Algae in S/H pots... or not?

[Eric Muehlbauer]

For me the thing with S/H was that it was so hit or miss....most plants hated it, the few that loved it thrived...it didn't seem to matter what type of plant. So now I have 2 S/H plants...an enormous Phrag and a cattleya. I'll continue to keep them that way, and maybe experiment occasionally, but for the rest of my plants, its traditional...bark for paphs and phrags, CHC or sphagnum for epiphytes.

 

[SlipperFan]

I think we have two issues here: growing in S/H and growing in clear pots. Most of my collection are in clear pots, but only a few are growing in S/H.

I agree with those that said repotting (in any media) tends to give plants a growth spurt, and that repotting should be done more frequently that you might think if you are growing semi-hydroponically.

 

[e-spice]

I'm just curious. Has anyone ever received a growing award (CCM, CCE) or seen one awarded to an orchid growing in S/H.?

Here's a couple of CCE's that my friend Rosalie won growing them S/H last year. These were a couple of the most impressive paphs I've ever seen in person.

 

[Shiva]

They certainly are beautiful but it begs the question: would they have been as beautiful growing in a traditional mix?

 

[NYEric]

!! Wow!

 

[Candace]

They certainly are beautiful but it begs the question: would they have been as beautiful growing in a traditional mix?

The conditions, nutrition, light and air movement- i.e. culture are 99% of the outcome IMHO. A good grower will be able to grow in any mix. Used tires, traditional mix or nothing at all if the culture is tweaked. Obviously this person is a good grower. So yeah, I think her plants would be as amazing in ANY mix.

 

[Ray]

For me the thing with S/H was that it was so hit or miss....most plants hated it, the few that loved it thrived...it didn't seem to matter what type of plant. So now I have 2 S/H plants...an enormous Phrag and a cattleya. I'll continue to keep them that way, and maybe experiment occasionally, but for the rest of my plants, its traditional...bark for paphs and phrags, CHC or sphagnum for epiphytes.

I don't believe it's a "hit or miss" thing at all, but more of a matter of getting the plants to become established in the new root zone environment and making sure that the changes the method provides (primarily lots of evaporative cooling in the pot) doesn't take you outside of the "happy zone" for the plant.

I agree that if you take a collection of plants and move them at once into semi-hydroponics, some will make it and others won't, definitely giving the appearance of "hit or miss". If, on the other hand, you pot up plants just as they are forming new roots, it is likely you'll have close to 100% success.

I recently got in a batch of species seedlings. A few were growing new roots, many were not, and some didn't have any roots at all. After potting them up, I moved them onto a seedling heat mat, and in less than 2 weeks, all have new roots growing and are getting nicely established.

 

[Shiva]

The conditions, nutrition, light and air movement- i.e. culture are 99% of the outcome IMHO. A good grower will be able to grow in any mix. Used tires, traditional mix or nothing at all if the culture is tweaked. Obviously this person is a good grower. So yeah, I think her plants would be as amazing in ANY mix.

That's what I thought Candace. I also think that you have to get a real good plant to get that kind of result. For instance, I could lift heavy weights forever and never look good. Genes are also important.

 

[Jim Toomey]

Shiva... I have to agree & disagree.

If you have the right nutrition and have proper training for your body type
you can look excellent!

It does have to do with genetics, but you can really modify your body to look its best.

Much like our plants, correct conditions will maximize their potential.
Crummy conditions will rot the best of them...

Agree?

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Actually Ray, I had other plants that initially took to S/H..you are absolutely right...if new roots are growing, success is more likely..no new roots, forget it. However, most plants that took to S/H didn't last for long...some lasted a few weeks before declining, others a year or more...but still declined (despite repotting). These 2 are the survivors...and they are still thriving.

 

[Ray]

Eric, don't forget the interaction of your growing conditions! "Semi-hydroponics" is not a complete definition of orchid culture. At most, it addresses water and air supply, and there's a lot more parameters than that.

For example, you said that your slippers do best in the CHC-based mix, while for me, S/H is far superior. That certainly says it has nothing to do with the plants themselves, suggesting that our overall growing conditions favor different parameters for success.

Another thing to consider besides the growth of new roots is how different the previous root zone conditions were from those in the S/H pot. A plant coming from sphagnum often takes to S/H like falling off of a log, while one that had been in a coarse bark mix will take far more time and babying to make it happy.

Without a doubt, one of the most significant factors that affects the conversion process - and long-term success - is that of temperature. As I mentioned earlier, courtesy of a recommendation from a grower in Michigan, I started using seedling heat mats under the pots whenever I transplant, and it has made a huge difference in the success rate. But we had better not forget that the evaporative cooling coming from the open medium can affect the plants after they are established, as well. I cannot tell you how many phals I killed before I realized that. Growing them at the minimum temperature I could get away with over winter became a death sentence for those in s/h culture, while those in bark or CHC fared better. Boosting the temperature reversed that.

 

[Justin]

i haven't tried SH myself, but i saw Ray's presentation at our O.S. and it was impressive. My collection is under 200 plants so bark mix is manageable.

Semi-hydro makes perfect sense, but i'm surprised to hear that some are using recirculating water systems or full hydroponics for orchids...i would be extremely concerned about virus.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Actually Ray, I've completely given up on CHC for paphs. Except for philipinense and its hybrids (some of which are still in it) which love CHC, I found it to be very damaging in the long run, especially for barbata types. I've completely switched back to bark..and I'm very happy with orchiata bark. On the other hand, Cattleya's, Vanda's, Oncidiae, and Dendrobiums..in fact most epiphytes with pseudobulbs love CHC. (Pleuro's and phals go into sphagnum or bark).

 

[Ray]

Sorry Eric. I must have misread your earlier post.

Much as I tend to avoid bark, I have been using Orchiata on some seedlings of C. harrisoniana, C. schilleriana, and Epi, stamfordianum as an experiment, and they seem to take to it quite nicely.