hydroton and plant buildup

[Merlyn]

Well, if you're going to join tonight I'm sure it would be quite alright to put your chid in the meeting show for judging !
You can tell them, or I will, that I said it was alright !!!

[DelawareJim]

Rivka;

I've been using the cup-in-a-cup method for a couple of years and I also have mineral deposit issues like you (especially the plants I have at the office in DC). We're "blessed" with really hard water (liquid rock as my fiends in the aquarium hobby call it) which really causes problems as you know.

I haven't switched to an R/O system yet, but I have had to collect a lot of rain water and dehumidifier condensate for pure water flushing. I also ended up having to move some plants outdoors and water almost daily, or repot back into bark as some plants that are supposed to work well really struggled in my S/H setups.

Cheers.
Jim

[amberella618]

Switching to RO will make your life much easier. If you shop around online you can find some pretty good deals and you don't have to deal with disgusting mineral deposits. You do,however, need to flush your hydroton with straight RO or an RO, sugar mixture. You could also try DI water for this.
Which species of orchid are you working with? What are the growing conditions like?

[DelawareJim]

RO sugar mixture???????

Cheers.
Jim

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by Merlyn

Rivka, I hope you're coming to the NCOS meeting tonight !!! The semi-hydroponic guru, Ray Barkalow is the speaker !!!! Hope to see you there !!!

So how was the meeting last night? I've never heard Ray's presentation, and was tempted to drive into the office yesterday, just so I could come and crash your meeting.

Cheers.
Jim

[Merlyn]

Very good, clear cut and logical. Made me even want to try s/h again for the 3rd time !!!

[Rivka]

the meeting was good, glad i could bring a few examples of my custom pots for folks to see. listening to Ray was good, to be perfectly honest he comes across a lot better in person than i have found him to be on the forums. So im glad i have this chance for a second impression, the first one had turned me off quite a bit.

Ray and i have pretty different culture techniques and they both work, it really goes to show you how LECA does not in itself define anything about how our orchids grow, something that he has always stressed to folks.

a lot of my choices are a direct result of being a "window sill" grower and not having the bliss of a greenhouse to splash around in. I also do not in anyway shape or form have time to deal with my plants every day, if i can get to them about every 5 days i am doing very good, so my watering set up needs to be more stable in a hands free way.

a few things i did learn either from the talk on monday or from some chats here and studing this last few weeks:

I really need to get a RO system,
i just cant with the other comprimises i want to make deal with using this water i have and the TDS it has. the build up no matter what the flushing schedule is is killing new shoots, i have a Psycopis alone that has givin me 6 new shoots this summer and i have had salts kill 5 and i am bound and determined to keep this last one.

I really need to semi inclose my growing area to stabilize my temp and raise my RH,
i have all my chids on two large metro racks that line one end of a living room, surrounded on 3 sides with windows. this will be their first winter in that spot and i know for a fact they will get way way too cold, the windows suck. and dont talk to me about RH in the winter, sucky does not even begin to cut it.
so i think im going to hang a clear or translucent curtain across the area and put in a independent heater and a humidifier.

So now i need to go buy: (and figure out how to budget)

• RO water filter (plus new fert made for RO)
• Humidifier (with a hubby with allergies and babies around need to be really careful about this one. probably a steam version to be cleaner?)
• a good efficient space heater. (i will be fighting a huge amount of bad windows in the DC winter)

wish me luck

[Merlyn]

Rivka, you can get at Home Depot I don't know what they call it except a window sealer kit. It's plastic or vinyl that attaches over a window and is removable for spring time. Amazing how it insulates the window as I used it in PA over a really bad winter and it basically just shuts out the cold !

I've tried ALL kinds of humidifiers and the one I use now was VERY expensive at around $300 but for every humidifier I've tried, it's the ABSOLUTE best and ALL of mine were on 24/7. It's called a Venta Airwasher and is a humidifier and purifier in one WITHOUT any filters to keep buying and replacing. Made in Germany with a 5 year warrantee ! The steam one has a heating unit that collects mineral deposits quicker than Hydroton !!! I had to chip them off weekly until the heating unit fails, and IT WILL ! The electronic (if you have high mineral tap water) leaves a white powder over EVERYTHING in your entire house that's exposed to it !! Had to wipe the screen on my TV every 2 days !!! The ONLY other one I liked was one that takes a filter and 24/7 uses it up every month or so and they weren't cheap and in fact turned into this horrid looking blob of what seemed like decomposed organic matter !!! There is a perk to the Venta, if you have this problem, in that it pulls in fungus gnats and drowns them !!! It works similar to the unit attached to furnaces of old that pulls air (or heat) in over a rotating wheel that is immersed about half way or more in water.

Hey, I wouldn't recommend any other stand alone humidifier for use in a house. They even have a bigger model than mine. Mine holds 2 gallons and I fill it with a gallon about twice a day !

I forget, are you in MD or VA ? I got mine at Strosnider's Hardware in Bethesda, MD.

BTW, did you join ???

[Rivka]

i did join
im in bethesda
and if i got the ro system then most issues with humidifier having build up would be moot a assume. im way more worried about it growing yucky slime inside of it if i dont clean it constantly. what you are describing is what i know as a swamp cooler it seems. not a bad idea

[Ray]

Rivka - filters are for organics and maybe chlorine, but will do nothing to remove dissolved minerals. Allowing the water to stand is equally ineffective. (Bud has it easy - living in Manhattan, his water supply has no more than 50 ppm TDS right out of the tap - almost RO quality!)

The only way to get rid of the dissolved minerals is through distillation, RO, or deionization. I don't know what your water demand is, so cannot make a relevant recommendation.