do "air" roots die if potted

[tucker85]

My experience has been that aerial roots have been fine when put in the potting mix. I have heard otherwise but mine seem to be OK.

[weederwoman]

Starla

I agree with you. I like spraying the white roots and watching them turn green. Such a difference from the ways other plants work. The roots can get longer than the pot that holds them though. The two pots I had with this problem I moistened till they were more pliable and then redirected them up in a loose coil on top of the medium. I like mounts too, but only have hanging room for so many.
Laurel

[johnblagg]

I find that it depends on what you are using for medium, for me using rice hulls they do not rot they do not die they simply grow and make laterals like wild

[weederwoman]

Do you use pure rice hulls or are they mixed with other media? Rice hulls are a new concept for me

[johnblagg]

Originally Posted by weederwoman

Do you use pure rice hulls or are they mixed with other media? Rice hulls are a new concept for me

pure rice hulls...you can get them from repot me ....

They are very dry and fluffy at first and realy hard to over water just like hydrotron ..but as they age hold moisture but still drain ...eventually they do break down and will stay wet...but what dosent?

[Becca]

Originally Posted by johnblagg

pure rice hulls...you can get them from repot me ....

They are very dry and fluffy at first and realy hard to over water just like hydrotron ..but as they age hold moisture but still drain ...eventually they do break down and will stay wet...but what dosent?

I don't want to hijack this thread so I thought I would ask if there is a thread you have started regarding growing in rice hulls? I'm interested to know about it. If there is no thread can you send me a private messge with some information or if others do not mind that you post the information on here or start a thread. I'm interested to know how long you have been growing in rice hulls, what kind of orchids you grow in rice hulls, and how often you water using the rice hulls? I searched OB for Rice Hulls but did not find much information.

[weederwoman]

Becca
I was going to ask the same thing. Laurel

[johnblagg]

actually I discovered rice hulls by accident because I live in a rice growing area and a friend of mine gets them free by the truck load .We started using them for mulch outside and one day while looking for madium to repot phals in and not finding any available in a store local I just repotted one into rice hulls ....worked so well for me I started using them for all the phals and experimented untill I figured out that after they sit outside in a pile and weather a season they work great .....fresh just harvested ones are actually to dry at first and need lots of regular watering and are so loose the phlas will fall right out of them ....after a season outside in a bucket with holes in the bottome they are perfect hold just the right amount of water and actually can be watered almost exactly like any house plant in siol would other than the fact that the water will drain out so fast you need to do so in the sink....I usually have a saucer under them so it holds water and lets it wick up and from there it really is something that will depend on your conditions in the room.

If its a very very dry room "and the room these are in is with wood heat " once or twice a week without a saucer of water under them ...with a saucer pretty much when the water is gone but pay attention to how moist they are just like soil if it seems dry give them a drink if they are staying a little to wet dont leave quite as much in the saucer ....

Pretty simple here is a linik to a picture of one in rice hulls http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-phal-now.html

and a few other phals in rice hulls as well

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...f-georges.html

they do pretty good in them and these are at a friends house who is not good with orchids ...lol I used to go once a week and water and check on them ...have been way to busy to the last year and they dont look as good this winter but they are all alive and spiking even with major neglect and dry most of the time....

---------- Post added at 12:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 PM ----------

oh and pure rice hulls alone

[Becca]

Originally Posted by johnblagg

actually I discovered rice hulls by accident because I live in a rice growing area and a friend of mine gets them free by the truck load .We started using them for mulch outside and one day while looking for madium to repot phals in and not finding any available in a store local I just repotted one into rice hulls ....worked so well for me I started using them for all the phals and experimented untill I figured out that after they sit outside in a pile and weather a season they work great .....fresh just harvested ones are actually to dry at first and need lots of regular watering and are so loose the phlas will fall right out of them ....after a season outside in a bucket with holes in the bottome they are perfect hold just the right amount of water and actually can be watered almost exactly like any house plant in siol would other than the fact that the water will drain out so fast you need to do so in the sink....I usually have a saucer under them so it holds water and lets it wick up and from there it really is something that will depend on your conditions in the room.

If its a very very dry room "and the room these are in is with wood heat " once or twice a week without a saucer of water under them ...with a saucer pretty much when the water is gone but pay attention to how moist they are just like soil if it seems dry give them a drink if they are staying a little to wet dont leave quite as much in the saucer ....

Pretty simple here is a linik to a picture of one in rice hulls http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-phal-now.html

and a few other phals in rice hulls as well

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...f-georges.html

they do pretty good in them and these are at a friends house who is not good with orchids ...lol I used to go once a week and water and check on them ...have been way to busy to the last year and they dont look as good this winter but they are all alive and spiking even with major neglect and dry most of the time....

---------- Post added at 12:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 PM ----------

oh and pure rice hulls alone

Thanks for the info! I know repotme.com sells rice hulls and also is in several of their orchid potting mixes. Thanks again!

[orchids3]

My tendancy is to go with the group that would leave aerial roots uncovered. The first advise I got on that was for vanda's I bought and grew in the Philippines. It was so easy - lost my enthusiasm for vanda's after the year I lived there. The real decision about what to to may depend on what you are growing and where you live.
My 'Stanhopea Bird of Prey' was put into the greenhouse today. It seemed pointless to move it from under the tree where it was so happy. When I shook out the leaves that had collected in the plant I found that many of the leaves wanted to stay. Roots had grown upward into the collected leaves. Thats the way stanhopea's lives in nature - establishes itself in some crevice and then collects leaves and debris to sustain itself. Maybe I would think of how the plant lives in nature and what function the leaves and roots have - then make my decision about arial roots.