Alice. Yes, I soak mine 30 minutes everyday. And feed it at least 2x a week. Lately, I've been giving it miracle gro tomatoe food, I read it somewhere that it is good for orchids.

That seems to be the trick. I am going to be arrested for Vanda abuse soon.

I'd never be able to keep up with watering my Vandas without a misting system and a timer. A lot of my other orchids are on mounts and get a 20 minute misting every morning along with the Vandas. Then I sometimes walk by them with the hose in the afternoon too, if there's a nice breeze.

I think if I had as many orchids as you do I would go broke. Water is very expensive here and we are not permitted to have a well in my neighborhood.

Yeah, before we put in our well, I regularly had water bills of $125/month in spring and fall, and that was before I had any orchids!

No well here but our water bill is reasonable. I don't pay the bills but my wife doesn't scream at me when the bill comes in, so I assume it is not too bad. Thank goodness our tap water is very good quality.

i think our water bill is reasonable and Summer time when we have afternoon rains I save the rain water and use them to soak my Vandas.

Our water bill was $300 a month until we put in the well to water the grass. That dropped the bill to about $40. Needless to say, love the well.

Jim

Without the irragation on for the what used to be grass, bill went down to less tha $60

We have two meters, one for the house and one for the irrigation. Sewage and garbage fees are tacked onto the house water usage but not the irrigation system. We are "progressive" here.

If I run the irrigation system we are up there in the triple digits and the system only covers the 1/4 acre lot our home sits on. The adjacent lot is totally on its own. I have slowly eliminated waterhog plants and increased the mulch on the remaining material. Now the sprinklers only go on if I am trying to establish something new. Worst part is our water costs so much because it is expensive to treat for all the crap in it including tritium, leftover from lax practices in years past at the Savannah River Site.

Afraid we are not progressive anymore, we have two meters from back in the days when we were progressive but these days sewer fees are tacked on to the total amount.

Yes, the well was the only way for me to avoid sewer fees. I was watering an acre, thus my $300 bill. I have now eliminated close to 50% of my grass by establishing and expanding flower beds. As my plants mature, the additional shade is helping too.

Jim

That is just SO wrong, Alice, since your irrigation water certainly doesn't have to go out through the sewer system.

We're not even on the sewer system here, so no issues like that. Our usual monthly bill is around $20 for the two of us even with a swimming pool.

Good on you, Jim for eliminating half of your grass, too. Watering grass uses up an astounding amount of water in this country. Other places are way ahead of us in eliminating turf grass that needs to be watered. I don't mind grass that serves a purpose like sports fields and such, but lawns just "for show" make me nuts. Not only the water but the chemical warfare that it takes to grow a nice lawn, especially in Florida just has me wondering how long before the "lawn mindset" will be gone from our culture for the good of the overall environment.

It is wrong but that is how they make their $.
The reason we can't have a well is because the golf courses have priority on the groundwater. In all fairness they are required to use treated waste water as the primary source for watering in their fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and chemical fertilizers. The well water is used during times of drought when extra water is needed.

I guess we'll be lawn-free when we all live in metropolises and apartment-living is the norm.

Here's my Vanda pachara delight. I love it! I wish I could find a catt or a phal with the same deep blue purple color.

You and me both, Jen. That's a lovely color.

It sure is!

Gorgeous, Jen. Mine is beginning to spike again. Love the fact that they are so prolific in blooming.