My Rossioglossum Rawdon Jester 'HOF' experiment

[WaterWitchin]

Big RuhRoh! I'm reading this, and just realized my Rossioglossum Rawdon Jester 'Great Bee' is still outside. Been in high nineties for awhile, "real feel" over 100F with the humidity.

Need a bit more coffee, then gonna go out and check on it. I'll report back. Grrrrrrr.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Big RuhRoh! I'm reading this, and just realized my Rossioglossum Rawdon Jester 'Great Bee' is still outside. Been in high nineties for awhile, "real feel" over 100F with the humidity.

Need a bit more coffee, then gonna go out and check on it. I'll report back. Grrrrrrr.

OH NO You'd better check on him soon, and let us know how he held up. I'm thinking about you and praying for the best.

[estación seca]

Cloud forests can get hot in the afternoon if the fog burns off. The plants tolerate this well if the following night is cool.

[DirtyCoconuts]

fridge time!!!!

i hope its OK, WW

[WaterWitchin]

Okay, not as bad as I thought. A bit of damage from early this year when the canvas over my gazebo blew back and I didn't realize soon enough. It was the oldest pbulb that still had a leaf, and bloomed a ways back.



The two new growths, plus a newer pbulb than the one with damage, are all lightly freckled everywhere...





So "cool" nights have been mid 70s. Which is quite a bit cooler than mid to high nineties. Still trying to decide if I need to bring it in. It pushed both these new growths since it got outside in mid-May. Thoughts anyone?

---------- Post added at 01:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:47 PM ----------

PS Not meaning to hijack yer thread JScott.... just a quick detour if you don't mind.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Okay, not as bad as I thought. A bit of damage from early this year when the canvas over my gazebo blew back and I didn't realize soon enough. It was the oldest pbulb that still had a leaf, and bloomed a ways back.



The two new growths, plus a newer pbulb than the one with damage, are all lightly freckled everywhere...





So "cool" nights have been mid 70s. Which is quite a bit cooler than mid to high nineties. Still trying to decide if I need to bring it in. It pushed both these new growths since it got outside in mid-May. Thoughts anyone?

---------- Post added at 01:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:47 PM ----------

PS Not meaning to hijack yer thread JScott.... just a quick detour if you don't mind.

Hey, we're all in this together, so don't worry about it. Anything I can learn from how you grow your Rossioglossum can be applied to how I grow my own, so go ahead and take a detour. I ain't mat atcha.

Is yours in semi-hydro? How does it do like that? My understanding is that semi-hydro can be useful for cooler growing plants because it keeps the root mass cooler. Should I switch mine to semi-hydro? I've never tried semi-hydro before. But it's doing well so far. I'd hate to switch it to semi-hydro and end up killing it. I assume if I'm going to do it, I need to wait until the new growth starts growing roots, right?

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by JScott

...Is yours in semi-hydro? How does it do like that? My understanding is that semi-hydro can be useful for cooler growing plants because it keeps the root mass cooler. Should I switch mine to semi-hydro? I've never tried semi-hydro before. But it's doing well so far. I'd hate to switch it to semi-hydro and end up killing it. I assume if I'm going to do it, I need to wait until the new growth starts growing roots, right?

Yep, SH, since I first got it. But I grow everything in semi-hydro... unless it's mounted. Which I said I would never do again, and am already mounting a few things. Actually I say that about every year or so.

It does great, for me, in semi-hydro. Yes, a good candidate for SH to keep it cooler. And absolutely, wait until it starts pushing out new roots. But if you would cry if it died... don't have it be your first experiment. There's a learning curve.

For me, I like everything potted the same so I don't have to think when I water. And I don't have to think about when to water. I couldn't grow part of 'em in bark and part of 'em in SH. And believe me, I tried for years before I shrugged my shoulders and just converted everything. Different watering schedules.

