Two S/H repots

[LouisW]

These are my two plants who have take exeptionally well to Semi-hydro. They have been in hydro for about a year and I felt like it was time to go in and clean out the dead roots from before the plant was in hydro.

I was very pleased with what I found in there! They are in clear pots so I can see roots growing which is very fun but there where a whole mess within the pot I couldnt see. Every root that has grown since I potted them in S/H is going strong and is very succulent. I noticed on the Phrag the the roots doubled in diameter when they started growing into the LECA.

I put them back into S/H in the same pots (after washing everything) Photos show the roots when they were first pulled out, after they were cleaned, for the Phrag there is photos of it repotted.

The Catt. NOID bloomed over the summer while I was in Ecuador with huge pink and yellow blooms. It really enjoys the nice airy root zone with a little moisture at all times. The LECA in this usualy looks almost dry but there seems to be the perfect amount of moisture for a Catt. Sorry, I forgot to take photos of the final repot on this one.

The Phrag Grande has not bloomed in a year and a half but the growth is so strong that im hoping for a response when it settles into its pot. I put sphag over the surface of the LECA because it keeps in the moisture. The phrag likes to be nice and moist at all times and I have trouble keeping things moist.

[rcb]

Louis - wow they look great

[psyc1210]

Nice!!

[maiseymoo]

They look stunning, good growing! I have only made the move into s/h (about 5 days ago!) so hoepfully mine will look as good as yours in a years time!

[dounoharm]

they look excellent! and appear to be growing well too...i havent been bold enuf to try s/h yet, but i might......

[syndywindy]

They look great. I have several in S/H. Some I have removed them to clean up the pots, only because through the summer they get yucked up with algae. Not that the algae will harm the plants, it's just ugly and makes it hard to see whats happening. I have one catt that really needs to be put in a wider container(it's plenty deep enough), but I just hate to disturb it as it has 5 new growths after just finishing blooming. I really am torn as it's been in this container almost a year and the growth has been unbelievable; it's really taken to S/H. you've done a great job.

[Brooke]

Louis eventually, after the Phrag has been in the pot for a couple of years, you will need a hammer to break the pot and the LECA will be a solid mass of unpenetratable pellets

Synda if you are going to repot your Catt you need to do it as soon as the new roots start on the new growths.

Brooke

[vcuchick]

awesome! Hey, I like your idea of the name & picture on the bottom of the pot! cool! About 4 months from now, I will also do a 1 yr update. Just ordered some new LECA because I was dumb and over fertilized and want to switch it out now. Great growing!!!

[syndywindy]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Synda if you are going to repot your Catt you need to do it as soon as the new roots start on the new growths.

Brooke

Thanks, I know, but I need to find a big enough container. I got my S/H containers from Ray and i thought I had his largest one, but I looked and saw he has an 8inch one. I think I may have to order one. There are many new roots and some new aerial roots as well, so I really need to get moving on this.

[flyfishdoc]

As mI understand from Ray, repotting in semi-hydropnics is a no brainer. If it needs a new pot, repot. There is no adjustment, since it is going back into the exact same environment it came from, only larger. The LECA should always be moist anyway, so there is no shock. You are not going to something the plant is not used to, even if you add more pellets. The pellets are the same as long as you have the reservoir full. There is no change in moisture levels or aeration, as you would have changing organic media from old to new. I have pulled a few plants out to redo them when they flopped over or were too high. I poured the LECA out, rearranged the plant and put the pellets back in. 2 minutes, no fuss, plants did fine. That's one of the advantages of s/h.

You only need new growth when transplanting into s/h for the FIRST time.

[LouisW]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Louis eventually, after the Phrag has been in the pot for a couple of years, you will need a hammer to break the pot and the LECA will be a solid mass of unpenetratable pellets
Brooke

Cant wait! I imagine both these plants will be like that in another year since they are now aclimated to S/H. the Phrag has a mature growth waiting to bloom, a young growth which will need another year probably and two or three swelling buds poking out of the media.

