water my Orchids with Ice
One of the challenges that many persons face is giving their plants the right amount of water whether watering plants that are directly grown in the ground or from containers many plants have suffered at the hands of those who are inexperienced.
Water is one of the key components to the survival of garden plants but if applied incorrectly such as under or overwatering can cause issues. I have heard statements over the years by persons saying they killed their plant either by giving too much water or just not having a green thumb.
If you’ve had this experience and would love to keep your plants looking as beautiful growing healthy just as you first brought them from your plant nursery then continue reading.
Dispelling this Old Myth
Many years ago I was of the opinion that the use of ice cubes on plants would do so much damage that it got to the point where I started telling people not to place ice cubes on their plants. I would get really upset when seeing a person throw ice cubes on garden plants.
But now I am of a different opinion which we will be discussing hopefully you were not like me and if yes after this discussion I hope that your views would change also.
My Personal Belief
For years I carried the thought that if you placed ice cubes around a plant it would give such a chilling experience that the plant could suffer shock and die but could it?
I guess I got that belief from people that I worked with at my former job sometime back. But looking at it now after some research, I have come to discover that this is not the case in fact you would be doing your garden plants a huge favor by giving them a few ice cubes although there are other views. Give this method a try and see if it works for you.
Scientific Proof
An experiment was carried out by using ice cubes on several orchid plants other orchids that were also used in this experiment were watered with room-temperature water. What the experiment revealed was that the orchids which received ice cubes performed just as well as the orchids that received room-temperature water.
Give your orchid plants a test run
Start with about three ice cubs per week and monitor, remember that ice cubes should be placed on top of the medium away from the stems and leaves. Water that settles in the saucer after the ice cube melts should be discarded.
The Benefits of Ice Cubes in Your Container Plant
- When using ice cubes, as the water melts it moves slower through the soil giving the plant’s roots adequate time to absorb the moisture
- Water passing too quickly through the soil especially if the soil is extremely dry can move out of the root zone of a plant before it can absorb it
- Many times a saucer may overflow onto the counter or floor if given a heavy drink of water all at once. But there is an exception if the soil of a potted plant is so dry then a few ice cubes may not be of much help it’s better to take the container outside drench the soil allow the water to drain off, and then return the plant indoors however your potted plant should never become this dry with the exception of desert-like plants.
The final word on using ice cubes
There are lots of arguments about the effectiveness of using ice cubes to water garden plants. While some have strong miss feelings about this method others are saying go for it.
When using this method however there are some don’ts to ensure there are no plant injuries such as ensuring that the cubes are at the base of the plant and away from the stems and the leaves.
Ensuring that the first few inches of soil are damp, don’t place ice cubes on the plant’s roots. While this technique is accepted by many it’s still best practice to ensure that the plant is well watered even if that means adding a few more cubes. You do the test and see for yourself if this is the best watering method for you.
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About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
Well! I would like to contribute my quota to the discussion made here but the Fact tha I have never actually tried to do something g like this before makes me totally off the discussion here. thanks so much for all share where and I can only say that I value all you have sshared here. I would try it out and definitely come back to share my take on it
I am so happy to help and please do let me know how it goes. Have a good day.
There are spots of things that we don’t know about and the only way to get ourselves familiar with these things is by reading and making research into them. It’s nice to know of how you can use ice cube to water your orchid and how to manage it with the right proportion of water, I’ll definitely try it out.
Yes give it a go and see how it works for you, glad to help.
This is a very interesting post to come across as my mother in law recently told me that the best way to water an orchid, is to give it two ice cubes per week. And then we both went, but what size should the ice cube be? And what size is the orchid and pot?
So I love this post and it makes so much sense that an ice cube will be like a slow “drip feed” onto any plant. So I guess I can just use my own common sense as to the size of the ice cube in relation to the size of the plant and pot.
Hello, the use of ice cubes will go to work for you, I would say depending on the size of your ice tray you can use 2-3 ice cubes however ensure that the first few inches of potting medium is moist by checking for wetness with your finger. If more needs to be added then do so but ensure that the first few inches of the potting medium are moist, not waterlogged. Hope this helps.
Wow! this is really an amazing website and the content is really superb.
This is something i havent tried in any phase. But seeing how effective this tends to be, i think i will give it a try. At some point i have considered the process but wasn’t really sure about what the end result will be since it seems a bit new
Thanks so much for your kind words, the use of ice cubes in the garden can work wonders providing you apply it the right way. All the best of success.