Full hydro

[Camo]

Hi every one!!!

This is my first post here. Hope to learn as much as possible. My mum has always tried to grow orchids but she always seemed to kill them instead.

Well now I have decided I want to grow them too. Not just grow them but collect them. I currently grow bonsai and my own hydoponic veggies. Could prob teach you all a thing about it.

Anyway my title is full hydro.
I have had a quick glance over this forum and all I saw was S/H.
Has anyone ever tried a more advanced approch to hydroponic orchids? As in say a deep water culture or ebb and flow system?

All the stuff I have been reading about hydroponic orchid growing is all using expanded clay in a pot encased in another pot. Nothing with a real hydro setup. I currently have a grow tent where I keep my veggies in a DWC system. I am constantly monitoring ph and ec levels and I find it alot of fun.
If you don't know what that all is, basically I have a bucket with a lid. Suspended in the lid is a net pot the roots sit in the net pot and grow through to a nutrient solution in the bucket, so they are constantly submerged in the water. The water is aerated with an air pump 24x7 and I also add a few drops of 35% h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide) which also helps with the oxygen and eliminates any chance of rot. Also no lights get in so no alge can grow in the water.


I want to know if anyone has tried a method like this?

[Daethen]

I'm not sure that most orchids would survive in this setup. They mostly grow on the sides of trees in nature and do not receive very much water or food for that matter. I suppose it may work for a few though. I'm sure thtat the experts will be along with better opinions.

[Dendian]

Hello and to Geeks.

I think most orchids would not be happy in full hydro - these plants like air and light on their roots. You might be able to adapt some by putting the lower roots in water as long as you keep the upper part of the plant out of the water - but be aware that sharing water will also share viruses.. so you would have to test every orchid before you introduced it to your system.

A possibly candidate that I think might be happy in full hydro would be Phrags.. they live along the banks of streams and their lower roots are always in water - but not the upper roots or the main growths. However - they like rain water and not a lot of fertilizer - so you would need to seriously adjust things. There may be a few more that I do not know about - after all there are several thousand kinds of orchids.

Anyway - I would not try this with any expensive plants, and you would need to virus test any you introduce, but you can try it and let us know how it goes.

[koshki]

Welcome to Orchid Geeks!

I don't know if there are any members on this forum who do this, but I have heard of phrag growers successfully using this method. Many phrags grow in nature with their roots in running water.

[1joyceh]

Camo,
Welcome to the club!
I use all types of systems, aeroponic, nutrient film, drip, ebb and flo, and in yrs past DWC. I have used DWC and drip for orchids. Oncidiums did well, miltonias, as well as small dendrobiums. I got bored with the hydro and orchids, they have to just kind of sit in buckets or systems, I like to move them around. I have grown just about any type of veggie in everything from hydroton to rockwool, plain old rock, peat and perlite in smart pots, to just net baskets, and packing peanuts!..It all works, and in New England, kind of nice to just pick a tomato, some lettuce, and a pepper in January, and enjoy. One veggie, it was said, could not be done...we did...carrots! Shaped weird, but they were as delish as if they were pulled from the ground!! You have any questions, give me a shout, will help if I can

[bearded orchid]

I assume terrestrials would adjust to this easier than most other species.

[1joyceh]

Not sure about terrestrials....I have a phaius tankerville....hmmmmm.....food for thought

[Ray]

Phaius do well in semi-hydro culture, so why not?

I think the only real drawback (besides cost - but it's an investment of choice, after all) is the potential sharing of plant pathogens. I don't care how "clean" your plants are, they will get something, and soon they all will.

[Camo]

Thanks for all your replies!!!
I feel welcomed!

I have never had to deal with any pathogens before as I regullary clean the tent and each plant has its own rez so the water is not shared. Also I dump it each week and scrub the buckets with bleach. So it's all very clean, alot of work too. But I find it easy to control problems in this environment and I jump on them at the first sign.

The plan I have is to get quite a large collection and then start selling them.
I just bought my first 5 plants off eBay. Very good prices didn't pay over $20 for each a couple were only $10 AUD. They are only young I think less than a year old.

If I am to transplant to the hydro I think I will do 1 and see how it goes. I have never had to keep a plant in DWC for more than 3-4 months, with the exception of a tomato plant that I have let sprawl along the ground it's been happy in the bucket for about 7 months now.

I know some spices prefer a dry climate. If I were to do these in hydro I would prob set up an ebb and flow and just not flood them during the dormancy period. Think this would work?

[1joyceh]

Hey Camo,
You would have to research each one to figure out if it had a chance. Piper nigrum would work, mine likes it wet. One you don't want to try is saffron....sigh...that was an experiment gone very bad. Look into a drip system, easy to set up, and the plants that aren't heavy drinkers may do well with that type.

[Ray]

My experience with semi-hydro tells me that pretty much any plant can adapt - it's just a matter of timing of transplant and taking the time to let them grow their "water roots".

The "dry-" or "winter rest" is apparently less about water and more about availability of nutrition. Folks who grow such plants in S/H culture take two approaches - either withholding water, as you considered, or continue watering with plain water only, containing no nutrients. Nitrogen is the "killer" in this case - any at all will disturb the cycle, breaking plants out of dormancy and into growth without blooming.

[bumpman]

I would love to see your set-up. Any chance of some pics?

[tropQLD]

I believe that a researcher in Singapore was working with full trickle hydro for cut-flower dendrobiums (phalanthe type) and claiming excellent initial results.