Growing in stones

[Townsville]

Hi - and Happy New Year!

I just visited a local (very successful) grower's shadehouse and was surprised to find he was growing in only two ways. One is on pieces of wood and the other in small stones - only.

I guess I was not surprised at his success with Aussie natives - but what really interested me was that he was growing very healthy phals in pots with only small stones.

I came home and looked at my three phals - all babied - and two not looking that good - and wondered...?

Has anyone any thoughts?

Townsville

[janet_a]

al (of al's orchidexchange) grows a lot of his phals in pea gravel--but he's got a greenhouse with automatic waterers and where he can keep high humidity. i suppose it would depend on your conditions.

[arleneg]

Hmm... I would've never thought about potting my Phals in small stones.

I wonder if you use that type of potting medium and have the pot sit on water. Will the water travel up the stones and keep the roots moist and help with increasing humidity? This would be an interesting test.

[janet_a]

i doubt it; if you had the phal in primeagra or something that wicks, that would work, but i doubt it would happen with just rocks/pebbles/gravel.

The stones may not be just stones but diatomite. This type of stone is reputed to hold lots of water without being wet, and can keep the roots of any plant well hydrated without waterlogging. I don't use them alone, but I do put them in my mixes.

[Townsville]

No - not diatomite - just plain smallish 1-2cm garden stones. He has quite a big 70% shade house and a garden hose - and a green thumb I suspect.

His method for striking new plants on pieces of timber is to tie the cutting on with elastic bandage and fix it with a 2" nail hammered through a flattened beer bottle cap. Everything seems to take. I was round there because his shade house is overcrowded and he wanted to get rid of some of the new plants. I risked natives on timber and a couple of dens (probably natives - he had no name for most of the plants) in stones. Didn't risk the phals though.

I suspect our climate is quite good. Warm to hot with reasonable to high humidity. Many local gardeners grow their orchids in pots in the garden - though the plants often look a bit dirty. I use the south side of my verandah.

Townsville

[arleneg]

Townsville,

Could you post a pic of the plants potted in stone? I'm curious..

[prisana]

I've seen some Phals grown "on" rocks, but never "in" stones, but why not? Shouldn't it work the same way? I'm sure in their native habitat they wouldn't have a choice whether to be on the rocks or in the stones..right ? Wherever it feels the most comfy.I guess?

[Townsville]

Originally Posted by arleneg

Townsville,

Could you post a pic of the plants potted in stone? I'm curious..

As I said in my first post - I did not bring home any phals in stones - looked beyond me. However, these two are from his shade house - both similarly potted - nothing underneath these stones but more stones.

Townsville

[gerneveyn]

Interesting. I never saw orchids in stones like that.

[Townsville]

Stop this thread!! I am an IDIOT. Yesterday I put one of the two pots I brought home from this shade house in water in the sink - and was called away before I could pour water over the top. When I came back the pot was swarming with tiny pale brown ant-like creatures. I emptied the pot into the bin and washed off the roots and repotted both - and what did I find? Very small pieces of timber in amongst the stones - and the timber was infested. One of the resident pots had caught the bug too - but I am trying to defer repotting by using white oil on that one.
Apologies to everyone - Townsville

The picture on the right looks like diatomite to me.

[PhalPal]

I have a wonderful book 'Culture of the Phal Orchid' by Bob Gordon (highly recommended!) and he has known reputable growers that challenged each other to grow in very peculiar medium. Two of the winners that were successful: broken glass and metal bottle caps! If it drains, supports the plant, and is watered to give the roots enough moisture - as in nature- I guess anything will work! Convenience was not one of the criteria....

[justloveorchids]

OK

I am now going to pot up one of the neglected phals i have been given in some small sterilised gravel and see what happens .........it cant be worse than its current situation .

i have 2 phals in one pot so i will pot up one in gravel and the other in a bark mix and record progress

[jerrymeola]

The bark and rock mix is a common one for Dens. Not very common for Phals.

Orchids as you may realize from this thread can grow in just about anything.

Phals grow very well in hydroponic rocks. Products like AliFlor and HydroKorrel are clay products like clay pots with air infused into them. They make a very light product that roots can penetrate. They will wick up water from a saucer below. They can only hold 7% water so over watering is not a problem. Phals like to be kept evenly moist not wet so Hydro is a good solution.

I pot many in hydro and glue a saucer under it. I use side slit orchid pots and the water can never get deeper than the lowest slit. Then all you have to do is keep some water in the saucer and not let it dry out for too long. The pot also changes color when moist so it is a double test for when to water.

[Townsville]

A number of locals pot in "red stone". It seems successful - but I have never managed to work out where they get it from
Townsville

[kmarch]

I have 2 Cattleyas in stones and they seem ok. I would not grow a Phal in stones unless you want to be constantly watering or unless you have a humid environment where they will not dry out.

Townsville, lava rock is red. A larger version is used for gas grills.

[jerrymeola]

The red lava rock is a lot heavier than hydroponic rock which is clay with air blowm into it.

It does not have any hydroponic value. You should use hydro it is a lot better.

[BillC]

Jerry, do you think that using perlite as the medium would work as well as any other of the rock types? Bill

[Townsville]

Originally Posted by kmarch

I have 2 Cattleyas in stones and they seem ok. I would not grow a Phal in stones unless you want to be constantly watering or unless you have a humid environment where they will not dry out.

I tried a phal in coarse bark with stones on top (was afraid of root rot). The plant remained healthy - but did not grow. Changed back to spag and it took off immediately.

Thanks for the stone advice. I still don't know where they get it from so am using coarse bark with pebbles on top to keep it all stable.