Wow is all I have to say right now...
About a month and a half ago, I rescued a phalaenopsis from my local orchid seller. The leaves were pretty much burnt off of it, and there were a couple roots that still had some life in them. The plant cost me a grand total of $1.
Well, I basically planted that orchid in a wicker basket full of lava rock. It was watered daily, misted daily and placed on my balcony under shade cloth.
Well, I saw a bit of root growth from the top and decided that it would be time to move it to an ACTUAL S/H set-up, since I didn't have the supplies at the time. In addition to the new leaf growing in now, the roots were completely amazing. The basket (approx. 8" long x 6" wide x 6" deep) was almost completely full of roots! One of them was approaching 2' long! I was totally blown away.
So now, instead of moving my other phals to S/H, I'm trying to find wicker baskets that'll be appropriate. This came about as I'm converting my entire collection to S/H. I figure I'm just going to take the plunge... but wow. I'm still amazed by this phal's AMAZING recovery! I'll get some pictures up soon.
Does anyone have any other semi-S/H stories they've found to work? I know that the wicker basket with extensive drainage doesn't lend itself to the reservoir and isn't exactly S/H... but I seriously can't argue with the results.
Rescue Phalaenopsis recovery
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