Interested in growing in s/h culture

[Dorothy]

I hope your seedlings are forgiving



Good luck with them!

[Becca]

Me Too!

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by RPfeiffer

What about seedlings? Yesterday I took most of my seedlings out of the Aussie Gold Orchid Mix that they were in because the white fungus that was growing at the top of the potting medium was also growing at the bottom of the drain holes. So I decided to not mess with it anymore and I had some medium bark mixture on hand so that is what the seedlings got repotted in yesterday evening. I know I am not supposed to water in the evening or repot, but that is the only time I had. And I am also aware that the seedlings should be in a fine mixture, but the medium is all I had! As soon as I get some time I plan on ordering some PrimeAgra and pots to transfer my seedlings too and then I can finaly stop messing with them!

Sphag moss is nice for seedlings and as a temporary potting medium too.

[Ray]

I have gone straight from flask to semi-hydroponics, but find that using sphagnum first is easier. besides, after being in wet moss for a few months, the switch to s/h later is no problem (except, of course, for removing all of the moss from the root mass).

[Becca]

Thanks for your input everyone! I am going to count my plants and see how many of what pot sizes I need and place an order for the materials. I will start with just a few of the plants and see how they do. I will send an update sometime down the road. Thanks again!

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

I converted my ~40 orchids to S/H about 2 months ago.
Cats, phrags, phal, dendros - everything.
And each and every plant is doing exceptionally well.
I had a couple of phals that were in the midst of recovering from root rot - I put them into SH. Root growth went nuts - now 2 months later I have a new
leaf AND a spike. I've had similar results with several
other plants that were on the brink of death which
have recovered and then some since being converted
over to SH. So far everything seems to be doing well.
We'll see how things progress over the next 8 months
but based on the last couple of months - I'd reccomend it.

[Tindomul]

I'de like to add that I have had quick recoveries from Catts in S/H after I was forced to cut off all of their roots due to rot. Just an observation.

[quiltergal]

I just ordered my first s/h starter kit. Can't wait to start the experiment.

[quiltergal]

My kit arrive a couple of weeks ago. I repotted a healty phal that was just beginning to show a tiny bit of root rot (I bought it potted in a peat mixture). I water every week so that medium just wasn't working for me. The plant was also in full bloom. 99% of the roots looked good. It got put in s/h on Monday and so far it hasn't shown any signs of stress. The flowers still look good and the leaves are nice and perky. The other plant was a Lc that was a little worse for wear. It should have been repotted last year. When I pulled it out of the pot the root mass had grown all around itself, and it looked like there was very little air getting to most of it. Some of the roots were bad, and I had a heck of a time getting the old medium off. It had a few new roots showing but no new leaf growth. So far it looks the same, which to me is minor miracle in itself. I fully expected it to die of shock. It's holding it's own for now. Would you guys hit it with another shot of KLN at the next watering or go directly to fertilizer? This has been fun so far. I'm going to see how these two do before switching any more plants over.

[Ray]

First of all, my compliments on the "testing phase" before proceeding. I see way too many people do a wholesale conversion to s/h before really understanding what's going on, the becoming disappointed when not everything thrives (usually due to poor timing, or thinking that "semi-hydro culture" is a complete description of "orchid culture", ignoring other factors, such as light, air movement, temperature, etc.).

It's no problem adding a drop or two of K-L-N per gallon to the fertilizer solution on a regular basis. That's really all that's necessary on a regular basis. More is not better.