s/h material

For a number of years I have been using a s/h material that was not uniform, but knobby and irregular. I have had such great results with it. Then the company I had purchased it from started sending a round pellet (I had used the pellets only for a limited time and just recently decided to change all the Catts over to it). For some time now I've noticed that it is not as good as the irregular pellets I had been using. I don't wish to change potting mixes or s/h material but now I am once again hanging out looking for new material for my Cattleyas. This also means my growing methods (which lately have been appalling anyway) will have to change. I really hate this. Its like my Dentist or Doctor has retired and now I have to find a new one......aaaahhhhh

Yes bullsie, always a potential problem not being able to find your favorite media. My only advice--- when you find it buy as much as you can afford.

Check out your hydroponic stores,they might you what you are looking for.

Susan, Ray used to sell the irregular stuff. I don't know
about now though. How much do you need?

Basically, irregularly-shaped particles "settle" more stably in the pot. The more spherical they are, the more they act like loose marbles. However, uniform spheres give the maximum amount of free space between the particles, so it's something of a "balancing act".

The jagged, irregular stuff I used to use is no longer manufactured, but I find the current material, which is smooth and egg-shaped, wicks better than anything I've seen.

I suspect your "appalling growing methods" have more to do with your plants being unhappy than the media. I grow all my cattleyas in hydroton and they thrive. Really, I'd suggest you not judge your current media too harshly if you're culture isn't what it should be. I refuse to pay for shipping on LECA anymore. I buy hydroton locally and as you know, cattleyas will grow on anything so it's not in my best interest to be picky with shipping costs what they are.

I'm using 3/4 inch drain rock for several really happy catts and many dendrobiums!

No one has leca close. I have to have it shipped in either way. My recent appalling growing conditions were a result of spending the first three months of this year bedridden - it would be a long story but I was on so many drugs I really can't remember now.....I'm somewhat on the mend (forced to go to the Doctor and get am MRI) and the plants are getting more normal care.

What made me realize things were not going well was the amount of residue now covering my leca as opposed to the old stuff which has none on it even now after several years of use. Boy do I regret not salvaging it instead of throwing it away after use. Teach me to be wasteful!

Oh wish to ask if anyone can help me. I know that water through a water softener is not the best to use. Is that because of the salt residue left in it? I'm checking on an r/o system for in the new house but want to cover some bases before my 'water guy' finishes the new system.

Hi Chris, not familiar with drain rock?

bullsie said:

What made me realize things were not going well was the amount of residue now covering my leca as opposed to the old stuff which has none on it even now after several years of use.

Click to expand...

There may be more to that residue development than you realize.

First, if the medium stays wet, there will be no residue, as that only happens when the concentration of dissolved matter in the liquid becomes too great as the water evaporates.

The residue can be from your irrigation liquid - i.e., the dissolved solids in the water, plus fertilizers. If you use softened water, that salt alone will build up to toxic levels relatively quickly. (Also don't forget that the amount of salt left in the water supply by a softener is highly variable, and can change over time. That lone could be part of the issue.)

It can also be from plant wastes, suggesting you're not flushing the medium well enough.

It can also be remnants of the manufacturing process, suggesting that you didn't prep the material properly before use.

The presence of the residues on the top of the medium may actually be indicative of something good:

ALL types of potting medium components absorb minerals and plant wastes. As the particles dry, the absorbed solution becomes concentrated, and the dissolved minerals precipitate as solids in the interior of the particles (keep them moist, and that doesn't happen). With repeated saturation/drying cycles, the buildup is greater and greater, ultimately reaching toxic levels.

The structure of the porosity within the particles determines the rate at which those residues can be redissolved, hence "cleaned out" of the medium. If it cannot be "extracted" easily, it stays in the particle, and continues to build up. if it is easily extracted, on the other hand, then it will show up more as a residue on the dry, top surface of the medium.

So, the presence of a residue on the top surface of the medium indicates that the material actually absorbs better, and more-importantly, releases what it has absorbed more fully that the "non-residue" material.

The problem now is I am going to have to change my growing habits. I liked what I've been doing for the past several years because it WORKED! I might as well put everyone into peanuts, or stones, or mounted, or horse manure, or..... since I will need to change my growing regime. The key is I have to change from what has been WORKING and putting me back into the experimental stage of growing (what the hey, who likes watching orchids thrive and bloom anyway). Ikes! Oh well...happened before, will happen again.....should have stayed with African Violets....

You'll work it out. I had a similar experience to yours last year and I lost a lot of plants because I was also bed ridden for a long period. They do bounce back and will thrive given some care.

Candace said:

You'll work it out. I had a similar experience to yours last year and I lost a lot of plants because I was also bed ridden for a long period. They do bounce back and will thrive given some care.

Click to expand...

Thanks Candace! I'm looking forward to the bounceback - for all of us.

Bullsie - assuming you cleaned the LECA well before use, all you have to change is your watering frequency.

Also, if you removed the top layer of pebbles and replace with new ones, the residue problem is mitigated.

Then soak the old ones in water containing calcium nitrate and Epsom Salts (about a tablespoon each per gallon), and they'll be cleaned for reuse.

Thanks Ray, I am going to be cleaning my used old leca from now on. Its just another choir but I like it better. I think too, possibly mixing the two types to make what I have go farther.

Prepping the leca I had been using consisted of washing it and then using it. No additional additives, chemicals, soaks. No rooting hormone. No intense flushing. Just a nice easy to use leca. Catts loved it. I loved it. I didn't see any need to change that routine. I suspect like all products there is always the 'new and improved' which as most know means that the company selling it will gain some new customers and lose some old ones. Personally, I'm a big fan of 'if it works don't fix it'.

Bullsie, drain rock is a large angular gravel I get to cover the greenhouse floor.
It works amazingly well for a substrate - of course it doesnt hold any nutrients or fluids.