Ideas for pots

[Becca]

Linda, I am not sure about being able to use the clay pots, but I think the clay would affect the wicking of the water up through the s/h medium. Hopefully someone else will have a better explanation of this then what I can give. But the clear pots need holes 1" from the bottom, not slats, but holes, as if you were to take a large nail and put a hole in it. You water when the reservoir is dry, I try and wait until I no longer see condensation on the sides of the clear pots, although I am not sure if that is a good thing to do? As for the pots being clear, it allows you to see when you need to water, so this is another reason why I think the clay pots would not work. Water from the top and allow the water level to come up to the top of the pot/medium and allow the excess water to drain out. No need to plug the holes up when watering, the water will not drain fast enough to worry about doing that. And when using fertalizer, make sure it is diluted about 1/2 to a 1/4 of what is recommended and flush the pots out with regular water about once a month....this is what I have learned so far. Hope it helps!

P.S.....visit Welcome to First Rays Orchids for more info on s/h culture. Ray has a bunch of helpful info on his website!

[quiltergal]

Linda, the idea behind s/h is that there is a reservoir of water/fert solution that sits in the bottom of the pot (no holes in the bottom). The bottom layer of LECA sits in the solution and the LECA wicks the moisture from the bottom of the pot to the top. There are generally two holes in the side of the pot about an inch up from the bottom to keep the pot from being overfull. Clear pots are preferable because you can see where the water is in the pot and when you need to water again. The roots will also photosynthesize when exposed to light, plus you can more easily see the root condition without taking the plant out of the pot. Evaporation won't occur as quickly as it will in a clay pot, so if you use clay you will most likely have to water more often. Watering is easy. I usually plug the two holes up with my thumb, fill the pot to the top with plain water, and let it drain a couple of times to flush out any salts. Then I fill the pot to the top with my water/fert solution and let it sit there for a minute, and then let it drain. You should be left with an inch of solution at the bottom of your pot.

Check out Ray's website. There is a wealth of information there about s/h, and how it works.

[mojomick]

The pots I buy have no holes at all. I put two holes in the plastic pot about 1 inch above the bottom. When watering the bottom of the pot retains the water and it wicks up through the media. When the water is almost gone I water again. See Rays website for great info on semihydroponics..mojomick

[linda]

I couldn't find Ray's web sight . I went Fri and got a bag of clay hydroponic balls (there clay) well they work? I soaked them over night and I repotted 4 of my orchids in the clay rocks in clear water bottles with holes 1 inch from botom. Just like you explained . So we'll see what happens. They guy at the hydro store said it wouldn't work. Something about " Light + moisture = root rot " So I don't know!!! I'll keep an eye on them for a while and pay close attention and see what happens. Thats all I can do. ( I do have a root hormone in with the water solution,and superthrive)

[dave b]

Originally Posted by linda

I couldn't find Ray's web sight . I went Fri and got a bag of clay hydroponic balls (there clay) well they work? I soaked them over night and I repotted 4 of my orchids in the clay rocks in clear water bottles with holes 1 inch from botom. Just like you explained . So we'll see what happens. They guy at the hydro store said it wouldn't work. Something about " Light + moisture = root rot " So I don't know!!! I'll keep an eye on them for a while and pay close attention and see what happens. Thats all I can do. ( I do have a root hormone in with the water solution,and superthrive)

They will work, sounds like hydroton.

Light + moisture +AIR MOVEMENT = happy orchids

The guy at the store hopefully meant well, but not many folks are familiar with s/h. The guy at my local hydro store knows nothing about s/h, or growing orchids for that matter. Im sure he knows a lot about growing other stuff though.

[linda]

I will keep everyone posted on what happens with what I repoted. I hope it works if so all my orchids will be going in them. Thanks

[Becca]

Linda,
If you click on the following link it should take you to Ray's website: Welcome to First Rays Orchids.

Hopefully you repotted your orchids that are in new active growth? That is one of my biggest contributers of having problems with root rot. Also....make sure the rooting hormones and superthrive you use, and any other fertalizers you use are super diluted, I think I mentioned that previosly in a post earlier. Good luck!

[linda]

"New active growth" What do you mean by this ?

[quiltergal]

Originally Posted by linda

"New active growth" What do you mean by this ?

This means that you can see new baby roots emerging. The old existing roots aren't going to like the move to s/h much as they are used to something else. The new baby roots will automatically "tune" themselves to the s/h medium. If you re-plant when they are not showing new root growth you run the risk of your plant not doing very well. It's all in the timing.

[linda]

OK Thank you