Potting up my first S/H

[Plucky Purcell]

I live in the San Diego area and have been having problems with my Oncidium Sharry Babys. I have a large and small plant. Both plants have very spotty leaves but the large one seems to be OK otherwise. It is just bristling with new growth and the latest batch of psuedobulbs continue to plump up.


My little one, on the other hand, just can't seem to get enough juice. The new psuedobulbs get more shriveled and the newest growth is starting to pleat badly.



So, I'm going to give it a go in S/H and see how it does. The new growths are putting out new roots sooooo, let's get it done.

[Plucky Purcell]

I'm using your basic hydroton LECA and the large deli container from my local Albertsons. It's just a touch wider than the plants current pot and about 2 inches taller. I used my soldering iron to punch 4 holes in the side about 1 inch up from the bottom.



Here is the plant's roots after teasing out as much of the old bark as possible and removing all of the roots that looked bad to me. First side, bottom, other side.



Here's the finished product.



I'm feeling like it went OK, but I'm worried I left too many old roots or used too small a pot. It just felt like there was a large mass of roots in the center without much medium. I was only able to get a single layer of medium around the roots.

So, what to you geeks think? Any notes would be helpful!

[Plucky Purcell]

Geez Janet! Why you gotta be so quick? I Couldn't even get the second half in!

Now, are you talking about the horizontal or vertical pleating? It's the horizontal I'm worried about.

[myorchid]

I think it looks great. I don't know but I might put a little more hydroton in?? Make sure all the roots are covered.

[Plucky Purcell]

The roots not covered were the aerial roots in it's old pot. I debated with myself about how high I should go with the hydroton and left it at the level of the old medium. You think I should go higher?

[janet_a]

sorry!


my pleating is horizontal--the typical not-enough-humidity type.

[hera]

Looking good. SHould love it, but you may see some root die back at first. The new roots will aclimate to the new environment.

[jay]

Looks great. Oncidium type orchids seem to love S/H for the most part. The only one I have had trouble with is Onc. Twinkle. Although, I do have one in S/H now, it does not take off like the other ones I have. I don't think the Twinkle likes the warm weather either.

Keep us updated. I bet those old bulbs plump up, and just wait until you see a new super plump bulb. You will love S/H.

[myorchid]

Jay,
The only Oncidium I have in hydro is my Twinkle. It seems to be doing much better than in bark.

I have a really big Sharry Baby that I want to put in hydro since it also is having pleated leaf trouble and wrinkled pb.
I need to find the right size container for it as it is pretty big!
Plucky, thanks for showing how yours looks!

[delphiguy]

thanks for sharing, im thinking of trying out s/h for some of my indoor orchids, i have
found a store that sells hydroton, but i have'nt yet found where i can buy those s/h
pot. I do have a clear plastic jug in the house but the wife wont let me use it.

[hera]

I use storage containers from rubbermaid and ziplock and just burn holes in them with a soldering iron.

[delphiguy]

the problem is that those type of containers can be very expensive here. we have a
few clear plastic containers that i can use, its from a sandwich spread container but the
wife wont let me use it. oh well.

[solay]

Well Plucky, you are brave. I have all the stuff bought to do S/H but I only still have the one given to me by Jay that is in S/H. I like it has a little bit to do with being lazy too.

I think your S/H try looks good. We'll see how the baby does in it.

[Plucky Purcell]

Thanks for all the kind words. I got my fingers crossed for this guy. I think I'm going to do two more tomorrow.

delphi: it's strange how the value of something changes. I got this pot for free even when I offered to pay for it. The guy looked at me weird and decided it wasn't worth his time to determine how much to charge me.

[delphiguy]

yep thats just how economics works i guess, but at least i can get most orchids here for
cheap, thats what's important i guess. we still have another clear plastic container but
the sandwich spread is'nt finished yep, the wife has given me permission to use it as i
like. once that's done, then i'll dive in s/h

[janet_a]

half quart chinese food containers. or soup containers.

[LouisW]

Looks good Plucky. I think the level of the plant is fine but like Hera said you can expect a little root dieback. The plant should replace them fairly quickly if the plant is in growth.

