S/h- the good/bad/indiferent...

[vcuchick]

Hello all,

For those of you who've seen my around this joint, I'm taking the pludge and repotting the majority of my collection tomorrow into S/H (all five plants...)

I want to know, for those of you who've done this already, what did you think?

-Are your orchids doing well? 1 mo out? 2 mo out? 6 mo? 1 year?
-What were some common problems you saw?
-Things I should avoid?
-Recommendations?

I have 5 plants to be repotted- 2 NOID phal, 1 Den Noble, and 2 Onc alliance...they all live in an eatern window with a small fan 24/7 in a communal pebble tray.

I've heard many good things about S/H and a few who've had nightmares...

I'd like to be able to sleep at night and not loose my lovely investments...especially since they're all in the root/leaf growing stages.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[janet_a]

s/h is the only way i can keep oncs alive. i killed 2 phals in s/h. however, other phal owners swear by it. your den will probably be fine--all mine are potted in lava rock, so the inert medium seems to work.

[janice]

I have numerous chids in s/h. My phals. have done great. I did learn to use smaller pots....with deeper water reservoirs (at least that seemed to work for me) When repotting don't put any of the current roots into the water.....let them grow into the water. You can train new roots/or air roots to go into the s/h.

[patticake]

I'm still new to S/H myself. I've only potted up about 10. I'll keep you posted...

[LouisW]

I find that when you repot you lose some roots so it seems to decline a stop growing for a short while. Then as new roots take hold there is no stopping growth. Once you get some good roots in the media you quickly start to see faster growth with larger healthier growths (at least I got that compared to when I grew in bark).

The fact that many roots sometimes dont survive the transition makes it very important to make sure the plants to transfer to S/H are or are about to start growing roots. This will make the transition smooth and your plant wont sulk for long.

[exasperatus2002]

my only experience with s/h came when I bought a Psychopsis seedling in s/h from a show. It grew like mad but I dont have a local source for it. When it outgrew the pot I xfered to bark. Im hoping to get some at the orchidfest at parkside in july.

[jensan]

Here's a couple pics of 1 of my rescues, it was in pretty rough shape with mostly rotten roots although it did have a couple of buds. I've had it about 5 mths now

[jensan]

Here's a water bottle that I plan on using for a repot I put holes in the bottom for air circ and I still have a res. for water

[jay]

I have been using S/H for about 1.5 years. I have all of my plants except maybe one or two in it.

Here is what I have found:
Water loving orchids love it. These include Cattleya Alliance, Catasetinae sub-tribe, Phragmepidiums, and Oncidium Alliance (with the exception of Tolumnia and so-so on the Onc. Twinkle even though I have one in S/H for a year now). I personally believe that the Catasetinae do best in this culture. I have had great results with massive root growth and very large plump bulbs.

Paphiopedilums either love it or hate it. I have found that Maudiae type hybrids don't like it as much in my conditions. It could also be the heat that I have that slows them. I have several others doing very well, better than I could have expected, and others sulking a little.

My Neofinetia is doing ok. I think I am actually going to put it back in sphagnum moss now that I have learned proper culture when using moss. It is just not flowering or doing much this year.

Phals will either love it or hate it. I have one that for some reason has lost all the leaves on one side of the plant but continues to look great on the other. No bugs visible, no sunburn, not sure what it is.

That describes the majority of my collection. It is very heavy in Paphs and Catasetinae with a handful of Cattleyas. As time goes on I find that I am leaning more and more towards the Catasetinae.

[CharliesAngel51]

No more rotten roots. Looks like you have a lot of nice healthy roots now.

[vcuchick]

thanks everyone! Judging by what plants work, I have just the right collection of Onc and Phals and one lone Den that "should" work well in it. I finally repotted some.

Here were my subjects...The big phal in #1 is actually two plants, but their roots are such a jumble they're going to be siamese twins for the rest of their growing cycle...

