Taken the plunge!

[maiseymoo]

Well, after a couple months of toying with the idea and reading as much as I could on the subject (All the treads on here have been really helpful and Rays info as well!) I have finally taken the plunge with s/h and have repotted three phals. I looked for custom pots but couldn't find any (well I could, but I wasn't go to pay the postage) so I used some microwave food containers, I have put 7 holes about an inch from the bottom, I soaked the hydroton for about 36 hours with some fertilser and then potted up last night. I will post some pics later. One of the phals I have repotted was looking very unhappy in bark and very dehydrated so this will help inprove it. The other two have just started putting out a couple of new roots so thought that would be the perfect time to repot.

[PhalNewbie89]

Lol, it is funny you posted this because i just ordered some s/h myself lol. I am surious.. Is it necessary for the container to not be able to drain completely? Would setting them in another container help?

[PhalNewbie89]

btw I got the hydroton to see if my paph enjoys it :P

[-K-]

Sweet, havent traveled down the S/H road yet; still doing some homework on it and will be very interested to see how it works out for you. If you have the chance post some pics at some as they progress.

[maiseymoo]

K-I will post some pics tomorrow as soon as my camera has charged up!

phalnewbie89, I haven't taken the plunge with my paphs yet (as they were all quite a bit more expensive than my phals LOl) and I want to see how the phals cope first before I get carried away with myself! One thing I am not sure about is, do I still need to keep them on a humidity tray? So I am going to keep one on a humdity tray and see if that one does any better than the others. Yes, you keep it so the pot can not drain away completely.
LOL! I can't believe you have ordered your stuff as well!! You can let me know how the paphs get on!

[mayres]

Last winter I noticed a vendor selling paphs in hydroton that were planted in regular/normal pots - NOT in pots with holes you would normally associate with S/H growing. I noted that the pots were then placed in humidity trays with water - so in effect you were getting the same effect of having the water in the bottom of the pot by using the humidity tray as an extension of the pot. Make sense?

[maiseymoo]

Urmmmm! I think I know what you mean, I am sure there was a thread on here where someone was growing phals with slotted holes in the side of the pots and holes in the bottom sat in a tray of water, which is what I think you are explaining?? Would the slotted holes in the side not increase the rte of evaporation?

[PhalNewbie89]

I have the slotted pots from repotme.com and that is what my paph is in so I bought a few trays to sit the pot in and keep water in them. How much water fo you keep in yours maisey? My paph isn't by far my cheapest but not expensive either really. I figured since paphs like it kind of moist all the time that it might enjoy it. I don't know too much about Dens yet so I don't think I will go on that adventure just yet, and my phals are recovering from being my first orchids lol... And apparently Judy is doing it well lol

[tangers40]

i know some people on here use hydroton/other LECA as they would any other media...in a regular slotted/holey pot and it's soaked a couple times a week or so like you would with a bark mix. others, like myself, use the reservoir system (which is true s/h). i live in ridiculously dry conditions so i prefer the s/h method so that i don't have to water nearly as often. but if you're more humid where you live, using LECA the other way might work just as well for you.

[PhalNewbie89]

I think I am going to try it the s/h first and see how that goes. Ever since seeing Jerry's post about water culture for paphs I thought of just having my paph in water but with the Hydroton in there it might be rather hard to clean and change as I read some people were still figuring out :P. It is normally very dry in KY especially in the summer so wet is good...my pots with normal mix dry too fast.

[maiseymoo]

once I see how my phals fair in s/h I may try the slotted pot method for my paphs.
I have taken some pics so you can see how I have it set up, the third one isn't in the pic as I it is in the bath at the mo after watering and I forgot to bring it back! but you can get the idea from the other two.
tangers40, yeah I had a look this morning and have seen that quite a few people use like normal media, if it works great! I am still experimented so will have to see what happens.

[-K-]

Sweet,m tkx for the pics! Cant wait to see how it goes!

[PhalNewbie89]

Looks good. I think I may go put my paph into almost complete water and see how it fairs that way since i Have the slotted pots and I have been told s/h won't work right with the side slots...

[maiseymoo]

I have also got a fan, just out of the pic just to ensure that there is good air flow.
K-i will kee you updated with any progress!

[PhalNewbie89]

Yeah, I have a small fan that I use for airflow as well but recently it has been keeping the xbox from overheating lol... I can't wait to get my hydroton now....

I was thinking about setting up my mom's poor phal(with very few roots, it has a few growing in but not much other then that) in complete water with the Hydroton. Do you think this would work out for it? help it produce more roots? Mom doesn't spend a lot of extra time on her chid either so I thought it might help her and the chid out.

[flyfishdoc]

I have had my plants in semi-hydroponics since August. I have 2 phals in spike now, one is pictured here. Another is losing leaves, as you can see from the picture (furrows in them). The other leaves look healthy though.

It seems to me that paphs do better than phals in s/h, at least in my experience. They did not flinch in the transfer to s/h, whereas all my phals showed some stress. (leaf loss)

I do not think humidity trays do anything. I had one. I put my hygrometer on top of one of my plants for a while, then out in the room. There was no difference at the top of the plant from the reading 10 feet away. From what I have read, humidity tray is a misnomer. Drip tray is a better name

[flyfishdoc]

Originally Posted by PhalNewbie89

Lol, it is funny you posted this because i just ordered some s/h myself lol. I am surious.. Is it necessary for the container to not be able to drain completely? Would setting them in another container help?

The idea behind semi hydroponics is to have constant moisture to the roots. Thus the reason to have holes 1 inch from the bottom. You only need a few holes. One would be enough, but 2 should guarantee that at least one hole will not get plugged up.

You can water in semi hydroponics as often as you like, even daily, as the roots grow in a wetter environment.

Setting the pot in another container is fine, but it should be drained down to the holes first. It is not meant to be kept full to the brim. My last post shows a paph I watered this morning with the reservoir full to the holes, like it should be. I let mine get down to 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water remaining before I usually water again, (my preference due to my growing style) but it would not hurt to water every day (once the plants have adjusted)

[PhalNewbie89]

I was curious about keeping it filled because I had read on this site that the slotted sides would cause problems with water leeching up through the pot. I might try it out with my mother's phal. Probably couldn't hurt it...it looks rough.