Hydroton & CHC mix for phals? - Orchid Board

Izzie · #1 04-27-2010, 01:55 AM

Was pleasantly surprised to find that my local Home Depot just started carrying "hydroponics starter kits", which are nice, but more importantly, reasonably priced large bags of Hydroton LECA! (~$9 for a bag half my size, didn't look at the weight.)

I'll be repotting most of my phals soon after they get around to letting their buds actually open and finish blooming.

it's taking forevvvveerrrr.

I was going to try a mainly CHC mix with bark and charcoal, but how would a CHC and Hydroton mix do? (with a little charcoal, already mixed in the CHC)
I'm paranoid about overwatering, and I live in a dry environment.
I feel that this mix would be more forgiving if I "overloved" my phals from time to time.
Or, to phrase differently, I'd rather have to water more frequently than be uncertain about watering less often, if that makes any sense. (not to say that I'd have to water more, but I'm rambling......)

gnathaniel · #2 04-27-2010, 03:23 AM

Hi Izzie, I use a 5:4:1 CHC/LECA/charcoal mix in baskets and clay pots for several Brassavolas and misc. Catts, and they all seem to like it well. It's definitely a good mix for plants that like their roots to dry out fast. It also seems to last a good long time since the CHC is really the only thing that'll break down.

For Phals it might be a little too fast-drying, though that'll vary depending on size of particles, proportions of your mix, type of pot, how much you water, etc... You could also always top-dress with some sphag if it dries out too fast.

Nice find on that LECA, btw! I'll have to scope that out at the HD when I run low on my current bag. Did they have any different sizes available?

--Nat

Izzie · #3 04-27-2010, 12:59 PM

I think I'll do a proportion like 4:1:1 of CHC and LECA/charcoal.
And, as a matter of fact, I was thinking of top dressing with sphag! -great minds-

I do have some catts that need repotting, perhaps I'll use proportions similar to yours for them.

As far as I could tell (been to two HD recently that had the supplies) they only had the one somewhat large bag. I didn't check the weight, but I'd put it at about 3' long, 2' wide.

trdyl · #4 04-27-2010, 03:14 PM

Izzie, Here is a thought. You could try S/H with the LECA.

Izzie · #5 04-27-2010, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trdyl

Izzie, Here is a thought. You could try S/H with the LECA.

I've been thinking about that, but I balk at the idea of losing the healthy root systems I already have- and I don't have the proper pots for s/h. (though I've heard of ideas to make them from deli containers and such)

And I already have all these bags of other media that I can't just throw out, not with my budget.

If I had a phal that I wasn't really attached to to test s/h on, I might. But I'm not letting myself buy anymore orchids until this mid-summer- and am planning on a certain potinara.

shadytrake · #6 04-27-2010, 04:57 PM

I do lots of semi-hydro..just want to say that first.

We had a Phal breeder at our last OS meeting just back from Taiwan and he had lots of good information regarding Phals and media.

He's been growing and breeding Phals for about 30 years. One of the biggest "hello" moments he had in discussing media issues with the TWN breeders is that if you have a plant that has been happily growing in one kind of media and you switch, it can set the orchid back for several years and sometimes permanently if the orchid does not "like" the media you choose.

With that said, a lot of his presentation was based around him changing over from a bark mix to straight moss. I know...you probably think he is crazy but he gave specifics. You know how a lot of people say "do this" without giving you the full picture? Well here goes...directly from my mental notes from his presentation.

First of all, he said a lot of folks fail with moss because they over water, over pot, and do not prepare the moss correctly for use.

Moss must be soaked in a sterile like solution (some people pressure cook it to fully sterilize it) but he soaks for 24 hours in Consan Triple Action 20 then rinses the moss and soaks again (i didn't catch if the 2nd soak was in the sterile soln again or in water).

2nd (and this came straight from a TWN breeder)...Phals need the security of being tightly packed in a pot...(I KNOW...it sounds crazy). He carefully chooses a pot slightly bigger than the root system - you can trim off dead roots. He takes the orchid and carefully curls the roots (if necessary) and takes a handfull moss which has been carefully squeezed out and fluffed up and then squeezed again and puts a section around one side of the roots and another section around the other side.

He takes a little moss and puts it in the bottom of the pot (he uses plastic) and carefully shoves...yes he shoved it in the pot.

Now the trick...He packs the moss tightly around the Phal carefully keeping it about 3/4" to 1" below the top of the pot. The moss never comes above 3/4" from the top. This is VERY important.

Once completed, he does NOT water...no water for about a week. He said it is very important for the plant to be secure in the pot to recover from the potting process and watering it is not necessary. There is enough moisture in the moss.

Now he said the next part is critical to the success. When you water, you only fill the pot from the top of the moss to the top of the pot. You DON'T saturate the pot through. Then you LEAVE it ALONE until the next watering...which for him in Middle TN can be 2 or 3 weeks. Also, with the moss he fertilizes much less too (maybe once ever other month only during active growth).

I didn't have a chance to ask him how he monitors the moisture content of the moss, but I imagine that he used to test them (probably with a bamboo stick) and then once he got a system down, he stuck to it.

Anyway, the point of all my rambling is that when you change from one media to another it is important that you consider how far back you will set the orchid.

For example, he said that he is in the process of switching from the bark to the moss and has been for over a year and he definitely noticed that some will need longer to adapt to the new media.

I found the presentation extremely interesting and even though my phals are growing happily in s/h, it makes me want to experiment.

Also as FYI, this does not work if you have an automatic misting system. You absolutely cannot mist the phals in the moss because it messes up the watering schedule. The moss must be allowed to slowly dry out (of course not bone dry) before the next watering.

Anyway..Just thought I would share. Experimenting can be really fun.