Hey everyone,
I just wanted to share with everyone some good news happening in my collection. Posting in the S/H thread as these plants are growing semihydro and I will be addressing some issues with that.
I recently purchased some rock wool to add to my S/H setups. My dry climate makes it tough on that upper layer which does dessicate fresh roots, so it's something to watch out for if you want to grow in an otherwise excellent growing method.
Since I had to remove some LECA I had a chance to see the roots that were growing underneath and want to bring two examples.
For a long time I was desperate trying to figure Orchids out. I mostly followed Miss Orchid Girl on Youtube and I had a hard time understanding other growers. As a Millennial, the communication styles didn't quite land the message and I struggled finding the right information.
One day this past summer, while doing some research I ended up on the First Rays website. Even though visually it didn't completely appeal to me, the information there was right up my alley. The scientific logic behind all explanations made me constantly feel like "oh I get it, that's why this is happening."
It took me about a month to read all the articles, another month to read them again. Finally in October I placed my first order from First Rays and decided to finally commit to the "First Rays Regime" –
A Regimen for Growing Excellent Plants › First Rays LLC
Since then I just followed all of the steps: water abundantly, frequently and use both the pot and the media that allows for this, using Kelpak once a month, Quantum every three weeks, fertilizing at 25ppm N... etc.
The first plant that responded greatly was this Bellina seedling. It arrived with only one root back in September, the medium was bark so old that felt mushy. I wasn't very happy about that but I didn't want to go through the issue of refunds, etc. The plant, after all, wasn't too expensive.
After starting it on Kelpak the plant started a vigorous growth spur. You may have seen this plant on a prior post of mine where I added a little chamber on top of it. The heat and humidity were the last kicker to speed up the growth. Now it's decisively growing roots and getting established in its S/H pot.
Next is "Angelica" we call it that because she's been so dead that the only reason why we think she's still alive is that she must be an Angel.
Angelica lost all her roots back in the Summer after an untimely repotting following Miss Orchid Girl's tips. The plant refused to die but also didn't do anything for months, it was planted in bark and Sphagnum.
After reading Ray's website
Rescue Plants with No Roots › First Rays LLC I covered the plant with a bag and I knock-off "kelp" extract that didn't do anything.
By now I decided to place an order from Ray and got the real deal Kelpak. Did the whole process again and within a month here's the rootless plant:
Some of the top dry LECA damaged the fresh root tips, but also Angelica is producing tips galore and this is nothing that can't be addressed
Evaporation Reducing Barrier › First Rays LLC
So anyway, I just wanted to share some early success. Whether it's First Rays, Kelpak, or whatever works for you, I commend you to find the growing technique that fits what you can provide to the plant and success will follow.
Kelpak + First Rays = Roots
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