Leaf die-back, S/H Phrag. schlimii

[Ray]

Once again, someone who has proclaimed he’s “never done S/H” has proven a lack of understanding of the method, the inability to accurately understand what he reads, and apparently doesn’t understand that much about orchid-growing, either.

You might have noticed recently the people that have been advocating S/H for years have suddenly all decided it needs rockwool cubes added to it now.
Why if S/H works perfectly every time for every orchid for every person?.

Orchids are “niche plants”. Each of them has its preferred combination of cultural parameters. The intelligent grower, understanding that his or her growing environment may not meet the requirements of each and every plant equally, will either only grow stuff that fits, or modifies small things to “fine tune” the environment for the plant in question.

I have never heard anyone claim that “S/H works every time for every orchid for every person”. Quite the opposite, in fact, again because of the “niche” nature of orchids and the different environments we grow in. I believe this statement was a childish attempt to discredit individuals and the technique, and nothing more. At the very least, it demonstrates a lack of understanding.

I have had some of my plants in S/H culture since I acquired them more than 25 years ago. When I moved them out of a greenhouse and into a home environment, I had to make adjustments for some of them - some are still thriving in “straight” S/H, some are still grown that way but had the rock wool cubes added, and I have moved others out of it altogether.

Rockwool cubes are the next progression and I'm sure it will not be the last so just be aware of that

The one intelligent, factual part of the post! It was, unfortunately, followed by some additional and incorrect info that demonstrates a lack of knowledge and understanding over a diverse range of subjects.

S/H can cause a lot of stress and worst it can promote a fungal infection at the base of the plant.
If the plant survives the transition to S/H then it should do fine but there is always that transition period and S/H is inherently more damp which should encourage better growth but at the same time store bought orchids have fungal spores on them that don't cause an issue with periodic drying out but moved to S/H too soon before the spores die off properly then they can flourish and weaken a stressed orchid.