Small Success

[Ray]

There are lots of factors that play a role in determining whether a plants acts like the drama queen or not.

The first one that comes to mind, of course, is their general health and vigor. A strong plant will just be "rarin' to go" no mater what.

Next is the growth cycle. Some plants are basically always active. Others, with more definite growth / blooming / rest periods just won't grow roots until they're damned good and ready, and if your repot timing doesn't coincide...

The growing conditions, I think, also play a role. A low-stress environment allows the plant to focus its energies on getting reestablished. If the humidity is too low, or the temperature too extreme, or if anything is outside of the plant's "comfort zone", it will have to contend with a lot more than simply growing new roots, and might not have the wherewithal to do so.

[quiltergal]

Update on my s/h experiment. The phal is doing great, growing new roots every day. The Lc has finally turned the corner, and is sending up 2 new growths and lots of new roots. It looked completely dead for about 3 months. My OH has commented on more than one occasion that it looked dead and I should throw it out. I'm glad I decided to just wait it out and see what happened.

[Buds!]

Hi Terri,
I am so happy for you! It must be a great feeling to have your chids doing well.
I am also a big fan of s/h, my phal population is now 30, it was 3 in August.... heheheh! They are all in s/h!
More to come.....

[quiltergal]

Thought I'd resurrect this old thread and give you all an update. This is why we do what we do. This project has taught me that patience is most definately a virtue, but by and large good things come to those who wait. Here are a few of my Phal. SIO's Night Leopard that was my first plant put in S/H. I made all the predictable beginners mistakes. It had no active root growth at the time and also had severe root rot. It was darned near a three strikes you're out situation. But with a bit of TLC look what finally happened!



Alas the poor little Lc. did not make it. What I learned from this project is my Phals do just as well if not better in traditional CHC mix. However, my Onc. alliance plants are doing awesome in S/H, and I've always had trouble getting them to bloom. I will post of them tomorrow.

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Thanks for posting the result of your successful experiment. There is nothing like examples of positive long-term outcome to help us persevere.

I am curious what are your growing conditions as far as approximate humidity, temperature and light?

Very interesting and healthy-looking flower.

[quiltergal]

Hi Maria. I'm growing indoors, in a south facing bay window with blinds. The grow rack has 3 shelves with 2 54W T5 bulbs attached to the bottom of each shelf. The temps in the winter are around 68-55 (we keep a cool house), but when the sun is out it can get significantly warmer. Summer is a tad warmer and the rack can get up in the 80's during the day. The T5s put out a bit of heat also. RH has some pretty random swings but probably averages around 65-70%.

I won't be moving any more Phals to S/H. All of mine are doing great in traditional medium. I really struggled with the Oncs. I could never get the watering right and was constantly getting leaf pleating. S/H helped me get that right and now they're blooming.

I haven't tried a Den yet.

[Ranchnanny]

Isn't it a great feeling to see that new growth?? Oh Yeh!!
Happy Growing

Sheridan

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Thanks for the info. Terry. There are so many variables to take into account and other people's successful experiments I found to be the best guide.

[blackorchid]

I have quite some success with S/H, but it takes a long time for plants to establish, and this is one of the first to do. This phal had a lot of roots before going into S/H; it lost ALL of them in a quick fashion leaving the plant having no root! It is right now reestablish new roots into S/H reservoir. But the whole proccess took like a year.