The before pictures:

3 NOID phals
1 Onc. Mtdm Ruffles
1 Onc. Sweet Sugar
1 Den N Yellow Song

[vcuchick]

Then my box arrived from Ray's and the fun began...

[vcuchick]

The final result...

I definately want to thank all my fellow Geeks for all your great advice...without this forum I probably would never have had the guts to try this...I'll keep posting in a few weeks of how they are all doing...

The double phal in #3 was the worst...the deep roots were like stone in a jumble of sphag moss...the whole middle of the root system was "moosh." but I'm hoping now everyone will get happy.

Now that I've repotted, any clues on what I should look for if a plant isn't taking to the S/H and I should return it to it's old medium before I kill it?

[syndywindy]

They look great, I too am in the middle of switching my plants to S/H. I've done 9 out of 22 plants and so far so good. I have to assume we would see the usual signs if they plants aren't taking, but thats not going to happen to us, right????

[vcuchick]

God I hope so Syndy...!!!!!

I'm keeping an eagle eye on them. I think they're soaking up water like crazy and I think it'll take a few weeks before they realize they're in a good growing situation now. Cross our fingers! We'll have to post pictures every now & then to keep updated!

[syndywindy]

I watch them alot also. My husband thinks I'm crazy(or more crazy than usual) for constantly standing over them. I just want to make sure they are ok as we are going on vacation this weekend for almost 2 weeks. I am trusting my daughter to maintain things until we get back.

[vcuchick]

I'm sure they'll be fine!!!

[PhalPal]

My orchids always have the audacity of doing just fine without me when we go on vacation!

[vcuchick]

Here's an S/H question-

to help maintane humidity on a large phal that was repotted on Saturday but is drying out very quickly, can I cover part of the pot surface (but not all) with clingwrap or plastic? Or will that kill roots?

[paphman910]

A word of advice:
1. Must have good quality water with low salt.

2. Over time due to fertilizer builtup in the media can cause problems so you should repot in new media. The old media should be soaked in distill water many times to remove as much of the salts as possible.

3. Invest in a good salt meter.

Paphman910

[Rivka]

Originally Posted by vcuchick

Here's an S/H question-

to help maintane humidity on a large phal that was repotted on Saturday but is drying out very quickly, can I cover part of the pot surface (but not all) with clingwrap or plastic? Or will that kill roots?

this is a good question, i hope someone know the answer, i would love to hear it!

[jensan]

I tend to repot older plants in a combined med. [little plants actively growing with no flowers go straight into s/h] On the 2nd repot they adjust really well to s/h. I tend to over water and in winter we need a humidifier so my growing sit. isn't ideal That said in 2 years of rescuing [only bought 2 healthy full price chids] I have only had 1 fatality.

[jay]

I would not recommend covering the top of the container with wrap. I am sorry I missed this the first time and hope it is not too late.

Covering the top would not allow enough of an air exchange at the root level. With all that water, and lack of fresh oxygen, you would get anaerobic bacterial growth which leads to root rot. The reason airflow is so important on S/H is not for the gas exchange at the leaf level (which there is limited exchange because most orchids don't have a large amount of stomas), but more importantly to keep fresh air at the roots.

[hera]

My phals love the hydroton (s/h) and my catts that I switched last year took to it well. I switched some more this summer. Two phrags that I have did not like it at all. I wouldn't do paphs and I had a Neo that I killed in it. I am also trying an oncidium. Flush with copious amounts of water at least monthly. I'm trying a new fertilizer that has mychoriza (I think that's spelled right) in the s/h to see if the it makes a difference. I have had success with MSU fertilizer for the past year.

I agree that you shouldn't cover the top. The air exchange is important to prevent rot and give the roots the environment they need. I also agree that you should place the roots above the reservior and let them grow into it.

All in all its a great way to grow if you have low humidity in the house. Its helped my plants.

[delphiguy]

I recently switch some of my chid to s/h, and so far so good, nothing has died and
not much happening either, except for the paph. urbanianum which now has a new
growth. BTW i used hydroton, but now that i ran out of it, i am trying diatomite with
1 of my noid dendrobium.

