Repotting S/H

[Leadfoot]

What about if the orchid (in my case, a phal) is living in water culture currently?

I would presume you do similarly, but are there any other tips you might suggest?

[DTEguy]

Originally Posted by Leadfoot

What about if the orchid (in my case, a phal) is living in water culture currently?

I would presume you do similarly, but are there any other tips you might suggest?

Hi Leadfoot,

I think similar is fine but it might be better if you put your phal's roots lower into the reservoir since there is an upper dry line.

What I did for my first S/H setup was to test it out--without the plant--for a few days to get a feel for the wicking and evaporation rate in my environment and then adjust accordingly.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by DTEguy

Hi Leadfoot,

I think similar is fine but it might be better if you put your phal's roots lower into the reservoir since there is an upper dry line.

Not necessarily.

For one, like any other repot, the plant will need to grow new roots for the most part anyway.

Secondly, the moisture content of the medium is a gradient from bottom to top. The so-called "dry line" is the level at which the evaporation from the surface of the pellet has outstripped the pellet's ability to transfer more moisture to it - but moisture transfer is still occurring, and the plant can absorb it.

Greater the evaporation rate, controlled by temperature, humidity, and air movement, the deeper in the pot the "dry line" appears. In my warm and humid greenhouse, there is no such line at all, and the pellets stay moist all the way to the top.