S/H watering

[awhoward]

Hi i recently switched all my orchids over to S/h. Im using hydroton and it seems to me that its a little dry. The wet line in the pots is allways less than halfway down the pots. So to compensate ive been watering everyday. Is this to much? Ive done alot of reading on s/h and from what ive read its hard to overwater in S/h. My conditions are 50-60 percent humidity, highs in the low 80s and lows in the mid 70s. I grow indoors under lights. Im looking for opinions and advice on this issue. Everytime i water ive been flushing out the pots and i havent started to fertilize yet. I thought i would wait until all the orchids were established to do that. Thanks

Andrew

[jay]

The tops to my pots all look dry. The roots dive into the medium to get to the water. I live in extremely dry conditions and only water 3 times per week during the summer, twice a week in the winter. The exception to this is with my Catasetinae which can drain the entire reservoir overnight. These are watered daily.

The trick to watering this frequent is the air exchange. If you just top off the water then there is not going to be a fresh air exchange at the roots. I plug the holes to my pots and fill with water then let them drain. This causes a vacuum to suck in new fresh air to the roots. If I am in a hurry I will just top off with fresh water with no nutrients. You don't want to just top off with nutrient water because you can get a lethal build up of salts by doing this.

Depending on the type of orchid, it may not hurt them if the tops are dry. Especially for some orchids that you would usually let go near dry before watering again like Cattleya. I have had Cattleya hybrids go completely dry in the reservoir by accident without any problems. Some of them resent being kept too wet all the time.

As I have stated time and time again, with S/H airflow is very important. I keep two fans on my orchids 24/7 to offer a clean air exchange over the tops of the pots to help prevent rot.

Good luck with your change over.

[awhoward]

Thanks jay for the response. The reason i asked this question is that started off watering the orchids every other day and the wet line was around a third of the way up the s/h pot so it seemed to be really dry for the orchids so i thought the hydroton wasnt wicking the moisture correctly. Since i started watering every day the wet line stays around halfway or maybe a little more up the pot. I have a fan that circulates air around my orchids as i know that air circulation is important for semi hydro but that also contributes to the hydroton drying off in the top half of the pot. Thanks

Andrew

[syndywindy]

I switched to s/h aprox. 5 weeks ago. My orchids have been outside for the last 2 weeks. I can go about 3 days before needing to water for most of my plants. My den's and catt's seem to need it almost daily or at most every 2 days. but we really haven't had really hot or humid weather in my area yet. I do like Jay, hold my thumb over the holes to fill the pots up fully before letting the water drain. So far in the short time i've been growing in s/h, there are several new growths and roots on almost all my orchids.

[jay]

I do have to water my Cymbidiums every day as well since they are outside in the dry heat. They seem to be handling the heat very well so far. It has peaked at 112F, and the Cyms are showing no signs of decline. There are actually several new growths starting now.

[awhoward]

cool. Ive noticed the same thing. New roots and a couple new growths forming. Ive only been growing in S/H for about 4 weeks

[syndywindy]

Originally Posted by jay

I have had Cattleya hybrids go completely dry in the reservoir by accident without any problems.

Jay- just wondering. If the reservoir goes completely dry, is it like starting over again with the hydroton? Should you maybe submerge your pot for a bit to allow it to again soak up the water or can you just continue the normal watering routine?

[jay]

I just did my normal routine of plugging the holes, fill, then let drain. I would check it every day for a few days as the LECA starts to re-saturate with liquid and uses the reservoir quickly.

[Ray]

Where that "wet line" occurs is a function of the wicking capacity of the medium and the evaporation rate.

The wicking rate is fixed, but the evaporation rate is dependent upon the temperature, air flow, and ambient RH, so you may see the height of that line vary with the weather and the season.

If your plants are having a hard time with root-tip blackening in new growths, a tip I learned over that ( Edited ) is to mist/spray the top surface of the LECA. Apparently moist LECA is attractive new those tender, new tips, while the dry medium is not.

[awhoward]

thanks for replying to this post ray. my orchids seem to love s/h so far. Ive noticed new growth and they were growing new roots when i repotted them. I water them everyday, i have a fan blowing on the six of them, the temp is usually in the mid 80s in the day and mid 70s at night. the relative humidity stays between 50 to 60 percent. and i have 3 105 watt cfls hanging about a foot over them. even after i water them by evening time the "wet line" is back to about halfway up the pot or maybe a little less. I soaked the hydroton for at least 24 hours before use. everytime i water i water to flush the pots. I dont mind watering everyday, i was just afraid i was watering to much, but my orchids are doing well so far. So i guess i will just go with the flow unless a problem arises.

Andrew

[Ray]

As an experiment, I once watered plants daily for a 6-month period. They grew better than the ones that were not watered that frequently.

