Quote:
Originally Posted by rick84
The atomized solution is not moist at all, in fact it is dry.
I want to support the roots in a NET POT not an orchid pot, big difference! also I would like to put the "clouds" to a dual purpose and add in a constant RH source. If the RH is too high then I will add some moss to the top.
multi layered root systems are more productive and sustain large vigorous plants. Better bloom, higher value. More control over nutrition. ECT.....
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Erm, having played around with various items that do this (ultrasonic fogging), I can assure you that the atomised solution is anything but dry - it would rather defeat the point if it were...
You may also like to think for a second about the
scale of a water droplet vs some dissolved ions before deciding that it is impossible for a fog to carry a nutrient (because if it were, well, aeroponics would fail, and no one would be using it).
Clouds, if you've never been inside one, are decidedly wet places, no matter how fine the droplets. Sure, bigger ones tend to fall faster, but tiny ones will still get you wet. Not all the wetness in cloud forests comes from rain - and even coastal mists and fogs can be quite useful sources of water in dry places.
Lots of people grow orchids in net pots (with or without medium).
I'm not entirely sure what the moss is supposed to achieve? Surely adding moss will
increase the RH further still? Are you perhaps suggesting that rather than a "traditional" aeroponics system where only the root zone is in the mist, the
entire plant will be in the mist? I suspect you will suffer no end of fungal and bacterial woes if you try this, but YMMV and all.
Be aware when you're reading things that epiphytes aren't quite the same as terrestrial plants (which is what people who grow in these systems usually work with - plants that would be perfectly happy planted in soil - unlike most orchids) - their root systems are different, and their physiology and even nutrient requirements can be different.
Take a bit of time to compare the root system of a terrestrial plant with that of an epiphytic orchid - you'll soon see some marked differences.
Also, because orchids are not generally grown this way on a commercial scale, there is little if any research or experience with it. Assuming what works for tomatoes or cannabis or lettuce will work with a phalaenopsis is likely to lead to rapid plant death (that said, phalaenopsis can take a lot of abuse).
At the end of the day, I encourage you to try - (I like experimenting and have a background in biological science) - but you should try a couple of variations (like in net pots; with and without LECA) and see how you go, preferably with the same kind of orchid. Ideally several hundred of each treatment, other factors being the same.
Some diagrams and pictures of your existing and/or proposed setup(s) would help people understand what you're proposing better too.
---------- Post added at 06:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 PM ----------
re: pest resistance of "fog-o-ponics" whilst it is possible that the vibration might disrupt some structures, I suspect plant viruses are pretty tough.
Dimension wise, tobacco mosaic virus is about 300nm long- one micron is 1,000 nanometers, so there would be tons of room in a 5-10 micron (5,000-10,000 nanometer wide) droplet for some TMV to be spread around. TMV is just one of 30-odd plant viruses known to affect orchids.
Viruses tend to be really small (they have to get into cells, which are also pretty small).
6-8 microns is the size of a human red blood cell (or one of your fog droplets); the organism that causes malaria lives inside red blood cells and is a kind of eukaryote (not a bacterium). They're
pretty small.
Erwinia can be as small as 0.8 microns (again fitting into your droplets).
If it's definitely proven that there is no plant pathogenicity possible in a fog system, do you have links to a scientific study of this?
---------- Post added at 07:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ----------
Also, be aware when you talk about "semi-hydroponics" around orchids, it is a
very specific (trademarked) cultural technique.
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