My first S/H attempt

[oncidiumlover]

I purchased this sharry baby tricolor as a bare root division at the orchid show along with some leca and decided to experiment. I killed the last sharry baby I repotted into coir (don't think it was the coirs fault, though) and everyone says their sharrys do great in s/h, so here we go!
I potted in on Monday, and this morning I saw a teeny tiny new root beginning, will post a pic of root when it get's a little bigger. Yay!! Sharry baby is my favorite chid!

[trinigirl]

Good job on the potting.

How high up are the holes? Mine are usually higher. On my oncids I usually stake the newer growths. I use hydroton like yours also.

[oncidiumlover]

the holes are just over an inch from the bottom, the roots are slightly above, do you think they should have been higher? I thought I read somewhere an inch, but I could be remembering wrong.

[janet_a]

an inch is the general consensus. mine are about that or a little lower (got my pots from ray, or made 'em myself).

my SB took a while to get organized in s/h, but bloomed prolifically this past summer and is growing a couple new pbulbs.

still got the accordion leaves though.

[Undergrounder]

Great job, i'm sure it will love its new home, all my S/H plants do.

The holes look fine, but see how high the 'dry line' is in the pot.. You want LECA to be somewhat moist all through the pot, not dry at the top. If the LECA at the top or just an inch or so down is getting water, then you have nothing to worry about.

If it's too dry though, you could try putting the holes up higher.

[oncidiumlover]

I potted on monday and I['ve had to water twice already, seems to get dry pretty quick, maybe because the leca is new? I did let it soak overnight in worm tea before potting. I water when most of the water in the reservoir is gone. The top seems to dry out after a day or two.

[Undergrounder]

If it's possible, don't let the reservoir run out of water at all. Not a massive deal, but no need to wait..

One thing you can do (i do it) is top-dress the pot with pebbles, it makes the top half of the pot a lot moister because air isn't constantly evaporating moisture out of the uppermost LECA.

[mehitabel]

Originally Posted by oncidiumlover

The top seems to dry out after a day or two.

In order to help new roots get established in the top of the medium, I use a few threads of sphag on top of the medium in all my pots. I am not growing in s/h now, but when I did, I used sphag on top of the leca, too. The new roots loved the sphag, they would grow straight out into it.

It keeps the top from drying out so fast, and provides a humid environment for new roots to grow into. You don't have to keep the sphag wet, just wet it when you water the pot. Even crispy-dry, it still keeps the area at the top of the pot humid.

[flyfishdoc]

Your set up looks just like mine for my Sharry Baby. I find some plants take up more water than others. After a time they stop needing as much (by a day or so). I need to fill some of mine every 3 days. My Sharry Baby took off right after going into S/H. I hope you will be pleasantly surprised with your experiment !!

[janet_a]

when i came back from a week away, my s/h pots were all dry to the bottom. so i went around real quick with a watering can and filled the reservoirs, then went and watered the other plants. by the time i got back to the s/h, the reservoirs were dry again. the medium had wicked all the water up in about 15 minutes. it was pretty cool.

but these are all established pots with old algae covered medium; YMMV.

[flyfishdoc]

That's really interesting to know. I will be going away for 2 weeks and I have an orchid sitter coming. I was worried about how they would respond to drying. Mine are not all algae covered tho. They are all relatively new to LECA (3 months). I feel a little better. Of course, the last time I went away for 2 weeks every thing was not in LECA, got dried out, and then burst into growth!!!

[oncidiumlover]

Okay, I put some sphag on top to help keep it a little more moist up there, and staked to new growths, it does look a little nicer with them straight up. Thank you all for all your help and well wishes. I'm so excited, I hope she does well in the S/H! I think in general I have a tendency to over water, I just want to give them lots of loving and attention, lol.

[vcuchick]

Originally Posted by oncidiumlover

I potted on monday and I['ve had to water twice already, seems to get dry pretty quick, maybe because the leca is new? I did let it soak overnight in worm tea before potting. I water when most of the water in the reservoir is gone. The top seems to dry out after a day or two.

MUUUAAAHHAHAHA...welcome to the DARK SIDE...lol...we've been expecting you!!!