I was curious about that until I considered that by doing so, I was actually giving the plants a greater mass of nutrition, and was keeping the chemistry as close to "pristine" as possible.

[Rivka]

so im about to go over to s/h and i have been reading so much my brain hurts!
still have a few questions and one is about water so i'll ask it here.

in general is the goal just to judge watering on what the bottom reservoir looks like or the wicking line? it seems like the wicking line is going to be near the same place till the water is gone, so i would think that i am supposed to keep my eye on the reservoir. right?

is there anything thing that can be done in choice of pots or location of holes to help the plant need to get re-watered a tad less? i leave town on work trips a few times a year and i am doing my best to keep my growing collection happy. can a slightly taller pot with a 2in res. work or is that going to cause other issues?

[awhoward]

i would think the slightly taller pot with the 2 inch resevoir would work fine as long as you dont pot the plant with its roots in the resevoir and just let them grow into the resevoir on their own. watering all depends on your growing conditions. i water everyday and sometimes if im lazy ill go every other day. you would probably be fine with going as long as every three days. Just keep an eye on how low the resevoir is getting. When i water i allways water to flush out the pots and i dont just top up the resevoir. the good thing about S/H is that it is easier for someone else to take care of your plants while you are away. you generally dont have to worry about them being overwatered.

Andrew

[vcuchick]

Originally Posted by Rivka

so im about to go over to s/h and i have been reading so much my brain hurts!
still have a few questions and one is about water so i'll ask it here.

in general is the goal just to judge watering on what the bottom reservoir looks like or the wicking line? it seems like the wicking line is going to be near the same place till the water is gone, so i would think that i am supposed to keep my eye on the reservoir. right?

is there anything thing that can be done in choice of pots or location of holes to help the plant need to get re-watered a tad less? i leave town on work trips a few times a year and i am doing my best to keep my growing collection happy. can a slightly taller pot with a 2in res. work or is that going to cause other issues?

Rivka, go check out First Ray Orchids (Welcome to First Rays Orchids) Ray has assembled a great listing of free S/H information and even has a step-by-step pictures of the process. Info like fertilizing, watering, air circulation, etc.

-pay attention to the reservoir. You're going to want to make sure the water is up to the holes at all times- after a few weeks, you'll see how the "wicking" of the water works and how quickly your plants use up the water, here in VA in the summer, I'm watering every other day- I use the FULL-FLUSH each time rather than just topping off. I plug the two holes with my thumb, fill the container up to the top of the LECA, then wait a few seconds and let my thumb off the holes- the water quickly drains out the holes to the point where the water is left in the reservoir- this sucks air through the LECA allowing for new air to the roots. I much prefer it to "topping off" which could lead to an unhealthy buildup of fertilizer, salts, or minerals.

Once you use the method for a week or you, you'll begin to understand the process...if you see that the top half of your LECA drys out, that's okay- that's NORMAL...the main thing is that the bottom 1/4 of your pot shows "dampness" through the plastic pot. Good Luck!

[jay]

Rivka - I do adjust the size of the reservoir depending on the plant. My Catasetinae have very large reservoirs because during growth season they use so much water. I double the height of the holes I drill for these and still have to water daily. At the same time if I get an orchid that need to dry out more between waterings I use a taller pot so the reservoir won't be so close and it will be drier towards the top of the pot.

I have not made changes for vacation purposes though. I usually just have someone top off with pure water if I have to leave. This keep them with water without a fear of salt build up since it is just water. I then do a couple of really good flushes when I return.

[vcuchick]

Good idea Jay! I was wondering what I was gonna do while I was gone for a week in November. Do you think Disneyworld sells orchids? hahaha

[jay]

I was just there and have to say no.

But they did have a couple on display.

[vcuchick]

darn. hahaha I think the Jungle Book would be more interesting with live orchids.

[Rivka]

yeah i have read every word of rays site, it is wonderful. i have also read every thread on this and a few other boards on S/H, im a bit of a over studier.

so i have a few more particular questions for folks.

how many inches up does the water usually wick? I would like to vary the height of my containers for artistic interest as well as better air circulation, just wondering what my working range is?
does any one know or ponder if the larger or smaller spheres wick more or less?

[jay]

How far the water wicks up really depends on your climate. In a controlled environment they would all wick the same. However due to evaporation off the top it will change from climate to climate.

You could always do a test with some empty pots of various sizes and see how far it wicks up, and how it maintains over a period of time. This will help you choose the right pot for the plants.

If you do a test, make sure everything else is how it would be when a plant is in it. Air circulation, lights, watering schedule. This will give you more accurate results. Keep in mind that the plants will use more water than your test without plants.