Lycaste in semi-hydroponics

[TyroneGenade]

Hello,

As anyone here grown Lycaste in semi-hydroponics?

I am in the throws of repotting into lava rock but have a lone Lycaste which I am dubious of repotting into the lava rock as it requires a drier rest for flowering. I suppose an alternative is to instead of potting into a semi-hydro pot with lava rock I could simply report into the lava rock with good bottom drainage so it never has soggy feet? I am reluctant to use lots of different mediums.

Thanks

 

[gonewild]

Hello,

As anyone here grown Lycaste in semi-hydroponics?

I am in the throws of repotting into lava rock but have a lone Lycaste which I am dubious of repotting into the lava rock as it requires a drier rest for flowering. I suppose an alternative is to instead of potting into a semi-hydro pot with lava rock I could simply report into the lava rock with good bottom drainage so it never has soggy feet? I am reluctant to use lots of different mediums.

Thanks

Just don't water the simi hydro pot and it will be dry.

 

[Ray]

Yep.

Most plants’ rest is more about “no nitrogen” than it is “no water”, so folks either just stop feeding plants in S/H, or stop watering. For plants that really do need to be dry, do the latter.

 

[Ray]

@TyroneGenade - I may have responded to this already, but something just occurred to me….

Many years ago, I tried a Lycaste aromatica in S/H using LECA, planting the corm (or whatever it is) about as deeply as it had been in bark. I usually don’t “do” plants that need to be rested over winter, but considering the convenience of a deli container pot, after the foliage died back, I snapped a lid on it to prevent watering, and stuck it on the floor of the coolest part of the greenhouse….and promptly forgot all about it.

The following April, I saw it, and after a brief “Oops”, opened the container. I found that the plant had awakened, bloomed, and started its foliage growth, all smashed in the void space under the lid, but the new subsurface growth wasn’t subsurface at all, suggesting that it didn’t like the relatively unmovable “rocks” as a substrate.