Heck, I can't even grow well in bark now. Tried a couple of times, and just don't have the rhythm for it now. I've yet to meet the orchid I can't grow in SH. And if it wouldn't, I don't want it. Ahem... kinda addicted to semi-hydro along with a bajillion other things.
To me, you have the perfect climate for SH. Shall I attempt to convert you?

[JScott]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Yep, SH, since I first got it. But I grow everything in semi-hydro... unless it's mounted. Which I said I would never do again, and am already mounting a few things. Actually I say that about every year or so.

It does great, for me, in semi-hydro. Yes, a good candidate for SH to keep it cooler. And absolutely, wait until it starts pushing out new roots. But if you would cry if it died... don't have it be your first experiment. There's a learning curve.

For me, I like everything potted the same so I don't have to think when I water. And I don't have to think about when to water. I couldn't grow part of 'em in bark and part of 'em in SH. And believe me, I tried for years before I shrugged my shoulders and just converted everything. Different watering schedules.

Heck, I can't even grow well in bark now. Tried a couple of times, and just don't have the rhythm for it now. I've yet to meet the orchid I can't grow in SH. And if it wouldn't, I don't want it. Ahem... kinda addicted to semi-hydro along with a bajillion other things.
To me, you have the perfect climate for SH. Shall I attempt to convert you?

I think I'm very nearly converted already. I'll switch a few into SH, and see how they do, and once I get the the hang of it, I might move my Rossioglossum into SH. Or, those Rossioglossums at Hausermann are cheap because they are young, so I guess I could order another one and put one in SH and one in bark and see which does the best. That might be a fun experiment

---------- Post added at 09:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 AM ----------

What pots do you use? You put the plant in leca in a mesh pot, and then place the mesh pot in a solid pot with no drainage holes, and drill a few holes a couple inches from the bottom, right? I like clear pots so I can see the roots. What pots do you prefer?

[estación seca]

I buy 1-quart/1 liter cylindric plastic food containers, which can be bought in sleeves of 25 without lids. They are transparent. I use a Dreml tool with a conical burr to drill two small holes very close together about an inch/2.5cm above the bottom. They need to be close enough a single piece of LECA cannot block both, and small enough LECA cannot fall out.
Online grocery shopping & Delivery - Smart and Final

The plant goes diectly into LECA in the container. No inner pot. Read more on the First Ray's Web site. Ray the inventor explains it well.

[WaterWitchin]

I mostly use glass I get from the thrift store, because I like the way it looks better than plastic. I use some deli containers and larger tupperware containers, because I run out of glass. When I find more cheap buys for larger ones at thrift store, I replace with glass. Dollar store has quite a few different size glass cylinders that are a good size for
monopodials and smaller sympodials. Some of the bigger crawlers, I use a plastic clear punch bowl.

In glass, I only drill one hole. The purpose of two holes is in the event you water automatically that a piece of LECA doesn't block the hole. That's why Ray did the two-hole method, as his system at that time was automated and he was gone for periods of time. If you hand water, you'll know right away if a hole is blocked so you can push it back out of the way.

I always use one pot system, hole on side. Using net pot inside another does allow you to adjust the depth of reservoir, but after you get the hang of it in your particular climate as to where to drill the hole to control wicking/evaporation it isn't necessary. Much more time consuming in a two-pot system if you have very many orchids. Plants in S/H are extremely easy to repot, and I see the net pot inside a regular pot as also a waste of time and expense.

One of the keys to learning where to drill the hole (depth of reservoir) is height of the vessel and width of vessel. Taller and/or more evaporative surface = deeper reservoir. Can use non-wicking stone or glass on top layer, and it helps decrease evaporation.

Here's a way to drill glass A way to drill holes in glass

---------- Post added at 10:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 AM ----------

You didn't ask, but I use HydroCrunch for my LECA, and buy the 50 liter 8mm bags. I like it because it floats. Second choice would be Hydroton, but I find the HydroCrunch to be cleaner upon arrival, and it doesn't float nearly as much.