Dendros just sulking

[DelawareJim]

Hello all;

I transplanted 3 Dendro. keiki's into S/H 14 months ago and I've not seen any growth since. I'm using MSU at 125ppm per directions watering twice weekly. Plants are D. 'Emma White', D. 'Pegasus', and a D. NOID.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
Cheers.
Jim

[quiltergal]

There may be a fair amount of activity going on under the media that you can't see. I have a Phal that grew a couple of new leaves quite a while back. Then I think it spent 5 months filling (literally) the pot with roots and doing nothing else. It's just now sending up another new leaf. As long as the existing leaves look good I don't think you need to worry.

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by DelawareJim

Hello all;

I transplanted 3 Dendro. keiki's into S/H 14 months ago and I've not seen any growth since. I'm using MSU at 125ppm per directions watering twice weekly. Plants are D. 'Emma White', D. 'Pegasus', and a D. NOID.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
Cheers.
Jim

Hi Jim,

I tried my hand at S/H about 8 weeks ago. I had 5 or 6 dendobiums and one oncidium that I coverted. My dendros didn't like it either. They tend to sulk when repotted, but this was really bad. They weren't producing roots or new growth as they did this time last year. I began to panic and repotted them...this time using a mixture of pearlite, small coconut fiber chunks and a little charcoal. The results have been amazing. They're shooting out new roots and growth everywhere and I'm so relieved. My oncidium took to the s/h better. She sulked a little and lost a few leaves but she has now recovered and has 3 emerging spikes.

I'm not sold on s/h. I got alot of unsightly algae and although it seems to be doing no harm to the plant I personally don't like the look of it and will probably convert the Onc back to a natural potting medium because of this. I live in central FL and grow all of my plants out doors so I also began thinking of how the dampness of the s/h could possibly stress the roots during the cooler months of the year. I must add, that I've seen other photos of beautifully thriving plants growing in s/h. It just wasn't working for my dendrobiums. It sounds like you've been more than patient. Perhaps you could repot one of your plants in a natural medium and see if it responds well.

Wishing you the best of luck with your dendros.

June

[Chococatte]

I have a Brs. Shooting Star Black Gold and Blc. Penny's Spot Hawaiian Dream; both orchids I had to remove from S/H medium today because the roots was staying too moist, turning to mush and the pseudobulbs on Brs. have swivel badly. Growing orchids is trial and error. Some growing techniques will work for others, others won't. Also keep in mind whether the orchid likes it's roots to dry out quickly like some Oncidiums. on growing you Den.

Ps check the roots, if their looking mushy repot quick to traditional medium to save it.

[Ray]

I'm sorry, but there are some significant points being missed in this discussion.

"Semi-hydroponics" does not define your entire set of conditions, and many of them play a far more significant role in orchid-growing success. As those are more variable than clay balls and constant moisture, I'd suggest that they are playing a bigger role in individuals' success or failure to grow a type of plant.

There are lots of folks successfully growing dendrobiums in S/H culture, and from my own perspective, oncidium intergenerics grow better that way than any other.

About the only plants that I have not heard of anyone growing them successfully in semi-hydroponics are tolumnias.

[Snowden]

First of all, I'd like to say hello to everyone. I've been lurking for quite sometime and felt moved to jump into this discussion.

I'd have to agree with Ray. There are too many other factors to be considered other than your watering and fertilizing habits. What is your growing environment? What kind of light are they getting? What about temps?

I transferred an Emma White to S/H about 2 months ago. It had a small new growth at the time. It sat there not doing much until a week ago and is now growing nicely. I also transferred about 10 phal-type noid dendro keikis about a month ago and, last weekend, moved them to a new container (the one they were in was a bit too shallow). All are showing signs of good root growth.

They are currently being grown outdoors where they get 3 or more hours of direct early morning light and dappled light the remainder of the day. They are watered every other day (everyday when the temps are over 85), and fertilized with a weak balanced solution 2-3 times a week.

I had been researching S/H for about a year before finally making the leap this spring where I moved 37 (not including divisions) of my plants over. So far, I'm very pleased with the results. Only two are not growing, but they were in bad shape to begin with

[ruthann]

I'm no orchid expert by any means, however, I have switched 5 dens to S/H. All 5 are thriving; they are putting our new roots and new leaves. I used KLN countinously until they showed new growth. Now they get fertilizer every feeding. I just water freely. My phals have done do well with new growth that I may have to repot into bigger pots. this is where my question comes in...should I let them get root bound? They have so many new leaves , I am tickled, I had to increase the distance between them. I have 6 new leaves on one phal alone. ruthann

[AHAB]

I have to chime in here...
I have quite a few dendro's in S/H and they are growing very well lot of roots and the new growths are 2-3 times the diameter of the older canes. So I know they are absolutely loving it. I use MSU @125 ppm N.I use KLN and Superthrive once in awhile but that is pretty much it.
Please give it another look and see if some other parameter is not up to par, maybe needs more light, cold weather to set buds... could be many things.
For me S/H is a very easy and very clean way to grow plants.
AHAB

[CoolPhrog]

I too need to jump in on this one. I repotted a dendrobium I received from Christmas into s/h. I DID NOT do what was recommended and wait until there was some new growth. I thought for sure I'd killed the plant....last week I noticed two new nubbins and a TON of new roots inside the pot!

From what I've read about s/h (feel free to correct me, Ray), the point is that it's more difficult to over water the plant due to the holes at the bottom of the pot that allow the excess water to escape, what little water IS left in the pot creates wicking that keeps the plant MOIST/humid, not wet...

[quiltergal]

More importantly the LECA creates the oh so important air pockets that allow the roots to breathe.

Snowden, when you water every 2-3 days is the reservoir empty? I've been wondering if mine would do better with twice weekly watering. It's very hot and dry here in the summer. The Oncs suck up the water like crazy, so they are already getting watered twice a week. The phals always seem to have water in the reservoir.