The Catt has three or four new growths which will start rooting here in a week or two so I think that pot will fill up fast. These two are really exiting!

S/H has been a rough road for a couple other plants though. Several have died, and some are still sitting with no signs of movement, so results have been mixed. Im still mastering the method and have decided that many plants belong in other media for me. For example, all my phals are in choir/perlite/vermiculite/LECA mix which stays moist here longer. Perhaps I will experiment with some in the future, but all I have right now are species which I am not going to risk in S/H.

Vcuchick- If you over-fertilized you can just tape the holes and fill the pot with pure water for a few hours to leech out the excess minerals. You should do this occasionally anyways. you may have to repeat the process a few times to clean it out well. Be sure not to leave the plants soaking more than a couple hours. Also I think boiling old LECA will dissolve most of the salts and other minerals so it can be reused. Theoretically.

[Brooke]

Louis I had the same problem - some loved s/h and some hated it. Two of my phals tried to commit suicide and one grew like a weed! My stuartiana hated it along with one hybrid but the other hybrid thrived. When I finally needed to move the one phal up to a bigger pot I expected to have the original roots a mess but ALL roots were great. I didn't have to remove any.

Flyfishdoc after your plants have been in s/h longer, repotting might not be quite so easy as you described. Most of my s/h plants that loved the method, the repotting has involved a hammer and destroyed pot.

Brooke

[LouisW]

In the two months since I potted these there have been some very exiting developments.

The Catt has sent roots to explore its new media, and I predict that by the end of the year it will be ready for another pot. Some of the growths are nearly mature and im hoping for some spiking action over the summer.

The Phrag is even better! It also has showed some stunning root growth, and what is more, it has begun spiking!! Its moving pretty slow but its going. The two growths in the photos above have also begun growing and appear to be growing as robustly as the last growth.

This is why I love growing orchids!!
PS ill try to post photos a little later today.

[kmarch]

Hmmmm.....Louis you're making me wonder if I should try my phrags in s/h. They're doing ok, but I wonder if maybe I could get them to do better. Hmmmm....

[orchidea]

Wow Louis, great looking plants adjusting so nicely to LECA.
May I ask what water you are using. Oh yes, and what fert too.....
Maybe I should move my besseae to LECA sometimes in the future.
Fot time being, I am afraid to breath next to it, let alone changing it into LECA..........

[LouisW]

Here are a few photos of the Phrags progress.

Photo 1. Here is a photo showing the spike still nestled in the crown (call me obsessive but I have known this plant has been spiking for a few weeks and it hasn't even grown to a point where you can see it yet!)

Photo 2. Here is a photo of the two new growths that were shown as little nubs in the first set of photos. Im exited about these because both look stronger than the current spiking growth did when it was young.

photo 3. There are three or four roots winding their way through the media where I can see them. May not seem like much but they have shown quick growth.

Photo 4. another shot of the little spike.

[LouisW]

Kevin, I have been really happy with the results. I keep it a little moister than normal S/H would be (at least for me). As you can see from the Photos there is a layer of moss on top of the media, a deeper than normal reservoir, and a tall narrow pot. I believe that these things make the difference. P. besseae is quite a different plant (care-wise) but I wish you luck.

Orchidea, I use tap water 90% of the time, with a little rainwater when I can get some. We dont have very good water quality here so i'm thinking P. Grande is not quite so sensitive as some other plants. As for fert, I have not been using fert on this one since I repotted it, but now that it is showing so much activity I feed it MSU in very weak doses every time I water. Im not a big fertilizer but its growing a lot and its in S/H which has no nutrients so I reckon it can use the boost. (plus im shooting for some really high quality flowers, they were big before but that was on the first blooming, so im hoping for a increase in size this time.)

Oh I just remembered that I had just bought this plant when I joined this forum and I entered a photo of it in my first-ever Orchidgeeks photo contest!