Ok, another try with PrimeAgra

[Connie Star]

I'm an enthusiastic beginner and already seriously hooked. I put a couple of plants in S/H (Rays kits) initially. One was an angraecum that had no business in it is now mounted and seems to be okay. Another is a phal stuartiana that just sort of sat there. I think I did not rinse the PA well enough. So, I did several flushes with tap (well water) followed by flushes with distilled water and it is holding it's own. I have a new experiment going with 2 nearly identical phal schilleiranas one in S/H one in fine bark perlite. Plan to see how they do.
I've got a scientific bent and I like Rays explanations of how these things work.

[Zoi2]

If you have the drainage and you'e not letting the PA totally dry out,(keeping condensation in the pots)the only other thing I can think of is your roots.
Were your plants actually putting out new root growth before you repotted? When you change from a bark media to S/H the established roots will die. The new root growth is what the plant will depend on for nourishment.

I rushed a couple of plants in S/H and lost all roots, I put them in water culture about 4 months ago and they are finally growing new roots--I did totally lose one.
Joann

[Ranchnanny]

Well I am stumped. Like I said I didn't do anything special to mine when I repotted them. Here are a couple of mine in s/h.

[Ranchnanny]

Jkelee mine did go through a period of transition with soft leaves but they came back. I lost a leaf or two on a few.
Have faith......

Sheridan

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by Jkelee

Jim, I just put them in the PrimeAgra just a couple of weekends ago. I can't say that they had new roots.

I checked again today, and MORE yellowing coming

I hate to say it, but it sounds like you might have rushed into things without checking to see that they were developing new roots that will acclimate to the S/H before you planted them.

The old roots will die and it seems now the plants are essentially rootless until new roots develop.

All I can suggest now is just stick with it and hope for the best.

Cheers.
Jim

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Zoi2

If you have the drainage and you're not letting the PA totally dry out,(keeping condensation in the pots)the only other thing I can think of is your roots.

Joann, that is an incorrect watering method. As a general rule, you do not want the medium to dry out, or even wait a long time to water.

Letting the medium dry out encourages mineral buildup, and is not semi-hydroponics, but simply traditional culture using an inert medium. In true s/h culture, the plant is constantly exposed to the nutrient solution, allowing faster growth.

Concerning the frequency of watering - as a plant absorbs nutrient ions from the solution it expels wastes. Likewise, respiration contaminates the solution. Combined, those actions shift the solution chemistry from "pristine" and the correct nutritional makeup to an unknown cesspool. The longer you wait, the worse it gets.

That's also why proper watering is to fill the pot rapidly to the top and let it drain. Doing so flushes residues from the medium (which is easy if it's still wet, but not if it's dry), and refreshes the liquid in the reservoir, taking the in-pot chemistry back to the target. Topping up the reservoir does nothing for either of those two requirements.

[Zoi2]

Ray, I didn't mean to suggest letting the PA dry out. I water mine when the condensation is about 1/4 down--they never dry out. I was simply trying to think of reasons Jkelee's plants were not doing well. I apologize for any misunderstanding.
Joann

[Jkelee]

Thanks everyone!! I will wait and see how they do then! keep ya's posted

[wtamuboi]

I've been moving all of my Catt's over to S/H and they seem to love it. I lost a couple leaves too, but they got over it soon enough and more than made up for it with growth after a couple weeks.

The thing I found is that my Catts tend to respond most enthusiastically to switching after blooming. I've done a couple at other times and they did alright, but the ones I switched right after bloom didn't even seem to slow down.