Bulbo's roots die when they hit the medium

[camille1585]

It's been less than a week since I posted, and amazingly I'm already seeing results! I'm keeping the sphag pretty wet now, and there's already two 1/2 inch roots growing down into it (usually they hardly get past the nubbin stage). Thanks you guys, can't believe it was such a simple fix! Fingers crossed that they keep growing.

[BikerDoc5968]

Great! You'll have flowers in no time....

[gnathaniel]

Nice! I'm often surprised by how much moisture some of my bulbos seem to like...

--Nat

[AHAB]

Try setting you pot in an aluminum oven liner pan, the pan is 1/4 " deep. This will keep the sphagnum moist but not wet.
I started to do this after reading Bill Thoms book on bulbos.

[ewcia1028]

Hello Ahab,that's something new because I never thought aluminium would be good for orchids?how many holes did you make in it if I can ask?

[AHAB]

Hi,
No holes at all, the pan is only 1/4" deep which is perfect.
The shallow depth will allow the bulbos to drink the water over a fairly long time (read hours) then dry out. The small narrow roots mean that they "drink" water in slowly over a period of time.
Generally speaking Bulbos grow in very moist and or foggy environments. There is a group that grow in Africa where it is very arid, but even those appreciate a long "drinking time".

[ewcia1028]

Thanks a lot Ahab,I have been using very shallow plastic trays for my bulbos and they are growing nicely,but the plastic even if it has holes in it doesn't dry out quickly and there is algae growing on the sphagnum moss,which I don't like.

[camille1585]

I have no clue what's so special about aluminum oven liner pan, so I don' really see in what way they differ from simply having the plant in a random tray of water. Someone enlighten me please?

[AHAB]

There is nothing special at all about the aluminum pan.
It's just a large shallow pan, large enough for several pots to sit in.
Any tray will work, just don't fill it too deep.
The point of the 1/4" deep pan is that you do not have to be concerned with it being to deep or staying too wet for too long.
It's a fine balance between keeping the media moist enough so that it does not get dry/crusty and kill the roots and not too wet that it rots the media and or the roots.
Any tray will work, the aluminum oven pan is just convenient, cheap and just the right depth.

My bulbos are growing like weeds!

[Brotherly Monkey]

Originally Posted by camille1585

It's been less than a week since I posted, and amazingly I'm already seeing results! I'm keeping the sphag pretty wet now, and there's already two 1/2 inch roots growing down into it (usually they hardly get past the nubbin stage). Thanks you guys, can't believe it was such a simple fix! Fingers crossed that they keep growing.

don't you love when people point out the obvious and you're like "oh, yeah"

I was having the same issue until recently, when i read this thread, and couldn't believe I overlooked such a simple and obvious solution