Onc. Sharry Baby in water culture

[Sun rm.N.E.]

This is Onc. Sharry Baby 'Short Sharry', my favorite of the five different clones I have grown.

It has been growing in water culture for 3 years and this is one of 4 divisions since. It has grown faster than in any other medium I had tried in the past 20+ years and the flowers last longer. This is one plant I keep in water culture permanently because I can keep it compact when not in bloom since the roots are growing dense and short, as you can see from the close-up picture, and the plant remains easy to lift. The older I get the more important this has become. Division is also easy. One cut and I can put the divisions in semi-hydro and give them away.
Right now there is a sibling about to bloom in South America in the yard of a friend who has many in pots and wild orchids all over her trees but wanted this one.

[cb977]

Your posts/pics always just AMAZE me!!!

I want all mine in vases now!!!
My hubby might not take that news very well though :

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Sure Susanne with your 1,000 orchids the smell of dead algae and the mosquitos at night would feel like you were living in the swamps.

But I really want to want to water my orchids with the hose like I imagine you do.

[cb977]

Originally Posted by Sun rm.N.E.

Sure Susanne with your 1,000 orchids the smell of dead algae and the mosquitos at night would feel like you were living in the swamps.

But I really want to want to water my orchids with the hose like I imagine you do.

LOL...it's only about 400

I use a 2 gallon pump sprayer with rainwater to mist them every day and a 1 gallon motorized sprayer to feed the mounts and vandas once a week, a watering can for the rest

[nenella]

Very nice ! thanks for sharing

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Motorized sprayer?
Now I am really interested. Is it on wheels and can you recommend one?

[cb977]

Originally Posted by Sun rm.N.E.

Motorized sprayer?
Now I am really interested. Is it on wheels and can you recommend one?

This is the one I use for fertilizing the chids:
Rechargeable Garden Sprayer from Black and Decker

I love it but there is one design flaw that I'm not crazy about. You must keep the button pressed down with your thumb, there's no way to lock it in. I have problems with my hands and this sometimes creates a problem for me. On those days, there are lots of rest-breaks in between spraying.

This is the one that gets used every day:
Gilmour 2000P Sprayer - Sprayer Outlet

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Soonix

I use a balanced nutrient solution of DynaGrow or MSU fertilizer all the time for most orchids and aim for about 125PPM nitrogen.
This would be close to 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of Tomato Food Miracle Grow, the only commonly available plant food that I know to be similar in trace elements. I dilute my standard solution by a third for Paphs and Ludisia, some oncidiums (Sharry Baby gets full strength ).
I change the solution at least once per week, more often if i have time. If I have to top off liquid to keep the roots covered I use half strength of regular mix.
A few important exceptions: In the winter I starve Nobile type and Australian dendrobiums like Den. kingianum and give them just tap water(I never use pure water alone since the pH is too unstable) from Thanksgiving to the time they show definite signs of flower buds. Otherwise nubbins turn into keikis instead of buds.
I recommend firstrays.com for info on fertilizers. Ray has read some of the research that went into formulating these fertilizers and had the reference for them when I looked.
Algae also consume significant amount of nutrients in the solution depending on their quantitiy. However, when they photosythesize they release oxygen which is good for the roots. So, like with most other conditions for living things, not too much, not too little. I do not know how this would work with your Vanda roots that really are not in solution for long.

I have not grown pure Vandas in water and would consider it very experimental. The Kenneth Bivens has a reputation for being tolerant to wide range of conditions as well as being tough and a good choice as long as the old pb has some potential for new growth. You should see some signs one way or another in a few weeks. It would make good before and after pictures.

The closest in the Vanda alliance that did OK for me was Darwinara Charm. However it, Neo falcata, Catts with heavy walkeriana heritage, Brassavola, Oncid hybrids with heavy onostum, flexuosum and other fibrous or climbing rhizomed types in their heritage grew some decent roots but developed better after I transfered them into S/H or just plain lecca watered by the trial error method.
On the other hand, certain orchids actually grew and bloomed very much faster this way such as Sharry Baby, Cochleantes Amazing, Hawaera, Leptotes bicolor, Rodriguezia venusta, even some Laelocattleas, Richard Mueller Hybrids, and some Potinara. Bromeliads love it and some look beautiful in vases. I had one that produced 8 pups for the first time after 40 years of growing it.

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Sandy

That is a beautiful flower. The leaves look OK on the other picture. I was also wondering how new growth, whatever stage it is now looks and how it is progressing. I find that the condition of new growth is often the best indication which way things are going. With the majority of orchids we grow it is also the best guide to when to transplant using any method.

A lot of my plants that later adjusted very well took a very long time to get used to my conditions. Most of these novelty oncidiums are mass produced in places like Taiwan, grown too fast and forced to bloom too early. To speed things up they are provided very specific conditions for each phase of development that we can not duplicate in the house. So unless you bought from a grower who grows for people interested in keeping their plant even after the pretty centerpiece fades, your plant may have to make a major shift in the way its genetic programs are expressed to cope with a new environment the likes of which it has never seen before. At best- all this takes time.

This is the info sheet for growers I found on the Tolkien clone from the people at Orchidworks who had produced a lot of these seedlings and plugs and sold wholesale to other growers.

Temperature 55 - 85 Degrees Farenheit
Humidity 50% - 80%
Light 2000 - 3000 foot candles
To get info on other plants:
The Orchid Works
They have a handy table for current plant or Click on Plant Archive then: click on your plant Name

[Sandy4453]

Sun rm.N.E, thank you for the info on the Tolkien. The condition of the new growth seems to be quite prolific as of late. I'm going to stay on track with the advice given to me on the board just a few days ago and try to get the bulbs plumped and up the watering.

I do hope that you continue to post your progress. I have been really taken in by this thread and your method of growing. I found this all so fascinating. Thank you for this education. I'm just amazed by it all.

Originally Posted by mayres

Fascinating concept

Mike, I thought of you as I was reading Sun rm. N.E.'s thread. I thought you'd be very curious about this and was going to pass on this info to you. I'm glad you saw this fantastic and so curious thread, yourself.