root rot on vase culture vanda

[Swimmingorchids]

sommeil you are overthinking it a bit. A 3 hour soak or a 30 minute soak is not much difference.
What would make more of a difference is giving it 2 daily soaks, one in the morning and one in the evening. The roots can dry out in between and should do so. Just too long dry periods is no good.

As long as the roots dry out completely for one portion of the day you are good. What I would avoid is having it sit in a pool of stagnant water all day.

I know there are plenty of people that do this calling it semi-hydro which is complete rubbish to me personally. Maybe poor man's hydro lol. I've seen the results - it works - thats about it. The results have certainly never impressed me much and the roots are in a constant cycle of rotting and regrowing.

[Ray]

Vase culture and semi-hydro culture are totally different.

A couple of 10-minute soaks a day would be great. Long soaks don't add much.

[Sommeil]

Originally Posted by Ray

Vase culture and semi-hydro culture are totally different.

A couple of 10-minute soaks a day would be great. Long soaks don't add much.

So would that be a no on the layer of leca beads on the bottom?

[Swimmingorchids]

Leca can't hurt. It will absorb some water that drops off. More important is that you understand the principle. They like it hot and humid with plenty of rainfall. The reason to let them dry out and breathe in between is to stop any rot developing. If you stick to that you should be fine.

Edit: leca might make it harder to water and empty the vase evry day.. so up to you.

[Sommeil]

Originally Posted by Swimmingorchids

Leca can't hurt. It will absorb some water that drops off. More important is that you understand the principle. They like it hot and humid with plenty of rainfall. The reason to let them dry out and breathe in between is to stop any rot developing. If you stick to that you should be fine.

Edit: leca might make it harder to water and empty the vase evry day.. so up to you.

So true. I have a siphon just for that purpose