Neo in Glass

[Vanda lover]

I would think that if there was a little dribble of water left in the bottom of the vase, that that should be good enough, at least from what I have read from other threads.

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by Vanda lover

I would think that if there was a little dribble of water left in the bottom of the vase, that that should be good enough, at least from what I have read from other threads.

You know I have tried this before and have found little improvement in terms of keeping the root area more humid/moist. Its as if the surface area isn't big enough to make an appreciable difference. I even tried it with adding hydroton , figuring the surface area would increase, but then you have the issue of hydroton wanting to roll out every time you empty the vase.

What I need is a green house where I can make it as humid as possible. This is the clear choice! LOL

[camille1585]

I guess the only way to know if this is the way to go is to keep up with the experiment. In the very worst case you'd see the roots start to deteriorate, and then all you have to do is water less often.

I think that part of it is that it's hard for me to imagine how difficult it is to deal with very very low humidity. Here it's never less that 45-50%, so I think that if I were to leave them soaking all day they might not be dry by morning.

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I don't know if you read the story, but last spring/summer I was away at Cornell for 5 months. The orchids couldn't come along so were staying in the care of my mom. She does an fairly nice job with them, but back then I didn't trust her with my favorite/hardest to replace orchids. So in march I packed my 15 favorite orchids in a box, with tracking, with insurance and send them to Rosie in the UK. All 3 Neos were in there.

Very long story made very short, the box got hopelessly lost and showed up in september. Amazingly 4 were still clinging on to life after more than 5 months, but life outside the box was too hard on them My only consolation was that I managed to claim part of the insurance.

So when Glenn comes to the UK this summer for an orchid show, I'm ordering more Neos!

Oh man! I'm really sorry to hear that. I can't imagine loosing all my favourite plants at one time.

I know it's shallow consolation, but at least the insurance will help replace some of them.

Cheers.
Jim

[DelawareJim]

Originally Posted by Pilot

I understand your concerns. I really do. But I was also having the issue of time, as well. I would often forget these poor things were steeping in water and I would head off to work. I watch my little girl in the morning and then work in the evening so the plants would often end up in water all day anyway.

But as I've mentioned, too, come morning, their roots are the classic grey color of roots that have successfully dried before the next watering. With the 30-60 min steep, I had roots that suffered the drying of the rest of the day.

So I guess I need a happy medium. I'm not sure what that is.

I thought you were growing them in vase culture like in the Vanda in Glass Vases sticky in the Vanda-others forum and were emptying the water out after an hour or so. I would think they would be happier using that method where the humidity would be high but the roots could still breath.

Cheers.
Jim

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by DelawareJim

I thought you were growing them in vase culture like in the Vanda in Glass Vases sticky in the Vanda-others forum and were emptying the water out after an hour or so. I would think they would be happier using that method where the humidity would be high but the roots could still breath.

Cheers.
Jim

If you read the previous posts you find out I am growing them as vase culture but with a tweak. Air about the roots is great but only if the roots aren't shriveled from drying out. The explanation is above.

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by Pilot

If you read the previous posts you find out I am growing them as vase culture but with a tweak. Air about the roots is great but only if the roots aren't shriveled from drying out. The explanation is above.

gees that post came off a lot worse than I intended!!!!!!

What I was getting at is, I was not seeing good results with my earlier method of soaking once a day for a short period-- so instead I soak for several hours-- this gives the plants' roots to plump up again enough to make it to the next watering.

My RH is extremely low here-- outside it is often in the single digits this time of year and inside I measured it at about 20%. The plants live in a solarium where it gets a lot of sun and warmth during the day, even when its cold outside, and it seems to dry out the plants even faster because of respiration.

Jim I hope that other post wasn't taken in such a mean way-- I totally didn't mean it that way! It came off more harsh than intended. Anyway, those reasons are why they roots will soak from 1 or 2 hours to 8...it all depends on how hot the solarium gets and what the roots look like. The plants aren't soaked every day as standard care, but on a as-needed basis...does that make sense?

[DelawareJim]

Ryan;

No worries on the post. At first I thought you might have thought I was one of those people who responds to the latest posts without reading the entire thread (One of my pet peeves). When I read it a second time I knew what you were getting at.

I'm afraid I mis-understood from the start and didn't realize you were soaking longer than most people using the vase culture typically do. It became more clear after reading your exchange with Camille. That said, your roots should be more acclimated to being in water longer and you should see good results.

I agree a greenhouse would help a lot. We all need a greenhouse Have you thought about an orchidarium? While the store bought kind like the "Grand Cayman" and others can be a bit pricey, quite a few people have had good success with Exo-Terra terrariums or aquariums in the 20-75 gallon range. I have a couple of 50 gallon tanks with a glass aquarium top and a normal output 2-bulb T5 light fixture that I use for growing certain aquarium plants emmersed that work quite well. Add a computer/muffin fan for improved air circulation and you should be good to go.

Cheers.
Jim

[Vanda lover]

We bought a tiny greenhouse, which I use first thing in the spring to put my garden seedlings out, then when it warms up, I move some of my orchids out there for the summer. It works great, because I can soak the floor and have humidity all day, and I have a fan to blow it around. I would love a big one [needless to say] but this one was cheap.

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by Vanda lover

We bought a tiny greenhouse, which I use first thing in the spring to put my garden seedlings out, then when it warms up, I move some of my orchids out there for the summer. It works great, because I can soak the floor and have humidity all day, and I have a fan to blow it around. I would love a big one [needless to say] but this one was cheap.

When can you safely plant outside (with and without the little green house)?

A green house would be wonderful, wouldn't it? Even with a greenhouse, though, I would need to overcome a few things-- mainly the winds and sun. I think leaving water around on surfaces and in buckets etc would help a lot but at 6500 feet MSL, we get some seriously powerful sun here.

We have a few acres of land here in Colorado and I think it's our intention to eventually have a greenhouse (yes, even my wife agrees this is a good idea!!!). Until then I have decided a swamp cooler would be a good idea for the solarium. In such a dry environment, evaporative cooling will work very well here. That should up my humidity a lot, at least in the summer months. I have tried using a humidifier during these cooler months but the machines they make these days are sad-- I wore mine out pretty fast! Sadly, I have to admit some fault as it wasn't meant for constant use.