Also,

if you've got good air movement, you'll evaporate more water plus the plant is sucking at lot of that up through the LECA...how long did you soak it for before you repotted?

don't worry if the top dries out- that's totally normal. it's the reservoir you always want to keep topped off. I use a water squeeze bottle with distilled water...lets me get the water into the pot without hitting the crown or growing bits.

[vcuchick]

Originally Posted by oncidiumlover

Okay, I put some sphag on top to help keep it a little more moist up there, and staked to new growths, it does look a little nicer with them straight up. Thank you all for all your help and well wishes. I'm so excited, I hope she does well in the S/H! I think in general I have a tendency to over water, I just want to give them lots of loving and attention, lol.

that's the beauty of S/H...YOU CAN'T OVERWATER!!! Don't forget to flush the pot at least 1/x week...cover the holes with scotch tap or your finger, fill the pot until the top LECA start to float a little, wait a few moments, then remove finger/tape...this draws out the bottom water that's sat there for a few days, renses the LECA of any build up of disolved solids, and uses convection to suck air in between the LECA that allows for air circulation on the roots which is super-big important.

Back in June/July when I first transferred everything over, I was topping off every day (usually still do) and flushing about 2-3x/week...this keeps everything "nice and fresh." I am also a big believer in bottom heat. You can buy an inexpensive bottom nursery heating mat online that just plugs in and only raises the bottom temp a few degrees from the surrounding air temps, but that's really very important for new root establishment... good to see you already have new roots...that's going to help a big amount...it'll take a couple months for your baby to get aclimated, don't be suprised if the pbulbs shrivle a little until the roots get to the reservoir...they will bounce back.

If you don't believe me...check this out---my Den bigibbum v compactum I put into S/H in June went to the Susquehanna Orchid Show in PA this past weekend and won SECOND place in it's plant class. That's the second, SECOND place award on the plant in a month. Trust me, S/H is awesome and a stress free way of growing your plants once you get used to it.

(and yes, I still 'inspect' at them every day...LOL)

[vcuchick]

P.s.- algea is normal and very common...don't stress. If it begins to cover the holes and impeed the flow of water, just empty the pot, rense the LECA in water and rub your hands to get off the algea, scrub out the pot and put it all back together again in the same pot. vua-lah!

[vcuchick]

Originally Posted by oncidiumlover

Okay, I put some sphag on top to help keep it a little more moist up there, and staked to new growths, it does look a little nicer with them straight up. Thank you all for all your help and well wishes. I'm so excited, I hope she does well in the S/H! I think in general I have a tendency to over water, I just want to give them lots of loving and attention, lol.

Is that a plastic beer cup?

[oncidiumlover]

I always knew I'd succumb to the darkness eventually, I can't believe it took this long.

I have an oscillating fan on the chids 24/7, only turn it off when watering for fear of knocking it over, I always was a clumsy one.
I soaked the plant in worm tea for about four hours the night before, took it out before I went to bed, then about another three in the morning before I potted, soaked the leca overnight.
I've been flooding it every two days about, with my finger over the wholes, count to ten then let it drain (also with worm tea).
Very big CONGRATULATIONS!!!! on your award! How exciting!

and yes, it is a plastic beer cup, it's all I had on hand and I was too excited to order something and wait for it. We have hundreds of them around, unused of course. You don't think it will hurt it do you? Might be a bad grade of plastic or something?

[oncidiumlover]

Oh, and all of my chids get bottom heat all winter, as all of my windows have radiators in front of them, the chids are all sitting on the radiator cover, about three inches or so from it.

[vcuchick]

I don't think the cup will hurt it (LOL...nice recycling) but it's not very 'sturdy' and will eventually split like a ripe melon when the plant begins to set up roots like gang-busters. Maybe Santa can bring you some S/H pots in your stocking instead of coal...LOL Or I know a bunch o' folks buy a sodering iron at the hardware store and create their own- no burning down the house please. Then with the S/H and bottom heat and fan, you should have amazing plants by new years!!! Onc. really take to S/H. (or at least mine have.) keep us updated with pictures!!!

"Hundreds of beer cups?" Good lord, what are you the house mom for a Fraternity? Work undercover for Anheiser Bush? Play beer pong on a professional level? hahahaha