just got my prime agra

[rschluss]

Hi,

I am new to S/H but really excited to give it a go. I just got my LECA today, but my K-L-N hasn't arrived yet. I was wondering if I should:

Option 1: clean the LECA and start it soaking tonight and then add some K-L-N when I get it and let it soak more

Option 2: wait until K-L-N arrives and then clean and soak the LECA in water and K-L-N.

Would option 2 help more K-L-N soak into the LECA or would option 1 be better (as a longer soak).

Oh, and I can easily get Epsom salts, but calcium sulfate is a bit harder, could I use one without the other to clean the medium?

Thanks for your input!
Bob

[Dendian]

If it were me, I would go ahead and clean the LECA now, you have to flush it several times anyway to get rid of the smaller particles. Then let it soak in the plain water. When you get your K-L-N you can flush it one more time, and fill with the clean water and K-L-N.

Personally, I say the longer it soaks, the cleaner you get it, the happier the plants are in the long run.

A long soak also helps get rid of those "floaties" which are so annoying. I have some which still float, and they have been planted in for over 6 months! I have since learned to only use the ones which stay on the bottom of the bucket. Then they don't try to climb out every time you water the plant.

[janet_a]

what dian said. you sometimes have to flush the stuff a dozen times to get all the dust out. i had one batch that reeked of urea and was weeks in the bucket before the smell subsided. some of it still smells.

[syndywindy]

I agree, start soaking now. It should be soaked at least 24 hours before you start using LECA.

[rschluss]

Thanks!

I rinsed it... and rinsed it... and rinsed... and well, you get the idea.

Now I have it soaking in my dedicated "No Chemicals! Plants Only" bucket (thank you hubby).

The K-L-N should arrive tomorrow or Friday, so I'll dump and refill with fresh water and K-L-N. Then let it soak some more. I don't plan on doing any repotting until this weekend.

[Ray]

Good advice, all.

I've never heard of LECA smelling like urea. I am aware that many years ago Aliflor was made by pelletizing clay with diesel fuel or kerosene, with the expectation that it would burn out and create porosity upon firing, but at least one full container arrived in Florida that reeked of the fuel and became relegated to "gravel" status in driveways.

[rschluss]

yay! got the K-L-N today. the LECA has now been soaking since wednesday. I dumped and refilled the water last night, and will do so again before adding the K-L-N for the final soak.

does anybody know at what concentration I should add the K-L-N for a presoak? also, how long should i leave it for the final K-L-N presoak? I am itching to repot at least 2 plants this weekend.

oh, and what do you do with the floaters that refuse to sink? can you put them in the bottom of the pot? do you just forget about using them?

thanks in advance,
bob

[Dendian]

I never did the K-L-N presoak, but I know that I just leave the floaters in the water until they sink, or I use them for gravel in the humidity trays. I guess it matters how many you have. One or two is in the bottom will not disrupt things, but a bunch of them would. I have also put them as a bottom layer under bark to reduce the depth of a pot, allow more air and keep the bark from standing water, they don't seem strong enough to lift the bark.

[vcuchick]

Welcome! S/H is so much fun. I think I used a cap full for the final soak, but others might have a more 'expert' opinion. I used every bit of LECA I had...floaters (ha) are usable and help just as much for me as the others. On my profile, I think I put pictures of my change-over to S/H almost a year ago (for example) and it's made a big difference in my plants and also the ease at which I care for them- it make take a while though for your plants to re-aclimate to the new growing conditions. Good luck!

[Ray]

Like VCUChick, I don't even give floating pellets a second thought, so just mix 'em in when I'm potting stuff up.

Don't forget, 1) only the bottom inch of pebbles is submerged, so the likelihood that a couple of less-saturated ones will lift the rest is essentially zero, and 2) floating merely means they have not fully-absorbed water to their maximum capacity. Once you put the LECA into a pot, and moisture is lost to the plant and to evaporation, none of the pellets above the reservoir are fully saturated any longer!

[rschluss]

okay, so it is done. round 1: was a phal, an onc, and a paph. the phal and paph were easy to pot up, but the onc had a massive amount of roots (which i understand will soon be dead). now ill just sit back and see what happens...

[vcuchick]

don't forget to post pictures!

[syndywindy]

Originally Posted by rschluss

okay, so it is done. round 1: was a phal, an onc, and a paph. the phal and paph were easy to pot up, but the onc had a massive amount of roots (which i understand will soon be dead). now ill just sit back and see what happens...

Just in my experience and I know others will have differing thoughts. None of my phal's or my one paph I had did well in S/H. Not to say yours won't do well, I just didn't have luck with those and put them back into a bark mix. I do have several of the onc. alliance in S/H and they are doing quite well. Where did you hear that their roots will soon be dead? I haven't had that experience at all. Yes they do have quite extensive little root systems. You have to continually tap your pot to get the LECA amongst the roots as you pot them. I also find I water these more often than some other orchids i have in S/H. Most of my onc's actually have grown their roots down into the resevoir, I haven't had any roots die from this.

[rschluss]

VCU- I didn't take pictures of the process, but I will borrow my partner's camera to snap some of "after" pictures shortly.

Syndy- A lot of what I read about moving orchids to s/h indicated that old roots may or may not make it through the change of media but that new roots will be adapted to the conditions, so they do fine. Since this is my first experience, I will have to see if that happens or if mine do fine. My phal is a little ikea noID (with flowers that lasted over 3 months each) and a clearanced paph so if they don't respond well I am okay with that. I still have a bag of bark media to move them to if things go horribly wrong with them. I have them sitting on a slab of granite on top of a radiator (providing radiant heat for the roots) since I read that the biggest problem with paphs in s/h is they don't like cold water.

[rschluss]

I have moved 7 plants to s/h in the past week. they were all clearance plants, so if they go I won't be totally heartbroken (just a little).

name and date moved from left to right:

Odontocidium Wildcat 'Bobcat' 01/09/10
Phal noID from Ikea (yellow) 01/09/10
Phal noID from Home Depot (purple) 01/13/10
Cymbidium noID (yellow with red lip) 01/17/10
Epc. Siam Jade 01/18/10
Paphiopedilum pinocchio 01/13/10
Paoh Redhawk '#3' x Paph Voodoo 'Magic' 01/09/10

its too soon to tell, but the ones done on 01/09 all seem happy. no loss of leaves no change in the turgidity of the leaves. Watering seems easy enough. Nothing is soggy like it was when it was in sphag, but nothing is dry either.