New to S/H--wish me luck

[Ray]

Originally Posted by pedidiva

Got a RO filter from HD & fitted it in sequence to charcoal flter that I have on the hose for the sunroom.

If you have a chlorinated water supply, put the RO unit AFTER the charcoal.

[pedidiva]

Ray that's what we did.
Pedi

[Oscarman]

Good luck with you S/H experience Pedi. Rays site excellent info for success.

I am gradually changing all my plant to S/H and they all seem to be doing very good. My Catts were first - excellent results. Paphs and Phragsjust recently and they are doing well. Phals are next and it was interesting to read Rays comment about the root cooling effect. Everything is in my growroom and it is an intermediate to warm space. Leaning more on the warm side.

Have also put a few complex oncidium alliance crosses in it and they are looking good.

[RosieC]

100% agree with Ray, that temperature is the key factor for Phals in S/H. My S/H phals were doing great last summer, then struggled over the winter (lost one of them) and now are doing great again. I discovered near the end of the winter that putting them on a window-ledge with a radiator under it helped (usually we are advised against that but it seemed to work in this case) and the ones struggling the most got that AND a seedling mat.

My Enc, Brassia and Phrag in S/H seem to love it all the time. The Enc. cochleata especially. That had lost most roots before it was transferred and over the winter grew masses and masses and masses of them down into the lecca. It's now flowering (first rebloom for me) and growing three new lead growths. That's been my best S/H success.

Good luck with yours and as above, just keep a close eye on the phals as the weather cools and make sure you keep them warm.

[RJSquirrel]

22-30 dollars for a little fancy bag of rocks. No thank you.

S/H is a culture method not a planting option.

I have to be the antagonists here bec no one else will do it. Im down to 3 people who read my post might be down to 2 now.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

22-30 dollars for a little fancy bag of rocks. No thank you.

OK "Rocky", let me play devil's advocate for a moment, too.

And what, may I ask, are you paying for a similar bag of Orchiata?

You want to to go cheap, so be it. You want quality, it costs more.

So let's assume we don't use Orchiata, so buy fir bark at what? $20 for a 50 liter bag, maybe? So how often do we have to repot and replace it? In some places, annually at best. OK, maybe 2 years. If we have, on the other hand, put those plants in semi-hydroponics, using a medium that costs even considerably more, you still end up paying less in the long-term, as you need not replace the medium for many years, not to mention the reduced level of labor involved in doing so.