For S/H I use: cut old nalgenes, tupperware, Blank CD cases, food containers, cut spray bottles, and aquatic plant pots. Thats all I can think of right now.

[hulaorchid]

Good luck! Plucky.
I am still farting around to get mine started!
Jay, I may get it started be for the next meeting!! Or not! LOL

[janice]

I just put my Onc. Catherine Wilson 'Lek' in S/H.....it was mounted and never has done well in my climate...so I thought what the heck......I use a lot of S/H and have good luck with it. Plucky keep us posted and Hulaorchid, go for it!

[Plucky Purcell]

I caught the bug and had to do more. These two were also showing new roots and growth so into S/H they go.

An Epi (I think).



A Paph. NoID



I was very pleased to find these at my local Target. They're 3 inches wide by 4 inches tall. I drilled four 3/16" holes 1" up from the bottom.



The finished product.



I've got a really good feeling about these two! I think I'm going to have to start a completely unscientific experiment on the Epi and it's two brothers...

[jay]

It starts with one, then the next thing you know you are buying 50L bags of Hydroton to switch them all over.

Looking great. I like that you drilled the holes in those glasses. Or are they plastic? Keep us updated.

[dorothea]

the more I look at it, the more I like it - it seems cleaner and neater than bark. but I still have a 50 l bag of bark I bought recently. when I use that up, I'm switching to Hydroton

[Plucky Purcell]

Jay: They're plastic. "UNBREAKABLE Polycarbonate" or so the label says! Maybe I should run one over with my truck, see if it really is unbreakable.

Dorothea: I'm with you, I really like the look of the hydroton. It's really a nice added benefit.

I saw a nice 8" square glass container that my big Sharry Baby will fit nice in. Now I just gotta figure out a good way to drill through glass!

[myorchid]

Originally Posted by jay

It starts with one, then the next thing you know you are buying 50L bags of Hydroton to switch them all over.

Looking great. I like that you drilled the holes in those glasses. Or are they plastic? Keep us updated.

LOL, Jay! I just bought 10 pounds of hydroton and have switched several of mine over to hydroponics!

I need to find a nice size glass container for my Sharry Baby, I will have to look at Target!

Plucky: Yours look awesome! Why drill holes, just grow hydroponically without the holes!

[delphiguy]

i now have a container to put my plants in for s/h, its a jar for candies, i think it'll
do fine for the purpose. next thing to get is hydroton, we'll be driving to the garden
supply store this weekend.

[jay]

Careful with using glass unless you can drill holes in it. I know that several do it very successfully without holes in glass containers, but it would be more difficult.

Flushing the pot is difficult because you have to tip the whole pot over to drain it.

[delphiguy]

oh when i said jar, what i meant is that clear plastic jar. but yeah, i agree with you that
glass could be very difficult to use. thanks for the warning.

[flowerchild]

Originally Posted by delphiguy

the problem is that those type of containers can be very expensive here. we have a
few clear plastic containers that i can use, its from a sandwich spread container but the
wife wont let me use it. oh well.

Go to your local supermarket and ask if you can buy some of the deli containers(the ones used to put salad and stuff in they work well) they might even give you some if you explain they are for your orchids!!!

[delphiguy]

thats worth a try, thanks for the tip.

[janice]

I use glass all the time......I bought a diamond bit and use my husbands drill.......there is a website on how to drill and if you want I will search for it. I found thicker pieces of glass......vases, candle holders.....work best. Thin glass pieces tend to shatter. The glass really displays your plants very well. I watch for pieces of glass that are diffferent sizes, shapes and cheap....I have used vases, wine carafes, glasses.....canning jars.

[Ray]

If you drill with the glass underwater, the cracking will be far reduced (not only did I come up with the S/H concept, I happen to be a ceramic engineer).

[Plucky Purcell]

Hey Ray! I was wondering if you were on this site. I've spent way too many hours pursuing your website and the rather impressive amount of information you've compiled. I can't thank you enough for all the work you've done and the fact that you pass the information on to us, the budding orchid geeks of the world, for free. You are my own personal hero!

