Shift from S/H to full water culture after (FWC), advice needed.

[Mocres]

Hi!
All my phals have been in FWC for more than a year. In my climate, bark doesn't work well, it remains wet for too long, and I tried FWC as a desperate measure trying to save a mini-phal with only a tiny root. It was a success, and little by little I passed all my plants to this method, and they are happily growing; the first bloom of the season opened this week, and all the rest have spikes.
For your rootless phal, I'd use less water; it shouldn't touch the base of the plant. Humidity should be enough for it to produce roots.
My approach to fertilizer is different to those people in YouTube. I have a very weak orchid fertilizer (2-2-2) and I use a tiny amount in the water (about two mm in the cap of the bottle, diluted in 1,5 l water) every time I change the water. I leave the orchids in this water, I don't change it. Now and then I use just water. With this regime, I've never had any problems, no roots have "burned" (although some rot when you first put them in water culture), and I get lots of spikes and buds.
The downside is that I get lots of algae growing in the water. It might be because of the fertiliser, or because my phals receive direct sun in the morning (except in summer, when I change them to a different place so that they won't burn). The algae doesn't hurt the plants, it's just ugly to see; I just wash the pots every week or so and change the water.
A final piece of advise, if you use a cane to keep the spike straight, it has to be on the outside of the pot, or it will rot.
Good luck!

[chiirioz]

Originally Posted by Mocres

Hi!
All my phals have been in FWC for more than a year. In my climate, bark doesn't work well, it remains wet for too long, and I tried FWC as a desperate measure trying to save a mini-phal with only a tiny root. It was a success, and little by little I passed all my plants to this method, and they are happily growing; the first bloom of the season opened this week, and all the rest have spikes.


A final piece of advise, if you use a cane to keep the spike straight, it has to be on the outside of the pot, or it will rot.
Good luck!

Hi Mocres, glad to hear that your phals are doing well in FWC. Aesthetically, I love this concept and my 2 fellow admins and I received orchids as an Admins Day gift. Since they are "cheap" mass-market phals, I am doing some experimentation with mine by seeing if it can survive in the office (still in bloom so still going strong). My coworker's dropped all its blooms in a week and she was going to toss it today but I stopped her and took it home.

Removed the moss, snipped and hydrogen peroxide-d the rotting roots and old spike, soaked in kelp/fert for 30 mins and its roots are now submerged a quarter of the way in water.

Any tips on what to expect next or what my next steps should be?

Here's a photo... LINK

Second question - what about a metal stake? A couple of mine are already rusting on the uncoated bottom but would that lead to rust?

[NikkiM]

Originally Posted by chiirioz

what about a metal stake? A couple of mine are already rusting on the uncoated bottom but would that lead to rust?

Sorry about the late response, but I don't think a metal stake would work. I think it would rust. Maybe a plastic one would work since wood rots and metal rusts. As long as the plastic wouldn't do any damage or leave chemicals in the water.

---------- Post added at 07:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:36 PM ----------

Do you have an update on the FWC orchids you tried?