S/H Beginner Haraella retrocalla

[rheeby101]

Would s/h work with a Haraella retrocalla? Is there anyone that has tried it?

[Leafmite]

I don't grow mine in S/H. I find the easiest way to grow this orchid is mounted and in a lidded jar, with a little water on the bottom to be wicked up by the mount. I hope this helps. If you are determined to grow it in S/H, hopefully, someone else can help you. Good luck!

[campchi]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I don't grow mine in S/H. I find the easiest way to grow this orchid is mounted and in a lidded jar, with a little water on the bottom to be wicked up by the mount. I hope this helps. If you are determined to grow it in S/H, hopefully, someone else can help you. Good luck!

Isn't that the same as semi hydro since u have water in the bottom for it to wicked up?. Except that you are growing in an enclosure environment.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by rheeby101

Would s/h work with a Haraella retrocalla? Is there anyone that has tried it?

Whether a plant will grow well in semi-hydro culture is determined by many factors, the least of which is the type of plant.

ANY plant can be grown in S/H culture IF your temperature, humidity, air movement, and light levels work well with the conditions within the pot to provide what the plants need.

As the developer of the technique, I probably have the most experience with it, yet there are plants I cannot grow that way, and no doubt, plants I do grow that way that others cannot.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by campchi

Isn't that the same as semi hydro since u have water in the bottom for it to wicked up?. Except that you are growing in an enclosure environment.

Not really, as there is neither a pot nor inert medium.

[Optimist]

My haraella retrocalla likes to be in a closed "terrarium" with a mister that is on long enough to cause condensation. A few hours per day. I have a flower spike so I suppose my care is working out. I am always at the goodwill looking for cheap cool air room humidifiers.



See that little green spike?

Another way I have kept this is to fill a plastic shoe box with wet, wrung out spagham moss and then laid the stick it is mounted on upon the wet moss. A top would be better. I would keep it like this only for short periods of time.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Optimist

...plastic shoe box....

There is a tiny milkweed vine Hoya curtisii that I always killed within days. It has amazingly patterned leaves. I put a cutting from a friend on top of slightly damp potting soil in a foam egg container lid and put it into a shoe box, then under my lights. It took off growing like a weed. Even if I don't water it for months and the medium dries out completely it looks good.

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by estación seca

There is a tiny milkweed vine Hoya curtisii that I always killed within days. It has amazingly patterned leaves. I put a cutting from a friend on top of slightly damp potting soil in a foam egg container lid and put it into a shoe box, then under my lights. It took off growing like a weed. Even if I don't water it for months and the medium dries out completely it looks good.

I think they call this method sphag and bag. It is meant to be temporary due to air flow, but if you can get the air flow, there is no reason why It could not be full time.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Optimist

It is meant to be temporary due to air flow,...

A shoe box doesn't seal tightly so there is always a little air exchange. If I soak the soil it is usually dry within 2-3 weeks.

I should have mentioned, I have the shoe box upside down. The inverted lid forms the floor; the egg container lid sits on the inside of the shoe box lid; and the shoe box itself sits inverted over the egg container lid, snapped into the shoe box lid. This way more light may enter the apparatus.