[Leathal]

I divided a couple Catt alliance, then went on vacation for a week. I put one in regular media and the other in S/H. I have noticed more growth on the S/H one. We shall see as I am home and can watch it more carefully. More to pot...never ends..lol

[vcuchick]

Originally Posted by Rivka

this is a good question, i hope someone know the answer, i would love to hear it!

Rivka,

I think I found an answer for you- I did use some plastic wrap around the top of the plant leaving the plant crown and about an inch surrounding it open to the air to allow for air movement- I only used it for about two weeks while the plant got reestablished and I think it's helped- my large phal is now got lots of nice new root growth.

[NancyG]

My phals didn't adjust too well to the s/h. But when I wrapped the core of the phal roots in Sphag and then put them in the s/h container durrounded by hydrotin from Ray's they did much better. So most of my orchids in s/h are NOT exactly the purist version of s/h.

[Ray]

There is a guy over in Europe who puts a disk of aluminized Mylar on top of the medium - but not sealing the top, just as vcuchick described. He claims it is far better for keeping the medium moist top-to-bottom.

My response is "of course", as it is restricting evaporation, but like Jay said to, it might restrict air flow, too, so I avoid it and recommend against it. It is much better to find a way to improve your humidity globally (where the plants are at a minimum), rather than try to compensate for dry air. Moist air (40%-50% RH min) is good for your plants, you, and your house!

For folks new to S/H, if you find the reservoir draining rapidly soon after potting up the plants, and you cannot attribute it to your fast-drying conditions, it suggests you did not soak the medium long enough before hand. Just water frequently for a couple of weeks, and it'll "catch up".

[Rivka]

boy you are very right about the soaking first thing! i am soaking all mine last night and today after all my rinsing, and i just looked at it and it is still bubbling i bit, meaning that it is still taking on water in all the little pores. this also makes me thing that when watering in the future, i will fill it up and let it sit for a bit before flushing out each time.

[Dendian]

Hi all,

I have also recently put some of my orchids in hydroton (Catt. and Onc.) and have found that I can soak the hydroton until it drops to the bottom of the bucket (with a lid on and using plain water, after it has been flushed and soaked with epsom salts for a day ).

Sometimes it takes days for all the media to drop. However, when I pot up the plants with that media and water them the hydroton does not try to float out of the top of the pot. It also seems to keep the water in the reservoir longer. I have very low humidity here so s/h seems the way to go.

Dian

[BetsyJoy]

After I've thoroughly cleaned and washed new Hydroton, I store it in a bucket of water so it's always ready for use.

[jay]

Recently I have had trouble with a couple of Paphs in S/H. I treat them all the same as I have for the last couple of years, and all of sudden I lost a few. Some appear to love it, some thought they liked it and now don't. Not sure. I think it also has to do with the warmer than usual weather right now, but hopefully it will work out. I actually moved two back to bark and am keeping them in my mini indoor greenhouse under T5 lights. Better environment in there.

[Rivka]

Originally Posted by Dendian

Hi all,

I have also recently put some of my orchids in hydroton (Catt. and Onc.) and have found that I can soak the hydroton until it drops to the bottom of the bucket (with a lid on and using plain water, after it has been flushed and soaked with epsom salts for a day ).

Sometimes it takes days for all the media to drop. However, when I pot up the plants with that media and water them the hydroton does not try to float out of the top of the pot. It also seems to keep the water in the reservoir longer. I have very low humidity here so s/h seems the way to go.

Dian

it took mine about 4 days to get most of it to sink, glad i waited, they seem to be sticking put now that i am using them.

Originally Posted by BetsyJoy

After I've thoroughly cleaned and washed new Hydroton, I store it in a bucket of water so it's always ready for use.

do you worry that keeping it in water the time, might grow some nasty things?i have had mine in water this week since i have been potting a handful each day, but i cant se storing the extra that way.