Does S/H require special equipment?

[kavanaru]

and one more thing, my experience, and maybe others can also share theirs, is that for Phals and other orchids with thick roots, it is better to use large size LECA... I have tried both, with both thick and thin rooted orchids... even the thin rooted plants prefer the large LECA! (It also wick the water upwards much better!)

[AndreasDK]

Originally Posted by kavanaru

and one more thing, my experience, and maybe others can also share theirs, is that for Phals and other orchids with thick roots, it is better to use large size LECA... I have tried both, with both thick and thin rooted orchids... even the thin rooted plants prefer the large LECA! (It also wick the water upwards much better!)

Will it be okay to use LECA from a center that sells stuff intenden for builing houses?

The only flower shop around here that sells LECA (I assume they`re intended for flowers but can`t really be sure as they have been repacked into smaller clear plastic bags) only has the small 4-6mm ones.


Great to know about the wickering - I thought evaporation into the media would work just as well.

[kavanaru]

Originally Posted by AndreasDK

Will it be okay to use LECA from a center that sells stuff intenden for builing houses?

The only flower shop around here that sells LECA (I assume they`re intended for flowers but can`t really be sure as they have been repacked into smaller clear plastic bags) only has the small 4-6mm ones.


Great to know about the wickering - I thought evaporation into the media would work just as well.

Andreas, I buy my LECA at the Home Depot.. somethin like OBI, or Bauhaus, or teh garden section of LeRoy Merlin... I am sure you have something similar in DK... The Leca I use has irregular form (not round balls) of around 1 - 2 cm... check for those! Or check at the Hydroponic shops!

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by AndreasDK

Thank you Carol :-)

I just picked up a Phal., some small LECA balls and a glazed ceramic outer pot that has a kind of ring in the bottom, so that the inner pot hangs suspended.

If I use the gap between the bottoms of the two pots as a reservoir and let i evaporate up through the LECA will that work, or does the LECA have to be all the way into the reservoir?

I use this sort of thing for S/H BUT just as Ray has said the water needs to be deep enough to cover the bottom few layers of the lecca. My outer pots are semi-opaque so I can see the water line. I usually poor water in to the rim when watering, then poor most of it out 5min later, topping up to my desired water line, which always coveres arround 2 layers of the lecca in the inner pot.

It seems to work well for me and I have several plants in that setup which are growing like crazy, their roots always green and all the new roots growing fat and green.