Coolant is always the key, isn't it? In any machining work it may be the tools that do the actual cutting but it's the coolant that makes it possible.

[delphiguy]

oh i have some decorative vases that is not being used and is just collecting dust, if i
can drill a hole in it without it being shattered then i'd use that instead. thanks for
pointing it out.

[Plucky Purcell]

Now, I'm a fairly patient man which is partly why I like orchids so much. When I switched these plants to S/H I wasn't expecting quick results. Poco a Poco, you know? But look at the difference after a little more than a week. The first two shots are from last week, the last three today.



I noticed the flower spike first about a month ago. In that month it didn't seem grow at all until I put it in S/H. In the last week it's grown an inch, doubling it's length! The newest psuedobulb has just EXPLODED! It's doubled in size and is splitting open it's bract in a way I've never seen with my Sharry's. I tell you, with results like this, everything is going S/H when it's time. That's the hardest part right now, waiting for my other 'chids to show new root growth.

[myorchid]

Looks great! I put my Sharry Baby in hydroponics on the 4th and it seems to be doing well. I will see and hope that it does as well as yours!

[dorothea]

Plucky, good growing! I can't believe, such great results in only one week! now I really want to switch to s/h as soon as possible

[jay]

Great growing. S/H is great for orchids that like a lot of water. Pseudobulbs just fatten up in S/H.

[psyc1210]

I love the look of s/h...or even just the media for it. Which is why I switched everyone over to aliflor. Feels so much cleaner!

[delphiguy]

i have just tried doing s/h but it doesn't look good, i didn't have hydroton as the
garden supply i went to only sells them in sacks, so i though that i didn't need that
much as i am just trying it out if it works then i'll be switching to it. so what i did is
that i used perlite instead of hydroton, although i think it works however the perlite
seems to be lighter than the water, as the perlite tends to float about 1cm above the
water, i have made some small holes about 1.5in above the bottom of the container.
and i'm not so sure if i need to make more holes along the container to let the air in
so i made a few more holes. also, i think i made the holes too small as the excess
water is not pouring out of the holes, its just dripping quite slowly.

so thats it, i'm going to see what happens next whether it'll work or not, and if it does
then i'll get that sack of hydroton.

[myorchid]

Here is a pic of my Sharry Baby that I put in hydro.

I think it will like it much better than just bark.

[Plucky Purcell]

Boy does my Sharry Baby love S/H!
The first new pseudobulb on the April 2 right after repotting, on April 9 and today, April 23


The second new pseudobulb, same dates (plus an extra one from this morning)


Not only is that newest pseudo so fat and smooth it looks like it's ready to pop, it is starting to pop! Just noticed a flower spike on it yesterday!

I think I'm going to put my big Sharry in S/H this weekend. The Farmers Almanac says the 25th and 26th will be favorable days for planting and it's putting out new roots like crazy!

[NancyG]

That does it I'm going to put my Sharry Baby in s/h too.

[tizzycat]

Right you got me - I have a couple of Oncidiums - think I'll give it a go.

Have certainly done okay with orchid suffering root problems, so why not.

It certainly makes watering so much easier.

[hulaorchid]

Great growing!
How long has this been in s/h?? Doesn't seem long at all and its loving it!!

[PhalPal]

My Sharry Baby hates me and is in a constant state of defiance. Maybe I will try her in S/H also.

Another tip for drilling into glass - put a criss cross of tape over the area where you want the hole and drill through the center of the tape. I guess the theory is it absorbs the vibration that will crack your glass. It has worked great for me so far, not one break. Also, make sure your drill bit is very new and sharp.

[Plucky Purcell]

hulaorchid: three weeks! Can you believe it?

PhalPal: I'll have to try the tape trick in the future. I was able to find a good semi-opaque plastic container for my big Sharry baby. Can't wait to see how it does.

[tom499]

If your having trouble finding containers to use, you can use clear plastic pots and use a saucer. The saucers do take up abit of extra room, but dirt, salts etc will collect in the saucer and can be washed off easily.

Also means you don't have to top water which can lead to wet plants.