Aquaponics & S/H?

[Orchidtinkerer]

Originally Posted by harpspiel

Isn’t the point of S/H to keep the bottom inch or two of the pot constantly in water so the clay aggregate can wick water up around the roots?

yes and depending on the orchid you might need to repot it once the roots grow into the water. Phals can generally handle being in standing water more than others but I try to avoid it as much as possible. It's a bit of personal preference so take my comment as such. I haven't lost an orchid due to too wet roots but it slows growth down. The challenge is not keeping them too wet or too dry. I have seen orchids stall growth and resume it under better conditions.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Orchidtinkerer

yes and depending on the orchid you might need to repot it once the roots grow into the water. Phals can generally handle being in standing water more than others but I try to avoid it as much as possible. It's a bit of personal preference so take my comment as such. I haven't lost an orchid due to too wet roots but it slows growth down. The challenge is not keeping them too wet or too dry. I have seen orchids stall growth and resume it under better conditions.

If it's S/H and the plant grows its roots into the water opposed to them being placed in the reservoir area during potting, it's perfectly fine. The slow down in growth in wet conditions could be due to evaporative cooling, in which case a heatmat would help. Sounds like you are talking about convential growing and not S/H?