First S/H

[stoots]

Just started my first S/H experiment. 1st one is a brassia that has shown little to no growth in 2 yrs and a bulbo that I keep too wet or too dry. All the roots looked pretty good when re-potting. Fingers are crossed.

[cbuchman]

I'm on my first S/H experiment too. I started last august with 1 phal in really bad shape, 1 reed epi and 1 unknown something (probably onc hybrid, but not sure). So far so good.

[Vanda lover]

You will find that the reed epi love s/h. I was having trouble with mine until I put them in s/h. One of mine bloomed for over a year and a half. I also have a paph, phrag and onc in s/h.

[The Orchid Boy]

I'm starting on my first semi-hydro experiment too. I'm going to try a Phrag. pearcei.

[Vanda lover]

My phrag is another one who loves s/h. We don't have clay pellets available locally, so I use lava rock now. It's much cheaper and works as well or better.

[stoots]

Might try a cymbidium, just checking and found the pot burst from root growth, Think I will try a division.
I was going to try a dendrobuim, it has existed but never really done much, this morning I found a spike!! First one ever, I've never had much luck w/ Dend"s. I thnk I have to have 5 post before pics, starting to get there!

[Vanda lover]

I have a phal type den in s/h that I got in the spring in the mail. So far it looks great. It has healthy new growth.
I tried a cym and I killed it, but I have heard that they do well in s/h.

[stoots]

I have one phrag in spike from a division earlier in the summer in bark. I bought a bunch of LECA from Ray's early last week. I want to experiment more but afraid to commit if you know what I mean. I have phals that I have had blooming all summer and fall. I have more that are shooting up spikes now. If it ain't broke don't fix it?
Thanks for all the replies!

[Ray]

Here's the deal folks: Pretty much ANY plant can be grown in S/H culture, as long as they way the parmeters of the culture method interact with the rest of your cultural conditions still provides a good environment for the plant. The primary point of potential disconnect is the cooling effect of higher evaporation rate from the medium. If your temperatures are high enough, that's not an issue; if the humidity is high enough to slow that, again, no issue; if the plant does not prefer high temperatures in the first place (as a phal does), you may also avoid issues.

As far as exposure to a constant moisture source, EVERY plant will need to grow new roots to compensate for the change in the environment. That's why it's important to repot just when the plant is growing new roots.

[stoots]

Ray...
I understand all the issues you brought up, I read that on this site and your web site numerous times. I went with the leca for 2 main reasons...
1. repotting, I tend to wait too long before I repot. I find that the meduim has broken down and started to rot causing alot of damage.
2. I always seem to have one or 2 orchids I just can't make any progress with. Whether it's over or underwatering light, or just a humidity issue, they look healthy, just never show any growth.

Will S/H fix this.. it probably will with issue #1.
#2... time will tell.
It's not a point of what will grow as much as how well it will grow in the envrioment I provide. If S/H was the cure all, I would have already transplanted everything I have into leca.