When to water orchids in Leca medium
 

Hello all :-) so i just repotted 4 phanelopsis,1 dendro and 2 oncidium in leca medium in a plastic pot with lots of holes on the side. They were previously in bark but i had problems with white fungus and springtails even tho i watered them once a week. Thing is i am not used to this media and i don't know when to water them, especially the oncid and dendro...i watered yesterday and today it seems dry already... I am starting to question if i did the right choice or how long to wait for improvements/signs of not going well...What problems did you guys have when switching to completly different media or how did you handle it? I'm feeling very frustrated and sad at the same time, actually thinking of giving up even tho i love them and dont wanna lose them. Thank you!

wow, them tags...



i love SH... in the summer, i water every day.. one by one... but lately, twice a week has been enough... sometimes once a week when i forget... LOL... i show how i water them in this video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTaP2TCFiJc

First let me say that you're not growing in semi-hydro culture, or if that was your intention, you have done a poor job simulating it.

The fact that you have "lots of holes" in the sidewall is why it dries so rapidly. If you are seeking to do traditional culture with the LECA medium, bottom drainage only will work much better. If, on the other hand, S/H culture was your intention, two, 1/4" hoes in the side, right next to each other, is the preferred method, as that sets the volume of the reservoir without drying out the medium too quickly.

I use LECA as a medium with net or basket pots (or plastic Vanda baskets) and water either every day or every other day as my medium dries that quickly. It will depend on the size of your pots, the amount of roots your orchid has, your temperatures, humidity, whether you run a fan, etc...
One way to tell when your orchids need watered is to feel how heavy the pot is just after watering and when it is dry and note the difference.

With the pots and LECA as you described, you could water every day if you wish. The roots will have plenty of air in the LECA.

I have just a couple in leca in baskets and I do water them every day as they seem to dry out that quickly.

in the baskets.. do you line it with sphagnum moss...? then lyca on top...? or just a plastic hanging container with lyca media...?

By the way, Rocshpy, Welcome to the Orchid Board!


:groupwave:

I have one lined with sm because I was told it likes more moisture, but the others are just leca in plastic baskets.

A friend who is moving just gave me some ultraviolet resistant bird netting he used for his fruit trees. I don't like to use this in the garden because reptiles get stuck in it. I'm going to try and make a LECA bundle with this stuff holding it together and plant an orchid in it to see what happens.