Growing Paphs/Phrags in SEMI-HYDROPONIC culture

I wonder if anyone had any experience growing Paphs in semi-hydroponic culture? So far I'm thrilled with Phals, Phrags and Cats after repotting to semi-hydro. In fact with Phrags and Phals I would not consider anything else, with maybe few exceptions of several species, like Phal. schilleriana, which would like to stay more on the dry side. In fact after repoting some of my Phrags are blooming for more than year, I mean sequential ones, besseae primaries and complex. With Paphs, I’m still on the fence, repotted just a few, and bloom only one so far, Paph Magic Lantern. I also have Paph Deli Saint (Saint Swithin x delenatii) in spike, probably 2-3 weeks from opening on the first grow and 4-5 on the second one. I’ll be posting pictures as soon it’ll open.
:clap:

I have some paphs that have been very successful in SH, but others have not. At this point in my Sh experience (almost 2 years) I would not recommend SH for paphs..just too iffy in my opinion. The few paphs in my collection I did not convert to SH are still thriving,and blooming. A lot I put in SH are now in the trash can !:sob:

We grow phrags VERY successfully in SH .

Welcome to the forum. There have been numerous discussions posted here on the benefits/detriments to using Semi/hydro method and materials here. Personally I grow phrags hydro but not in s/h material strictly.

Mine did fine for about two year, then they started to decline. They are now out of S/H and in a diatomite and CHC mix, doing much better. But lots of folks here on this forum have good success with S/H.

Welcome to the forum. I'll look forward to seeing your photos.

fan,

We are tinkering with SH for Paphs too. Coryos (multiflorals, roths and friends) are taking to it very well, as are most of the Cochlos (successives, liemianum and friends). I'm not bold enough to try Parvis (delenatii and friends) in it yet. Brachys seem like they'll do okay too, but the ones we put in it this fall are still "resting" until spring- I have high hopes for them tho. Will put more Brachys in SH in the coming months. Search for my previous post on "Semi-Hydro Dabblings" and lots of posts by First Rays Ray B. We have two main growing areas, and one seems more appropriate for SH than the other. Phals are doing spectacular in SH BTW. IMO, everyones growing conditions are different- you'll just have to play around to see what works for you.

-Ernie

i have found that the green strapleave paphs, ie insigne exul vilosum etc do extremely well in s/h

I have found that s/h is the ONLY way to grow Phrags well. However I have never tried it for Paphs; this is something I might try out in the near future.

sitting phrags in water is how I grow them. I used to think caudatum types could not be sat in water, but they even do better sitting in water for me. I don't use S/h balls though, but I'm sure they would work well.

I just tried paphs in S/H this fall so it might not be long enough to make good judgement.

They seem to be happy for now. I unpotted and I didn't have any root loss. But don't put any old roots close to the base of the pot where the water source is or the old roots will rot. Some plants who weren't healthy to begin with, got better under S/H.
I think I might put other plants back into bark after my vaccation, some plants don't seem to necessarily be better off either.

My paph maudiae-type hybrid seedlings look terrible in S/H. But my adult maudiae-types look ok. I'm not sure about this group of paphs yet in S/H for me, although I got one to bloom right now in S/H

I did try parvi in S/H and they are ok for now. I have paph magic lantern, paph maliopense, paph ho chi minh, paph vanda m pearman in S/H. As well as paph jackii seedling that is very happy (and paph maliopense has been growing well, it came to me as a rotting plant). No root loss on these plants, and new roots and leaves poking out this spring on all plants. (I hope a sheath soon...)
Paph. Pedro's Moon (Pinocchio x armeniacum) was looking very bad for some reason that I was unsure of, but now all of its leaves are healthy under S/H and quickly too.

I think S/H gives mixed results with paphs but I still have to figure things out, I have not screwed up terribly other than the maudiae-type seedlings

Edmonton water has high pH. I hope that is ok

snow said:

i have found that the green strapleave paphs, ie insigne exul vilosum etc do extremely well in s/h

Click to expand...

