Deep Water Culture (with pics)

[Tindomul]

Oh sorry about that, forgot to say I change the water twice a week because it gets deep green in about 3 days.
I didn't remember that I had said it was a noid, glad you liked my joke.

The other method I have tried with Phals is semi-hydro, but so far no luck. Mounted seems to work, but you will have to water everyday.

[Vanda lover]

Has it bloomed with just the betta poop?

[Tindomul]

not yet

[Snerticus]

I am brand new to these forums and I read this thread with interest.

I have a years-old fish tank that I successfully rooted other plants in - roses and lettuce were the most successful. I kept them in the overflow box of my filter and the moving water that went back into the tank flowed over the roots. The roses in particular bloomed like crazy and leafed out very well even though they were in less than stellar lighting conditions.

I was wondering if a new Miltoniopsis I purchased would do well in the filter box? The only concern I have is that the fish tank substrate - although full of growing aquatic plants - consists of crushed coral/shells and therefore the pH is a bit higher than neutral. The advantage is the water is high in calcium. The bad news is it may be too high of a pH for an orchid.

Any thoughts? I should probably just start a new thread...

Thanks so much,
Snert

[Vanda lover]

I think that the ph would be too high. I use a bog filter system for my pond. Bacteria live on crates full of nylon netting, bacteria breaks down the fish poop into fertilizer, then the bog plants eat it. It works beautifully, will little algea in the pond.

[phearamedusa]

Originally Posted by silken

Welcome! I wonder if the moving air keeps the water from stagnating and the roots from rotting. I too will be curious to see how this pans out over time. Good luck!

That is pretty much it, you can even have the water levels a little bit below the plant and the mist that is formed from the bubbles breaking the water surface tension will be enough to keep a plant happy. The roots that are submerged in water need the aeration to stay alive(plants other than orchids) mainly because the root system is not able to adept to its environment like orchid roots will.
I've had three phals in DWC for at least eight months now, and they are doing fine except for the mealies. Horrible nasty things that they are. I also have Prom. in it too.

[phearamedusa]

For those members asking about aquarium/pond water and plants. this is called AQUA-ponics. The fish poop in the water is your fertilizer, and you can vary the amount of nitrates and other elements by changing diet of the fish. Check out Maximumyield.com they did an article I think not too long ago.

[phearamedusa]

Originally Posted by Snerticus

The bad news is it may be too high of a pH for an orchid.

Any thoughts? I should probably just start a new thread...

Thanks so much,
Snert

What is the ph level of the water? A good range in Hydroponics is anywhere between 5.5 and 6.5, so if in this range give it a try. If the ph is above or below those ranges then some elements are locked out while other are taken up too easily causing plants to show deficiencies and toxicities at the same time.

[Vanda lover]

I have Koi and feed them a good quality koi food. I don't think that I could change that, but I am careful not to over stock or over feed

[Snerticus]

Well, this is what I did. I was at Home Depot and found the most pathetic mini Phal that I could find (that was still living of course) and decided to try my combo DWC/Aquaponics setup.

Last I checked, my pH was in the 7.4 area, and my fish tank has been going for at least 6 years, so it's fully cycled with the beneficial bacteria needed to break down fish waste and uneaten food. The water has ample amounts of calcium, phosphorous, and small amounts of nitrates. Although I'm unsure of potassium, but I'm thinking at least small amounts due to the aquatic plant growth and a small amount of algae growing as well.

The reason I did this is to experiment on a neglected orchid to see if it gets better. The picture below was taken yesterday, one day after putting the orchid into my filter's overflow box. You can see two plump green roots submerged.

The sphagnum was totally dried up, and the orchid had about 5 dried flowers of varying degrees and one bud still attached. The leaves seemed okay, maybe slightly dried, but nothing that a good watering couldn't fix. Only one flower - the one in the pic - was not dried. It was slightly wilted though. I cut the black and dried/stringy roots off and left the only two green roots that were left. Today is the second full day of the plant being submerged with no apparent affects. However, can anyone give me some idea of what to look for and how long it may take to see some kind of distress if the Phalaenopsis doesn't like this environment?



BTW, the other orchid is my healthy Miltoniopsis that I didn't want to risk in case the experiment failed miserably. If this experiment succeeds, I'm going to set up a slightly larger tank with a pH of 6.5 or slightly above that, and get aquatic plants, fish and invertebrates that also tolerate the lower pH.

But if I see any distress on the Phal, I may hold off and simply try another method.

Snert