transfering catt. from water culture to s/h

[slide1475]

hi BigRed,

i wonder if, once the plants are established, you can avoid salt build ups by running water through for a while to flush it out. i also read a post in the SH forum by a guy with a huge collection and he would spray his plants periodically over the course of two or three weeks, then soak each plant and its medium in fresh water for 2+hours to flush them out.

[Julysun]

I too have started water culture, have read about it. I obtained a diamond drill for glass and bored my cup with it, like S/H pot. Once roots start I plan to slowly add pellets till I fill the cup, probably raising the plant all along. Will it work? Who knows but, I can see the roots at all times so I may learn something. Thanks for your post, it gives me encouragement!

[Pseudo-Scientist]

Julysun
you may have issues with the hydroton floating in the water, making it kind of hard to incrementally add them in. I think its doable.

In any case, I started with water culture to revive an entire army of neglected phals I got from a florist friend of mine. I basically cut all the roots off and dead foliage of like 20 + phals, and put them 4 to a cup wit some physan (at first) and peroxide (alternating every week roughly).

Many died (some were literally just half a leaf left), as they were just too far gone, but about 6 made 2" roots in 2 months. I transferred then to SH a month ago, and their roots look great.

It seems the transition from water culture to SH was easy for them, though I do keep my SH quite moist. I'm still waiting for the rest to develop enough roots. But I might mess around with deep water culture or just keeping them submerged.

[mojomick]

SH works on the principle of wicking from the media and air circulation to the roots. I'm not sure your plants will do that well if no air is available in this method. See Ray's web site for more info. or look back in this section for more info. Betty