Feeding/Watering in S/H

[HighSeas]

Maybe I'm too concrete. (I've been accused of that before!)

I've read until my eyes are bleeding. I suppose everyone who has been successful with S/H has their own basic techniques while following the foundations of culture.

What I'm not understanding is the general rule of thumb for feeding/watering. I know you want to keep the reservoir maintained...not allowing it to dry out. I know you need to flush rapidly (all the way to the top) and allow the water to drain several times in order to clean out debris and mineral buildup.

I feed EVERY time I water a plant. It's weak but it works well for me. In addition to that, I feed different things to different plants dependent on what stage of growth the plant is in, what it's doing, what it's NOT doing, time of year, and what I want it to do. (amongst other variables) In my arsenal, I have 20-20-20, high nitrogen, a bloomer, KLN, Superthrive, MgSo4, lime, Pro-Tekt and Kelp.

How do you manage (or do you?) the KLN, SuperThrive, MgSo4, Pro-Tekt or Kelp in S/H. What confuses me is that you have to be careful with these and you can't give too much...and certainly not all the time. In S/H, they would be getting a constant dose over a period of days wouldn't they?

So my question is....How do I apply these various "add-ins" to the culture using S/H? Does anyone have a schedule they use? Please be specific!

[desertanimal]

I am just a noob, but this is what I do.

Saturday mornings, I bring all the plants to the kitchen and do the flush with plain water. I don't have holes drilled in my small containers, so I actually fill them up, hold them in, and tip them over. Lately I've been using rainwater I've collected and I notice I get a lot less deposit on the surface LECA over the week than with tap water.

Then I water with fertilizer water enough to fill the reservoir (which I have marked on my jars). Once a month, I use fertilizer water with a seaweed extract added instead of just fertilizer water.

If I find that I need to top up a reservoir during the week, I just add plain water. If I find that I need to top up a reservoir and there are a lot of deposits accumulated on the surface LECA, I might just do a flush and water with plain water rather than just topping up. That hasn't been an issue since I started using rainwater as my water source.

If I had a traditional setup with a drain hole, I would probably waste some fertilizer water by flushing out the plain water wash in the reservoir when I watered after the weekly flushing so that the reservoir would be full of fertilizer water somewhere close to the concentration I intended rather than being diluted by the flush water that would be standing in the reservoir after a flush.

I'm interested to hear exactly what other people do, too.

[HighSeas]

Thanks for sharing desertanimal! How are your plants doing? Sounds like you have a method to your madness! Anyone else?

[desertanimal]

I transferred some things too early, and they sulked for about two months, but things seem to be taking off now that it has FINALLY warmed up where I live. The two phals that are doing the best are sprouting roots like crazy and the Blc I have is putting out a new . . . lead, is it called? A new pseudobulb. I think any issues I have are due to my culture and being a new grower (I sunburned a miltoniopsis and it needs more humidity, which I won't buy a humidifier to five it) than to S/H. I feel quite sure that my S/H routine is fine for the plants and is much better than I was doing with sphagnum before. In sphagnum, I only had living aerial roots. I can SEE that I have living roots and root growth in the LECA substrate.

[isurus79]

I change the water every weekend as well, but I add VERY dilute fertilizer water each time I fill up the reservoir. I use VERY dilute kelp extract 1x per month and let it sit for 24 hours and then flush it.

[HighSeas]

I don't do well with sphagnum either. Here in Florida, the stuff stays too wet for too long and I end up with a sick plant. I try hard to avoid plants in moss because of that. Especially if they are blooming and of course, I prefer to buy them in bloom so that I can see what I'm getting! Sounds like you both have a good routine that works for you. I think I'll give it a try on a few of mine, but not the Phals yet....or the Paphs.

I suppose the idea is to add the "add-ons", let it sit for a bit and then flush....Otherwise, just use fertilizer. Of course, watching the plant and it's reactions will help.

Thank you both for your input!

[Ray]

I feed with every watering, too. 35-50 ppm N.

About once a month I add KelpMax to the regimen.

Yes, you get an "extended" exposure, but not as extended as you might think, as the warmth and sunlight exposure degrades the hormones quickly.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Ray

Yes, you get an "extended" exposure, but not as extended as you might think, as the warmth and sunlight exposure degrades the hormones quickly.

Does that mean I don't have to flush the pot 24 hours after the kelp treatment?

[HighSeas]

I would think that with a weak solution of Kelp, that answer would be no. There I go "thinking" again!

A person HAS to wonder, however, about the clay's porosity. Does this stuff get clogged up over time?

Raaaaaaay! You've probably been doing this for some time now....do you ever have problems with that? Do we need to repot with a fresh batch at some point? Hmmmm......Maybe I think too much.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by isurus79

Does that mean I don't have to flush the pot 24 hours after the kelp treatment?

I have never done so, and I doubt it adds anything to do so.