2 years in S/H and what a turn around!

[jay]

This Oncidium Noid is what prompted me to try S/H. Two years ago it was nearly dead due to severe dehydration caused by not being able to get it enough water in my dry climate. So I started to investigate alternative methods of growing orchids.

I think these photos will do the rest of the speaking.

Photo 1 & 2 - Plant in 2007
Photos 3-6 - Various photos of plant today with 3 spikes, pseudobulbs ready to pop, and a new growth. The pseudobulb in the middle of the pot, that is still a little wrinkled, is the the same one you see that is so shriveled in the first two photos.

[patticake]

Awesome!!!! I really need to look into this...

[PhalPal]

Beautiful Jay!!! They finally decided to open!

[NancyG]

great job!

[kmarch]

WOW! What a transformation! Well done!

[trinigirl]

Great job bringing back this orchid to this state, very beautiful flowers!

[Bolero]

Looks glood, I am happy that SH works for you.

[kninum]

ooo I am now completeyl convince that i need to give S/h a try........what an amazing recover! Fabulousness and congrats

[jay]

Thanks everyone. I have waited a long time for this one to finally bloom.

PhalPal, of course the timing just missed the meeting. But it has been worth the wait. I don't think it will fit in my car anymore though.

[amersault]

WOW! what a difference the S/H makes! i really should look into this for some of my other problem PSBs.

glad to see you finally got your blooms - your persistence paid off!

[evagentry]

Thank you for posting Jay, that is quite a change.It is always nice to see a sucessfull recovery. It is encouraging!

[Plucky Purcell]

Wow! Nice turn around. How tall is that flower spike? I think I can see it from my house!

[Tarad]

Oh my orchid wiz is really pricey. Tara

[jay]

Thanks again everyone. I always add the disclaimer that S/H is not a save all end all, but a method that has worked very well in my conditions for me.

Plucky - The spike is about 5 feet long, but is bending over and stands at about 4 1/2 feet tall. The second tallest spike is 4 feet tall. It is potted in a 5 1/2 inch round container.

[hulaorchid]

Yeah!! It is blooming!! Great growing!!

[benetay]

What can i say? Congrats on the turn around, i'm sure you are just as excited and fulfilling when it bloom. Great growing.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

[LouisW]

Looks really great jay, im starting to get similar results (roots everywhere and huge fat growths). I love S/H!

I know you have tons of success stories maybe you could show a few more? Im always insatiably hungry for pictures of S/H.

[janet_a]

the only way i can keep onicidinae from shrivelling up and dying in my house is s/h.... good growing!

[Jirel]

If I manage to get more room I would be very tempted to give that a try. None of my oncidiums will grow because I can't water well enough. S&H might solve the problem. I love them and would like to grow some.

[delphiguy]

cool, good growing.

[solay]

That's some comeback!!! Nice!

[dtje2000]

I simply must investigate this S/H method!!! I have a couple of candidates that very much resemble your initial photo of two years previous.

Nicely done, Jay!

[PhalPal]

I saw this Oncidium of Jay's at his local orchid club meeting about a month ago and I don't think the pictures do it justice! It is just brimming with health.

[oncidiumlover]

Wow, looks great! I have an onc. that I just repotted today, it wasn't looking too good, especially once I saw the poor little roots. If she doesn't perk up, maybe next time I'll give this a try.

[poozcard]

great

[Ray]

Jay has done a marvelous job, but I want to issue a bit of "sage advice" to those of you thinking of jumping in to try to rescue an ailing plant:

1. ANY transplant is stressful to a plant, and an ailing plant is a bad candidate, as it is already weakened.
2. "Semi-Hydroponics" does not fully define orchid culture. It primarily addresses medium breakdown and airiness, and water/nutrient supply. There are a ton of other factors that will affect your success.

That said, if you DO want to give it a try, be sure to transplant when the plant is forming new roots, as those will become acclimated to the new conditions, while existing roots will not. (A plant growing in sphagnum, on the other hand, will usually see the move to S/H as a step up, or literally, a breath of fresh air [at the roots].)

I have a whole section of my website dedicated to the subject, so get educated first.

[Mmy]

Wow good information.I will learn more about it and I will try S/H.(someday)

[Olive Cook]

Thank you so much for showing us this! I'm getting ready to switch 2 Phals and a couple of my Dends to s/h, and this makes me really comfortable with the choice

[Phoenixdawn]

Maybe I've missed this being mentioned somewhere - however, if you're needed to water more frequently (some of you mentioned watering every 2-3 days) to keep the S/H process active and prevent drying out - how do you factor for going away on holidays? Does this require a house-sitter or someone like that to be educated in the process whilst you're away?

Please forgive my ignorance. I'm really interested to try this, and want to have all based covered before I go ahead

[Ray]

You will get the maximum benefit for the plant if all of the medium stays moist with a dilute nutrient solution at all times. That is not to say that it must stay that way all of the time.

In fact, in a dry home environment you will see the apparent "dry line" be somewhere below the top surface, and that's fine. It will actually move up and down in response to temperatures and humidity levels. No big deal.

Extending that further, if you go away for a couple of weeks, most plants can handle that like a walk in the park. About the only recommendation I would make on that is to water with plain water only for the first week after you return, to redissolve any dried fertilizer in the medium.

[HotPot]

This plant obviously loves LECA, I have one oncidium which also loves it and one Burrageara "Stefan Isler" which doesn't I had it in LECA for a year and it just hung on with the roots just staying in the top inch if that and not very vigorous - I have now mounted it and am hoping for better results.

[Rivka]

Originally Posted by Phoenixdawn

Maybe I've missed this being mentioned somewhere - however, if you're needed to water more frequently (some of you mentioned watering every 2-3 days) to keep the S/H process active and prevent drying out - how do you factor for going away on holidays? Does this require a house-sitter or someone like that to be educated in the process whilst you're away?

Please forgive my ignorance. I'm really interested to try this, and want to have all based covered before I go ahead

this is a old thread but a good question so i will pass on the info, i had a thread showing my solution to this very issue with a long vacation and SH,


Leaving Orchids For 2 Weeks, Watering? Help!

i have now done the very same thing 4 or 5 times and it works like a charm as long as you dont have them in too dry/hot/sundreanched location.

i actually now have my s/h pots set up so that a lot of them have larger reservoir like this all the time, just so that they water level is very stable even when my watering habits are not

[Ghana O]

Originally Posted by jay

Thanks again everyone. I always add the disclaimer that S/H is not a save all end all, but a method that has worked very well in my conditions for me.

Plucky - The spike is about 5 feet long, but is bending over and stands at about 4 1/2 feet tall. The second tallest spike is 4 feet tall. It is potted in a 5 1/2 inch round container.

WIll some expalin what an S/H is???? Thanks.

[krpot]

there's a good S/H explaining thread when you go to the main forum page.