I'm gonna back DC up on that. There are a few factors to consider:

1) Water is the true driving force for growth.

2) If the plant has a regular, plentiful water supply at the root system, it sends hormonal signals to the leaf stomata that "we're not at risk of desiccating if you open, so go ahead and do so", which allows for faster/greater carbon dioxide uptake and carbon capture (AKA "growth").

3) If the plant is watered more frequently, more of the root system absorbs it. Even in an S/H pot, not 100% of the root is in contact with moisture, but if you water a lot, 100% is wetted more often.

4) If that "water" contains a low level of fertilizer, the plant is also taking up more nutrients, similar to the water, above.

Many moons ago, I acquired 300 each of Phalaenopsis Lemforde White Beauty and Oncidium Sharry Baby as very large "seedlings" in flats, and potted them all up in S/H pots. Using eyeballed plant size as a way of splitting each population into two, more-or-less equivalent groups, I then weighed each individual plant and documented that.

One set of 150 of each type was watered with 25 ppm N (MSURO) every second or third day, with the rest of the greenhouse. The other set was watered with the same solution every single day.

At the end of 6 months, the "every day" group was visibly larger than the others, and taken as a whole was just under 20% more mass.

---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:16 PM ----------

B727 - Please send me a private message so I can reply with some info.

i am using the act of flushing but it serves two purposes, clearly, to flush the rez and keep the LECA from holding any detritus etc but it also is hydrating the leca.


while it may be VERY negligible, i feel that i make sure the plant is never wanting at all...if i can keep the full SH container at peak hydration then there is no time when the plant is not at peak hydration...
that is my reasoning, is it backed up by science, only Ray's test and my anecdotal experience


it is also always possible that since i LIKE to water, i am inclined to see the benefits of watering?? of course it is


what Ray said...LOL

Do it every day for six months, and then tell me how much you like to water.

Gotcha. So then after that it boils down to how much effort/time one wants to expend. And thank you for the story about the actual testing of the theory. Interesting. I guess at end of day, both survive... one just a bit more lush.

Having said that... what about particular orchids that do like to dry out a bit prior to watering? Or that have a season where they prefer to dry out a bit? Not applicable in that situation?

---------- Post added at 01:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------

LOL... for me, I already know that answer! :rofl:

Well I actually use that as my cutoff for plant purchases, do I want to have to add this to the “take care of” plants. It’s why I steer away from some new genus. I don’t want to accidentally add a new step to my daily routine.

I am of the opinion that - once a plant is fully acclimated to the S/H environment - it doesn't ever have to dry out.

Maybe you need to withhold fertilizer, but water...no.

Having said that, I base that on the plants I have grown that way, and I have not grow everything.

All I want is more orchids, better growth, constant flowers and less time caring for them.

Same here! Just not in that particular order. :biggrin:

I think my wants would be

Constant flowers
More orchids
Less time caring for them
Adequate growth

I personally flush my pots, semi-hydro or not, thoroughly every watering. However, if you wan't to see some more creative adaptations to semi-hydro I recommend checking out "The Orchid Room" youtube channel. The Orchid Room
- YouTube

She mixes different aggregates with LECA depending on species and has some really interesting methods for eliminating the dry top layer among other things. Another thing- she does not heavily flush with every watering and feeds fairly heavily with a pump sprayer wand- just filling the reservoir. She also uses a lot of self watering pots. I believe that she flushes on a schedule. Hard to argue with her results and she is able to water a huge collection fairly easily.

Either way, flushing is probably ideal but you can get good results multiple ways. One caveat here though is that pure or low TDS water is probably a requriement.

Too many people have ultimately failed by just refiling the reservoir. Flushing is essential.