Quick Semi- Hydroponic Course

[Dusty Ol' Man]

This looks very much like what I have done with an oncidium. I didn't have a proper setup for this plant so I took a regular orchid pot, filled the bottom third with rock wool cubes, filled the rest with leca, and set the whole thing in an external reservoir. It seems to be working.

[TZ-Someplace]

For anyone who wants to grow using SH on a table top or shelving without moving the plants to water here is the way I made draining trays. Before I sold them off, the plastic, tubing and adhesive was still good/flexible after ten years sitting/abandoned in direct afternoon window sun from a west facing sliding door. The sun made buckets and white lids sitting on the trays crumble to the touch. The thinner more flexible type deli containers also did OK in the sun, the thicker ones did not.

Sterilite type sweater box
1/2" tubing
Plumber's Goop type adhesive
1" PVC pipe
Egg crate light diffuser panel
zip ties
Drill spade bit 1/2" or equivalent.
Bucket

Snap through the egg crate panel to shape and fit inside the box using a needle nose pliers (sawing is not as clean as snapping through each bit).

Cut the PVC to form two rails the length of the panel and zip tie to the panel 1/4 of the width from the sides to form a raised floor for the box. If the rails are much closer to the sides you get a bow in the center. Adjust as needed for the weight of your pots on either side of the rails.

Drill a hole with a spade bit as low as possible and NEXT to the corner of the box. You want the tubing to lay flat in the side trough for 5-6 inches. A hole centered on the corner doesn't work. The adhesive needs the length inside for leverage so the tubing doesn't pull up from the strain of the tube outside the box. Use a scrubby pad or fine sand paper etc to roughen the plastic and tubing. Wash with warm soapy water or other to prep the surface for the adhesive.

Cut the tubing long enough to hang down into a 5 gallon bucket (longer is better so you can use the tray later on a higher shelf). You can hook the tube over the side of the box and tuck it under the panel when not being used.

Make sure you use adhesive on both sides of the hole to waterproof the area, and let everything dry/cure well before using. The Goop will fill in an oversize hole from screw ups.

My watering can of choice was a 1-2 gallon plastic watering can with the rose end removed and an arm's length of garden hose stuck on the end secured with a hose clamp. It could reach in among the plants and pour water in fast enough to fill the SH containers. I covered my pots with foil to cut down on fungus gnats/algae, which also slowed drainage in the pots for (I believe) better salt flushing and water absorption into higher pellets. I usually only did fill flushing on fertilizer day. When the pots just needed water I used a pump sprayer to wet the medium and fill the reservoir.

I basically did the same thing in the greenhouse with corrugated plastic roofing panels hung under the benches so the fertilizer drained into buckets and could be dumped outside on the landscaping. I bet the university grounds crew thought they were the best tree planters ever.

[WaterWitchin]

Wasn't seeing picture on cell phone. Now I can. I adjusted the hyperlink so it doesn't mess with the thread responses after it.

Yeah, SH with an outer reservoir. Fine as long as you still flush instead of top up. And as Bill says...if that's just rock it won't wick like LECA. Can't really tell what it is from the picture.

[SADE2020]

Originally Posted by SADE2020

Please, could you give me feedback regarding these 2 Expanded Clay? One is the norma lecca brand and the other is the same thing but in grey.

I understand one float more, but is it anything else; good or bad one vs the other really?

@Ray & @WW It is lecca, grey expanded clay.

[TZ-Someplace]

More floating and less locking together would mean more fine root hairs being torn away from the surface each watering. Whether or not that makes a difference for growth in that nutrient environment, who knows. I just found the round orange stuff to be more annoying by floating out of the pots more when fill flushing. If that is what you have, put the floaters on the bottom and the sinkers on the top.

[SADE2020]

I love that expanded clay croutons...they built less salt and I can see root development faster.

But I also have the same setup in lecca terracotta color.

SADE SemiHydro fast conversion - YouTube

[SADE2020]

Sorry I keep bumping this thread back every now and then, but is like my Bible now.

I have a few questions:

1) I have turn all my plants to SH, I am wondering how the Dendrobium works in SH. Any particular advice.

2) Now that spring is arriving; is it the same to growing in SH outdoor? What should I consider within SH Culture outdoor before moving from inside to outside (shade and protected).

3) If I see a pot with lots of dirt and algaes is it ok to remove the plant and cleaning even if is not a reporting time.

Thank you as always so much for your help!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by SADE2020

Sorry I keep bumping this thread back every now and then, but is like my Bible now.

I have a few questions:

1) I have turn all my plants to SH, I am wondering how the Dendrobium works in SH. Any particular advice.

"The plant" actually has very little bearing on successful growth in S/H culture. It's whether the combination of all of your growing conditions - temperature, humidity, light, air flow, etc. - and how well they work with the potting technique to give the plant the conditions needed.

Therefore, one person's success or failure with a particular plant has absolutely no bearing on your ability to grow it.

2) Now that spring is arriving; is it the same to growing in SH outdoor? What should I consider within SH Culture outdoor before moving from inside to outside (shade and protected).

Potting media and water delivery method plays no role in the transition to the outdoors, unless it changes the evaporation rate of the water.

3) If I see a pot with lots of dirt and algaes is it ok to remove the plant and cleaning even if is not a reporting time.

Aside from damage to the roots, the risk with repotting comes primarily the stress upon the plant from from changing the root environment. S/H to S/H is very little stress.![/QUOTE]

[SADE2020]

Originally Posted by Ray

Potting media and water delivery method plays no role in the transition to the outdoors, unless it changes the evaporation rate of the water.

Thank you so much Ray.

Yes, evaporation will be faster, but I don't mind. Lots of more light too, so maybe clear pots won't be good idea. Right?

---------- Post added at 06:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:43 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

S/H to S/H is very little stress.!

This is what I meant . Thks

[SADE2020]

I bet, that like everyone else flushing the water in SH, specially inside a house is a challenge,.... I've been trying everything with the goal to don't move any plant around. I've done this with: a few 2€ Ikea trays and some €4 of 6mm clear fish tank tubes. It's maybe the less sophisticated thing I've done so far...but IT WORKS great!!!

(The water is dark due to the products I used, is not dirt )

https://youtu.be/d6zC8D-ryEQ