my Neofinetia falcata in semi-hydroponic

[LinhT]

Thanks for the update and S/H specific growing conditions. Great growing!

[s.kallima]

Thank you all,

Now I think I may have up to 5 spikes (one per fan) this year , I will post pictures...

[DelawareJim]

Thanks for the update and the info.

I think I'm going to try it again with a fan from the wild type I got from Gwen Diaz as my first plant. It's mounted but I keep it sitting on a plastic saucer on my windowsill.

I found it has been growing a lot better if I don't let the mount drain completely before putting it back in it's saucer when watering and fertilizing. Just a thin film of water in the bottom of the saucer the roots sit in when I put it back and I'm getting crazy growth. And the film is dry by the end of the day so I've not seen any signs of rot. (Gee, as I write this, it sounds like I'm doing semi-hydro without the LECA. Doh!)

Cheers.
Jim

[Lady Tottington]

Beautiful!!! Thanks for posting and all the photos!

[dchung]

hi s.kallima,

I recently purchased a neo. and am considering S/H. Are you using Leca? How high does the medium wick the water?

[Pilot]

I'll add my comments, too... beautiful job!!! Really well done indeed.

I agree with you Jim on not letting your neo dry out... mine suffers a lot if I let it dry out complete between waterings. Although mine is now in s/h as well and so far so good.

[s.kallima]

Originally Posted by dchung

hi s.kallima,

I recently purchased a neo. and am considering S/H. Are you using Leca? How high does the medium wick the water?

Yes I'm using hydroton, the only kind of leca I can find here. I've read the Aliflor is better because the elements are not as round and gave a better wicking effect.
Half of the pot (around 10 cm) is always wet from the wicking and because I spray the plant every day, the top part of the leca is only dry really at night.

[PeterP]

It is a long time ago that you posted this post but I wonder how it looks now and whether you still grow Neofinitia in leca. I got a few small ones recently and potted them in a mix of leca and seramis.

[RoseSD]

How often do you rehydrate your LECA?

[Shadeflower]

ah the old ghost question on OB.

I call it such because it is a question posed to a member that hasn't been seen in over a decade

But the good news is they did say before the left. The plant was sprayed at the roots daily and the whole pot flushed out weekly.

So I'd say the lecca was rehydrated on a daily basis.

Me, I try to avoid the daily watering, I grow a lot of varieties that other people water daily.

Sometimes I don't water mine for months.

Like this example, last watered at new year (ok I did just spot some yellow leaf tips I need to investigate on the left one, maybe spray the roots a bit more, I know they would benefit but I tried neo's not been too impressed so far but then again I haven't gotten them to flower yet so I will persevere with them and hopefully that will change my mind about me finding them boring so far.
It could always be they don't like my sparse watering.