Paphs & Phrags in SH

[SundayGardener]

Hello all,

I have searched a bit for information on paphs and phrags in semi hydro. At this point, it's finally warm enough for me to try a few orchids in SH. I selected a few that had good new root growth and now it is a waiting game to see how they do. The ones I have moved have been a few phals, encyclias, and a small cattleya.

I got the impression that paphs and phrags do well in semi hydro, but I have questions. With the phals etc it was easy for me to identify that the orchid was in a phase of putting out new roots. I don't know how to do that with paphs or phrags, although obviously I can see new I don't know the proper words yet, shoots?, at the surface. I've also gotten the impression that paphs are not as resilient (or near-immortal) as for instance phals seem to be, in that they can't lose all their roots and then magically sprout new ones (not that I have ever accomplished that with a phal). Since it is expected that current roots in a fast draining bark-based media will rot when moved to SH, what is the procedure for moving paphs and/or phrags to SH and can it be done when they are already blooming size?

Hopefully these questions make sense. I don't have to move these orchids to SH and if it is too risky, I won't. I do have a seedling sized paph that I have somehow kept alive, it has been very forgiving while also demanding. These orchids make me a bit nervous because I can't see their roots. But if my SH experiment goes well (the plants will have to make it through the winter before I conclude the experiment) I'd love to move more to SH just to simplify watering and care. I have been informed that it is highly stressful and anxiety producing to water my orchids when I have to leave them, but leave them I sometimes must, hence the tentative steps toward SH.

edit to add: I posted when I thought I was previewing, anyway, if given my lack of experience it's best to just leave the paphs & phrags alone, that's also a wonderful answer! All help appreciated

[MrHappyRotter]

Most Phrags will absolutely love S/H as long as you're careful to never let them dry out. There are some long petalled species and hybrids that might not like S/H based on the fact that these often do need drier conditions (especially in winter) to avoid rot. However, the rest will love year round water. The thing to keep in mind is that they might have a bit of set back initially when moved to S/H because they love water so much, and until their roots adapt and grow down to the reservoir, they may struggle for moisture. You can compensate for this by watering daily until you start to see new roots growing down towards the bottom of the container.

Similarly, most Paphs should do well in semi-hydro, but you won't need to give them daily watering to help with the transition. They like moisture, but don't need it quite the way that the average Phrag does.

If they're healthy and your growing conditions are right, many (or most) Paphs and Phrags will have actively growing roots year round. So, this time of year they absolutely should. If they don't, then it could be a sign something is wrong. That aside, if you're seeing new growths, then those will be where the majority of new roots will eventually form, so it's an encouraging sign that it's okay to repot. Ideally you'd repot when you start to see new roots forming on the newest growths, however, since we are at the longest and warmest days of the year, you might as well go ahead and repot now.

Both Paphs and Phrags can be tricky if/when they loose all their roots, which can set them back or kill them, it's true. I can't say they are less resilient than a rootless Phal, but considering that Phals mostly have thicker leaves where they store nutrients and water compared to Paphs and Phrags, I suppose it makes sense. Either way, just because a slipper is rootless doesn't mean it can't be recovered.

[Ray]

I invented semi-hydroponics as a way to keep my plants alive during a period in my career when I traveled extensively in North America - for 3.5 years I averaged 13 flights a week - and once a S/H pot is "up and running", meaning has been watered properly for a few weeks so that the medium is fully saturated, even if left long enough that the reservoir is totally dry, and the LECA appears dry as well, there is still enough moisture within the pellets that evaporates slowly to keep the roots OK.

After I stopped traveling so frequently, my territory expanded to North-, Central-, and South America, Japan and China, so my trips, while less frequent, were usually for three or four weeks at a time, and having most of my plants in S/H culture allowed me to automate my watering, knowingly it was impossible to overwater a plant grown that way.

[EmoryG]

Aloha,
I have found that my Paphs and Phrags have done really well in S/H. As previously stated, there may be a transition period in which you may need to water a bit more frequently but the beauty of S/H is that frequent watering has no adverse effect (very nice for those of us who tend to over water).

I have started using Kelp products to stimulate root growth, as a soak for the plant and medium when I'm repotting. I have not done trials, but I am now a strong believer in this process after seeing increased roots in size and quantity.

Don't be alarmed that the top leca (the exposed ones) dry out. It is totally normal for the top layer or even an inch down to be dry, many of us like using clear containers to view moisture and watch roots develop.

Lastly, I like to flush out the containers every once in a while, it will keep everything cleaner and with help aeration to the roots. My Phrags get rain water (pretty much exclusively) where as my paphs get normal tap water.

I wish you the best success with your plants and thank goodness we have such wonderful resources on the orchid board to help us as we try new things. (a 1,000 thanks Ray!).

[SundayGardener]

Thank you! This is all very encouraging. I think I will try 1 paph and maybe a phrag (I'll look into the long petal thing and needing dryness. I have one that did bloom 2 months ago, and the petals were a bit long but not the super long ones).

My two main concerns right now are the transition period, and then dealing with winter. I'm already putting together a relocation plan to get all the orchids upstairs where it will be warmer during the winter. But there's only a west window available, right now they get light from the south. And I have my T5HOs.

I did use Inocucor and KelpMax on the transitioned plants, and I have been flushing them 2x week. I'm monitoring the encyclias closely and watering them more frequently, while with the phals, as long as the roots are green I leave them alone. One of the encyclias seems to be pretty happy. I also moved an African Violet over which was a whole different ballgame what with the roots being all bound up in dirt. They're in respectively less light then they usually would be.

To be honest, watering has become quite a production, of course, I can only blame myself for my lack of moderation in buying orchids. But we'll see how this goes, I do think that for someone not comfortable watering plants, just monitoring and filling a reservoir is about as easy as it can get!

This is a different question...for some orchids, they needed a wider pot with less depth, and working with what I had, I put them in a standard pot with hydroton at the bottom to avoid overly wet bark. Well of course now those orchids have new roots happily growing into the hydroton. Are these good prospects for moving to SH? I feel like they have an advantage in that at least the lower portion of the new root growth is already growing in hydroton.

[EmoryG]

Sounds like you're doing good things for your plants! It's hard to say what will do well for you, we all have our own conditions and thus have varying degrees of success using similar methods. Since you are interested in shifting more of your plants into S/H culture, this may be good time to pot up a few different plants and explore which types do well for you.

Wishing you and your plants all the best!