Aerangis in S/H

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Anybody have experience growing Aerangis in S/H?

I know Angraecums do extremely well in it. Alan Koch told our society Aerangis luteoalba var. rhodosticta needs to dry between waterings, but I don't know whether that would matter in S/H. And some of the hot growers might not appreciate the evaporative cooling in winter.

[Ray]

It's more about your growing conditions and how S/H culture fits with them to meet the plant's needs, than it is about the type of plant.

In my warm, moist greenhouse in PA, Aerangis luteoalba v. rhodosticta did well in S/H.

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That's what I was hoping to hear. Thanks.

[vegetalmatter]

I personally have had mixed luck with angraecoids in semi hydro in my dry indoor TX environment. Angraecum sesquipedale took off without a hiccup. No surprise there. I'm having great results with leonis as well.

Others that I've tried and failed:

Angraecum didieri
Angraecum elephantum
Aerangis punctata
Aerangis articulata
Amesiella philippinensis (not sure if really an angraecoid)

Aerangis articulata in particular behaved in a way I've not seen before. One of its roots rotted and seemed to "travel up" to where the root met the stem. Eventually the stem rotted too. Before transitioning to s/h it was growing bareroot in a vivarium which it enjoyed a lot. Going from that environment, it probably just hated being potted no matter what the medium was.

For others, the existing roots rotted away and new roots that it had grew very slowly or stopped growing all together. Eventually they were severely dehydrated. I'm not sure why this happens. I did try to time the transition with new root growth.

I've recently repurchased a few and also got some new additions to grow in chunky bark. They're all growing roots like crazy after a kelpmax soak a month ago

Currently I have:

Angraecum didieri
Amesiella philippinensis
Aerangis luteoalba var. rhodosticta
Aerangis mystacidii

[Ray]

Originally Posted by vegetalmatter

For others, the existing roots rotted away and new roots that it had grew very slowly or stopped growing all together. Eventually they were severely dehydrated. I'm not sure why this happens. I did try to time the transition with new root growth.

I can think of two things right off the top that might plays a role:

1) If the evaporation leads to cooling, then the reduced temperature alone can be the limiting factor.

2) If the evaporation keeps the top of the LECA column a bit too dry, it can desiccate the newly-growing root tips, causing them to fail.

FWIW, I have found that mixing Grodan rock wool mini-cubes seems to keep the column more uniformly moist.

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Mine would be in a humid sunroom. I think that will keep the moisture level higher in the pots.