Transferring healthy plants to S/H

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by billc

Al, Don't water them. The leca dries out just as thoroughly as bark, CHC or whatever kind of mix one would use. If I waited a week between waterings the plants I have in S/H would be bone dry.

Bill

I have been wondering about that. I suppose that when you do water again you would have to really soak the leca well.

[billc]

Not necessarily. After the dry season they get drenched several times a week and the natural wicking action would take over. I think most catts grow in an environment that even though it doesn't rain for quite a while there is still fog that rolls thru and the air is fairly humid. So the roots still have some moisture available to them.

Bill

[Vanda lover]

Interesting. Maybe I'll try a Catt in s/h. I did actually have one for a while but I accidentally left it in the greenhouse during a heat wave. I was so mad at myself!

[ALToronto]

Interesting. I thought the whole point of semi-hydro was to keep the LECA evenly moist and continually wicking so that the fertilizer minerals would not precipitate out and burn the roots. Ray, would you weigh in on this?

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by Abbie9

I've been considering transferring to S/H culture for a while, but haven't quite committed yet. I know that when changing environments the plant will have to develop new roots in order to thrive. My question is, if my plants are doing well in sphag or bark with healthy root systems, how will they react to being placed into S/H? Will they have to completely grow a new root system and therefore be "under the weather" for several years to get back to the same level of root system they currently have? What's the general length of downtime they will experience before being back to their normal selves?

I'm thinking of experimenting with some of my rescues first since they already need to grow whole new systems, but if I like S/H I'll want to switch all my plants over to it eventually. I am reluctant if it's going to mess up an already good thing with my healthy fellows.

Healthy plants will transplant better than ailing plants or "rescues".

Cheers
Jim

[Ray]

Originally Posted by ALToronto

Interesting. I thought the whole point of semi-hydro was to keep the LECA evenly moist and continually wicking so that the fertilizer minerals would not precipitate out and burn the roots. Ray, would you weigh in on this?

That is correct.

However, there is nothing to say that one cannot use LECA as a medium in traditional culture. LECA absorbs really well (most do, anyway), so it would be wise to water heavily, with really dilute fertilizer solutions, and flush thoroughly.

By the way, I have had cattleyas in s/h culture for years, with no issue. Take a look at the microclimate many of them come from. Even during a dry season, they really aren't dry. The "dry season" may be a case of 0.1" per day, rather than 10x that!