Moving all my Orchids to semi Hydro. Are any species not ok?

[nibbler]

Hi All,
I am having mixed luck with my Orchids in the past month. We have gone through an period of actual good weather. Warm temperatures and a lot of sun. My Orchids which normally are fine, were hit by direct sunlight. A little bit of sun burn nothing too severe and they were all moved into my bedroom.

I replanted all the Orchids not in Hydroton in April when a shipment arrived. Since then it seems to be down hill. This bark mix dries out much faster than before but also very unevenly. This morning I woke up to two chocolate brown leaves on my Laelia Crispa. I have dug it up and there were no bugs or mold but the medium was bone dry as were the roots and the bulbs at the top. The larger bulbs are ok and the roots are in an extremely moist almost wet bark mix at the bottom of the pot.

Has anyone else had this problem with bark mix before? My phal lost a leaf as well and I think its from drying out too much.

Am I safe to move all my Orchids into Semi Hydro. I have a Laelia, Onicidium, Paphs, cattleya, dends, sophrontis, maxillaria, ornithophora, prosthechea as well as phals. are any not particularly fond of semi-hydro culture?

[Ray]

"Semi-Hydro Culture" does not fully define complete "orchid culture", as it really is only addressing watering and root system gas exchange. While most plants can do well in S/H, whether they will for you is going to depend a great deal on how the S/H pot conditions and the rest of your growing conditions fit the needs of the plant.

For example, if you live in a very warm climate year round, phalaenopsis will simply thrive. If you keep them on the cool side in winter, they will probably suffer.

[nibbler]

Ok thanks for that. I thought specific species may prefer it or not prefer it as the case may be. I will start converting them to semi hydro.

Thanks for the info.

[nenella]

Originally Posted by nibbler

Ok thanks for that. I thought specific species may prefer it or not prefer it as the case may be. I will start converting them to semi hydro.

Thanks for the info.

Hi, just a note :
avoid putting plants in s/h that do not have new roots growing... It has more chances of 'taking off' and grow well. Good luck & do keep us posted.

PS: In my limited experience and in my conditions - only my Oncidiums grow really well in s/h although I have 3 phals which have been through all stages and are now finally adapted to s/h. (One has even flowered)I have not tried Cattleyas but have one in water..

[nibbler]

Thanks for that. I think they have new roots growing. I have been feeding them all rooting hormone. I hope this works. I will keep you updated. Thanks for the advice.