Thanks. Maybe I will try to put my large insigne clump that I've had for years into S/H. its not blooming and maybe I need to give it a change? The root system is huge, I'm not sure if I want to mess with it though. But it has lots of new growth this spring I'll think about it

Interesting that you don't think Phal schilleriana would grow well in SH....schilleriana is one of the few plants I have that thrives in SH. None of the paphs I tried survived. They would do well at first, put out several long roots, then decline and die.

A question like "does it work" is sort-of like asking "how high is up?". Just too many variables.

All of these comments confirm the fact that "semi-hydroponic culture" (or whatever abbreviations you may choose) does not fully define the specific conditions, and those are what is important.

Dot apparently has issues with mineral buildup that leads to declines in a couple of years. I have plants that have not been repotted in 4- or 5 times that long with no issues.

Gilda considers paphs in S/H to be "iffy", while it's "automatic" for me. (Paphs were actually the first plants grown that way, and that's what led me to experiment further.)

On the other hand, I cannot grow a dendrobium that way to save my life, while many tell me they thrive that way!

S/H with Prime-Agra works for me!





I've been using it for two-three years or so.
As I have the time, I put my new plants in S/H with Prime-Agra.
I understand everyone's situation is different, but I really think that following all of Ray's instructions are crucial to the success... especially about flushing with clear water... I flush my pots every Sunday and it seems to a definite factor of success.
Of course you have to prepare the P/A correctly to start with.
I do not have problems with build up of salts. I imagine if you do not flush as directed then you may have issues with buildup...

There is nothing magic about the P/A, it is a foothold for the roots and it wicks moisture very well, so the roots stay moist but not wet.

You may need to continue to experiment to find what media/methods will work best for your conditions and time available...

Jim

my experience... I am growing most of my plants in S/H (under T5 light)... before, I could not grow Phrags, and now I have Phrag wallissii im bloom (5 flowers), and Phrag fischerii spiking (2 buds), als Jason Fischer and lindenii are doing pretty well...

Paph, are also growing well in S/H. Actually, I started testing S/H with cheap NOID Maudiae type Paphs from teh supermarket and they loved it... just after that I moved most of them into S/H...

Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis, Dendrochillum and Catasetinaes do great for me in S/H too, and well as Coelogyne cristata and Dendrobium kingianum...

very very nice bloom

Thank you!

2me

Majority of my Paphs and Phrags are in s/h. They all love the media.

paph_fan,

We could probably name each species and hybrid and will find at least one person that has had great success with it in SH and another that had the opposite result. I'd say, educate yourself on how to make SH work and give it a try. Experiment, and if your plants like how you do with it, try more. Even generalizing this discussion by saying "Semi-Hydro culture" is bogus because there are so many different media, fertilizers, containers, etc. Try it, if you want it to work, it will.

-Ernie

Ernie said:

paph_fan,

We could probably name each species and hybrid and will find at least one person that has had great success with it in SH and another that had the opposite result. I'd say, educate yourself on how to make SH work and give it a try. Experiment, and if your plants like how you do with it, try more. Even generalizing this discussion by saying "Semi-Hydro culture" is bogus because there are so many different media, fertilizers, containers, etc. Try it, if you want it to work, it will.

-Ernie

Click to expand...

I'm agreeing with you Ernie,
I did get the chance to experiment S/H on my seedlings, I did put some in my regular mix and some in semi hydro, even the kovachii... It did not make any difference for me or a very slight difference but not in a constant way from one to other from the same cross... The winner for me with a very slight difference was to my own moss mix...

But I have to mention something, because I do have lots of ventilation in my growing area, I did found than S/H surface, where the new roots emerge, was drying too fast. I did cheat a little by using a layer of my sphagnum mix as top dressing over the Leca pellets. The better of the two worlds...

Ray said:

Dot apparently has issues with mineral buildup that leads to declines in a couple of years. I have plants that have not been repotted in 4- or 5 times that long with no issues.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure that was the problem. Someone observed that when the roots fill the spaces between the pellets, they can no longer get air. That may have been my problem -- I should have repotted sooner perhaps.

I think I'm going S/H. Any one in California successful (for the most part) with this?