Den. Nora Tokunaga, flowers all Winter

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Brooke

In will summarize the water culture I use most of the time. I aim to use a nutrient solution of approximately 120ppm Nitrogen which would be about 1/2 teaspoon/gallon of a commonly available fertilizer labeled 20 for Nitrogen. (Most fertilizers list the Nitrogen /Phosphorus/K percentages; if the first number is less than 20 than you can increase according to the appropriate ration) I often add just a couple of drops/gallon of a growth regulator such KLN until good roots form. (I also usually soak plants before I start transplanting in a higher concentration of a growth regulator) If I have time I aim to change the solution several times a week (this is hard to overdo) and a minimum of 1x/week.

This is where I differ from what I see most people use and have to emphasize that I remove all decaying roots and stuff initially, and as soon as I see them developing later. I aim to leave only healthy roots in the solution. I treat for infection vigorously as long as I see signs of it, usually with drugstore hydrogen peroxide 3% or physan; and if rot has penetrated deeply, with Gentian violet !%.

If you grow outdoors you have to watch out for mosquito larva as well.

I hope this helps. You can also look at the kinds of plants I grew successfully in water culture in my gallery. I made several posts on this board on water culture; here are some links:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...r-culture.html

Onc. Sharry Baby in water culture