Phalaenopsis in water culture

[OrchidInEveryWindow]

This is a Blc. George King 'Serendipity' AM/AOS that just bloomed a day or two ago. I didn't even notice it until it had almost fully opened! It was in that jar since July 2, 2008.




There's a thick carpet of moss on top, clinging to the crown, and the roots are covered with algae, which I keep growing with periodic top-ups of weak fertilizer water.

Cattleyas seem to take water culture very well, along with phalaenopsis, dendrobiums and several others. I have lost about half my collection to the water, but those that have survived are still doing well after almost a whole year without soil.

Regards,
Orchidineverywindow

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Thanks for posting this photo of your success. If you have time would you explain the water level around the rhizome or take a picture of it. I have never seen moss growing in water culture. What kind of moss is it?

[Suresh Kalyanpur]

How do you fertilise the orchids? And how often do you do it?

[Ray]

It's algae, not moss.

[OrchidInEveryWindow]

I guess it could be algae, but it looks more like moss to me. Sorry for the blurry image, but my camera doesn't take closeups very well. I think it was there when I took the orchid out of the soil, and just kept growing as long as it was kept wet.

I keep the vase topped up with filtered water, and occasionally top up with Dyna-Gro 7-9-5 (one capful to two gallons).

I don't have a regular schedule for fertilizing. My opinion is that as long as the algae is green and plentiful, there is enough fertilizer in the water for both the orchid and the algae.

Regards,
Orchidineverywindow

[AboutOrchids]

I think you have both algae and moss. That is moss that's still growing on the roots from its previous potting. The algae in the vase is what's making the water green, and it's a different plant.

[Wrebbitrocks]

how is it that none of the plant parts have rotted even thought they are sumberged. i have always been told to keep all plant parts dry by nightfall and these are like in water permanently and remain wet through night. i dump out the water on my vase phal everyday at 4 and airdry the roots with a fan until theyre dry again before the temps start to drop. can i just leave it in the water?

[mujacko2002]

Mabuhay!

would it matter if one is living in a tropical climate like the Philippines? i would definitely try this method.

wish me luck

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by Wrebbitrocks

how is it that none of the plant parts have rotted even thought they are sumberged. i have always been told to keep all plant parts dry by nightfall and these are like in water permanently and remain wet through night. i dump out the water on my vase phal everyday at 4 and airdry the roots with a fan until theyre dry again before the temps start to drop. can i just leave it in the water?

Wrebbit how cold does it get at night? Unless you're talking about really cold nights, then for those most part, the temperature shouldn't really matter.

Water itself doesn't cause rot. A whole bunch of things can contribute to rotting roots, but water is never directly the culprit. Water is in fact vital to root and plant function. And Water is H20 - One third oxygen. So there's no reason why roots can't grow happily in water.

The general myth that orchid roots have to dry out periodically is a well-meaning myth. Well, for most species anyway.

Periodic drying can be good to control the rate of decay for organic mediums like bark and sphagnum moss, it limits fungal growth and re-oxygenates the mix. So in that sense, period dryness can be good for the health of the organic medium that the orchids grow in.

But the roots themselves don't need period drying. And if you grow orchids in inert media, like clay balls or perlite (used in hydroponics), or if you grow them with no media (like vase water culture), you can grow orchids without worrying about dry periods.

[Wrebbitrocks]

night temps can get in the low 30's here when the heat isn't on. at this very moment its like 34'F outside