Trying something new...

[Pilot]

I really enjoy growing my plants in sh because I get such good results. There are two problems though... 1. It's not all that pretty and 2. It's very heavy especially since I hate plastic and choose glass vases instead. I'm a 'younger' male, quite fit and strong... And even for me, watering these plants is a full body workout. So I decided to try something new...

I got these 'globes' at my garden center when they had a post Xmas sale. They ended up being pretty cheap. Anyway, I had to keep weight under control because they're made of glass and I don't need glass globes taking gravity up on its offer and smashing all over my grow area. S I didn't want to use hydroton, or at least not much. So I went light and used grow stones too, which are super light. Finally I stuff fresh moss into the rest of the globes space and tipped the plants into the remaining space. I am concerned about air flow and root rot but the roots the plants have are brand new and already growing in moss... I feel they will adapt and live fine. The back of the globe has another opening to help with air flow and a majority of the globe is hydroton and grow stones so I think air flow will actually be pretty good. I will do my best to keep it evenly moist. Anyway... To the pics.



In the second pic you might be able to see the other hole in the back.

I can tip the entire thing over to let all excess water drain out the back. The only thing I may change is making the grow stones all the way up to the hole to aid in better air movement.

Thoughts?

[tucker85]

Very interesting approach. Experimenting with new ideas is always fun. I like the look and I'll be interested in hearing how it works out for you. My only concern is that I see this phal has mottled leaves. That may mean that it's a schilleriana or stuartiana. Both of those grow very quickly and produce a lot of roots in a short period of time. You could leave a species like violacea in there for a much longer time. Please post your results, I'm curious to see how successful this approach. Oh, and congratulations on being so inventive.

[Leafmite]

Whatever works! I play around with my orchids, too. I think this looks very nice. Good luck!

[Bud]

I like the aesthetics of it and the overall look (neat and beautiful)....I have seen this method on RJSquirrel postings but he used fishbowls, leca and moss....I used the method on my Masdies and they worked well for me. I will try to get some of these globes and also try on my mini growing plants for long term potting; Phals tend to grow big and it will definitely outgrow the glass globe.

[billc]

Very ingenius Ryan. I like the look.

Bill

[cbuchman]

I like it too. I may have to give it a try. Please do post your progress. Thanks.

[ALToronto]

I like the look as well, and I have several glass tumblers and tall bowls adapted for sh. I use a ceramic burr bit in a drill press to drill holes in the glass. I would love to use a brandy snifter for this purpose, but I would hate to have to break it when the root ball gets too big. I hope you don't run into the same problem.

[Pilot]

Thx for the positive input, guys. The glass globe isn't terribly robust so I had to stay as light as possible and I think I managed that with the material I used. The plants are schillerianas and frankly I hope they do grow their roots super fast because I'd like to know if this is going to work out! Lol

I think I will removed more of the moss and shift the stones so they have better access to the vent in the back of the globe opposite the plants. They've only been in the globe for 24 hours now but so far the moss looks still evening moist and drying slightly. I don't think it'll stay too wet or too stagnant. I don't prefer moss as a growing media but I've gotten better using it now that I know how to use it in my environment.

Ill keep you all updated as they come.

[Pilot]

I decided to do a similar set up with a gig seedling I have on hand. It was grown in bark before and it dried out too fast in my grow area. So I moved it to loosely packed moss and it sprouted some roots like this. I kept it in a more humid area and on a heating mat too.

Anyway, the plant is further in the globe this time because the plant is quite small and the globe is bigger than the one earlier in this post. I went with pure grow stones this time and less moss...just enough to give the new and tender roots a good home until they really get going.

[Pilot]

Yet another volunteer for the bio dome experiment.