Rescued two Catts by water culture!

[blackorchid]

Someone in this forum mentioned about water culture in the chatroom and that inspires me to try this technique out. So I went out and bought 2 half-dead and dry-out Cattleya hybrids and immediately put them in algae solutions I prepared a week before. The plants were Slc. Hsin Buu Lady 'YT' and Blc. Sanyung Ruby 'Xin Mei'
Here's the picture stories of Slc. Hsin Buu Lady 'YT':
Right after purchase: note the dehydrated wrinkle leaves.

After 3 days: The plant has perked up and very turgid, its leaves felt like leather at this point.

Now - after 2 weeks: note the new root tips forming at the base of the plant and the new leads are actually GROWING!

Therefore, I decided to try my Dendrobium Salaya in water and I'll keep you guys updated

[kiki-do]

Wow, so it's just sitting in water? I missed the water culture conversation.

[camille1585]

Water culture is the best! (thanks becky! ). That Catt is looking good already, with those nice new roots peeking out!

[Bird Song Farm]

I have two Catt's that will be going into water today. It sure can't hurt them as they are just about gonners anyway!

Al

[greenbean]

Nice! I am just starting water culture. I got a small Doritis pulcherrima var. coerulea that seems to adore W/C and Sun rm. NE said she would send me a couple plants that she's grown successfully in W/C.

From what I've read, W/C is great for rescuing many differnt orchids, but there aren't nearly as many that can successfully grow like that for a long period of time. That's what I want to try, orchids that can be kept indefinitely in W/C. Of course if I see a rescuee that I just can't pass up I may revive it with W/C too!

Keep us updated!

[LindaG]

What kind of algae solution? I missed that discussion as well.

[blackorchid]

it's just a solution of dilute fertilizer which has algae growing on it. I think this time around, I found a perfect way to grow my big catts and still save space. It's water culture. I wonder why can't they go indefinite in water culture though, but for me, this is definitely working. If plant can stay for 2 weeks, I believe that it can stay longer.

[AboutOrchids]

I started experimenting with water culture to rescue an unhappy Oeniella that hated staying in its pot. It has been perfectly happy for months with its roots crammed into a mason jar. This does seem counter to all I've learned about orchids. Are they any good books or other reference info about water culture?

[greenbean]

AboutOrchids: As far as I know, water culture is not very popular for orchids and so references are limited. I've provided some below.

Blackorchid: One of the reasons that water culture cannot be used indefinitely for some orchids is that they need a resting period. Those orchids that require resting periods need to have periods of limited or no nutrients and water. This doesn't work very well with water culture, although I do remember seeing a thread in which someone had success resting a dendrobium by simply using plain water without fertilizer during the resting period. It depends on what type of "rest" the orchid needs. There are other factors that I don't feel confident enough to discuss, as they would be mostly guesses. One thing that Sun rm. N.E. has said is that some orchids have a "mermaid gene" and some don't, meaning that some simply adapt better to water culture and others do not. It usually takes at least a month to determine whether or not an orchid can be grown in water culture long-term.

Two people here on OB that I think have the most water culture experience are Sun rm. N.E. and OrchidInEveryWindow. Here are their threads, respectively, on water culture:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...r-culture.html

Phalaenopsis in water culture

Here also is Rod Venger's article on water culture:

Water Culture

[blackorchid]

If so then hybrid Catts, Phalaenopsis type Den, and phrags sounds like they are capable of adapting to living in water. I'm still learning more about though.