Growing Phalaenopsis in Water Gel Beads

[Stray59]

crucifix:
Sorry that your planting did not work; but, it leads to an interesting experiment for someone. By the way - how long did you have it in the gel beads? In the pic's, it looks like some of the roots had grown along the edge of the vase - were they attached?
Sounds like kultureshock has successfully maintained his for a couple of years - I do know that phalae's will grow in nothing but ground glass, because years ago a greenhouse in Chicago, Illinois had several orchids in various medium, just to show the epiphytic, not parasitic nature of the plant. I have also heard of phalae's being raised semi-hydroponically, so it can be done; but monitoring the moisture content and controlling bacteria / fungus levels are essential.
Good luck in the sphagnum medium. It is true you have to have air flow around the roots; the air pockets in the beads are not really enough - the air needs to move.
Again, best of luck and keep us updated as to the development. Welcome to the orchid loving community.
Steve

[Ray]

Originally Posted by KultureShock

ok this thread is full of misinformation... Phalaenopsis is the ONLY orchid that CAN be grown in water crystals it is the same thing a semi hydroponics. I have had one of my phals in these crystals for the last 2 years and it has been growing and flowering perfectly. All i do is add 1/3 strength fertilizer and a tiny bit of rooting hormone to the water i use to hydrate them with and i have never run into any problems at all except for one run in with algae but simply rinsing the beads took care of that. You only need to water your plants around once a month with this method and it allows your plant to fully utilize it's photosynthetic roots. The round shape of the beads allows for plenty of air pockets in the growing medium and the way the beads hold water there is practically no chance for root rot especially if you use a slitted pot. Just figured i would share my experience because anyone reading this thread is going to figure its a horrible idea when in all actuality it works wonderfully and im not sure but i doubt anyone who replied to the original question had ever actually tried it.The most important thing (which is probably why this person succumbed to root rot) is that you put a few unhydrated beads on the bottom of the container to suck up excess moisture and wait until the beads are almost to their original size before watering at which point the phal should be removed from the pot very gently and the beads washed thoroughly in warm water and rehydrated. Hope this information was of use to some of you.

Oh and heres a link to someone else who swears by water crystals theirs pictures on this post as well

Personally, I think THIS post is full of misinformation.

First, it is NOT "the same thing as semi-hydroponics". The medium is not inert (it certainly can decompose over time), and there is no permanent reservoir.

Secondly, how can you authoritatively state that "Phalaenopis is the ONLY that can be grown in water crystals"?

[Vanda lover]

I came across some on ebay and used then to grow houseplants for a while. It stated on the package that they don't recommend growing orchids in them. The main problem I had with it is that in order to have enough light for the plant to grow well, you end up with algae all over the gel. I was using different colours to match the rooms. I wonder about using them in orchid mixes, though. They retain water but also absorb excess moisture when used with soil.

[KultureShock]

Originally Posted by Ray

Personally, I think THIS post is full of misinformation.

First, it is NOT "the same thing as semi-hydroponics". The medium is not inert (it certainly can decompose over time), and there is no permanent reservoir.

Secondly, how can you authoritatively state that "Phalaenopis is the ONLY that can be grown in water crystals"?

its just my personal experience and ive read of others having the same success. i suppose there could be other orchids that would respond well to this but from what i've noticed phalaenopsis are the only ones that don't mind their roots being constantly moist as they are in this setting. As for it decomposing i always change out my beads for new ones as soon as i notice they are starting to crack which usually takes a few months at which point i was probably going to take the plant out to rehydrate the beads anyways.

sorry if i came off in a bad way i just thought it was silly that the idea was condemned so quickly when their is no reason for it not to work if done properly just like any other growing method.

Best regards,
Kevin

[KultureShock]

Originally Posted by Vanda lover

I came across some on ebay and used then to grow houseplants for a while. It stated on the package that they don't recommend growing orchids in them. The main problem I had with it is that in order to have enough light for the plant to grow well, you end up with algae all over the gel. I was using different colours to match the rooms. I wonder about using them in orchid mixes, though. They retain water but also absorb excess moisture when used with soil.

I think this is because most orchids wont respond well to this and its easier to say don't use on orchids than it is to say that it doesnt work on most species and then give a list of compatible and incompatible plants. thats just my guess though. The packages that my beads come in also say not to use them on orchids but i did it anyways a couple years ago out of curiosity on a plant that was badly neglected during the summer that year. only had a couple roots and a few new ones coming out of the base as i recall. Anyways the original roots all rotted off after a few weeks but the new roots grew into the beads just fine and the plant was flowering a good 9 months later.
Once again thats just my experience and i know i have read a couple horror stories about these beads and phals as well but i have also read success stories and had my own so i think it really depends on how you use the beads. are you watering them with the plant still in beads or gently taking it out while you rehydrate them? Are you changing the beads when they get old and start breaking? Are they big enough that there is gaps between them? and so on. There are so many factors to take into account before deciding that a media isn't fit for growing orchids that a few people's failure shouldn't mean that a media is deemed unfit for orchids. I mean people get root rot in all sorts of mediums every day and we still use them. just my

[Vanda lover]

Well, I can say that I have grown other moisture loving plants in it and they loved it. I had a streptocarpus that bloomed happily and filled the pot with roots so quickly that I put it back in to soil. They do have to be changed often, which could be an advantage to phals. I've been considering mixing a little in with coconut husks to see how phals do in a mix with it.

[KultureShock]

Originally Posted by Vanda lover

Well, I can say that I have grown other moisture loving plants in it and they loved it. I had a streptocarpus that bloomed happily and filled the pot with roots so quickly that I put it back in to soil. They do have to be changed often, which could be an advantage to phals. I've been considering mixing a little in with coconut husks to see how phals do in a mix with it.

I was actually considering something similar but with coarse chunks of bark. i was thinking it could reduce the need for air holes in the pot so i could pot them in glass rather then plastic.I am also going to try adding sugar in with the fertilizer at the rates that would normally be used for tissue culture along with a bit of plant preservative mixture. I'm guessing it will allow for more rapid growth of the plants hopefully on par with tissue cultured plants (although i dont know how high of a chance there is of it working might just result in mold. :/ ) . In tissue culture the plants only take the sugar they need from the gel medium so i am assuming it would work the same with these water beads.

[Vanda lover]

No harm in trying it if you have extra plants.
It is used with garden plants and houseplant soils all the time. I once saw a garden show where the gardener was taking it out of diapers to add to his soil. He used other household products such as Listerine for plants as well.

[KultureShock]

What was the listerine being used for? i found another source saying that water crystals can be used on phalaenopsis Water Beads for Plants | eHow.com

[Vanda lover]

I think the Listerine was for killing insects in the soil. That was quite a while ago, so I don't quite remember.