Anyone ever try this?

[jay]

Came across this and wondered if anyone has tried it. It's called the Swamp Stick. Would this help offset having lower humidity than desired for mounting?

jay

[kmarch]

Never tried one....never even heard of it until today.

[pikevi]

jay: The idea seems to be good.

There may be some practical problems. How does one replace the 'stale' water?
Would it be stable even if it is filled to the brim with water? Shouldn't the mount be in full contact with the surface to benefit from the moisture?

I hope someone will enlighten us.

[orchid_girl]

That's intetresting but I think if I do mounting i would rather use something more natural like a tree...

[arleneg]

I've never heard of it until today. Interesting concept. Since I live in a low humidity environment, I wonder if this will help my mounted orchids.

pikevi - No need to replace stale water. Just pour it out.

[tom499]

Looks like a nice idea, no issues with insects growing in the mount, it wont rot like wood.

Being cermanic though Once the plant has rooted itself to it you'll have to pretty much rip the roots to get it off again if there anything like clay pots.

[pikevi]

arleneg: How does one pour the water out with the plants mounted? I am still trying to visualize it,lol

[tom499]

Think of it as a mug of water, with a plant growing on the side. As long as the plant is secure you can just turn the cup on its side and out comes the water.

[jay]

Could possibly syphon the water out as well. Just came across it and thought it was an interesting idea. I can't mount because the humidity is only around 30% or lower here. Thought it might help because the roots would have water available more often with it.

jay

[pikevi]

OK. I will accept that

I still can't help thinking of the adage: 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'... hehehehehe

Thanks.

[arleneg]

jay,

If the swampstick works like a clay pot, the stick should be a good wick and therefore keeping the orchid roots moist and supplying humidity. I'm seriously thinking of trying one out.

[jay]

arleneg,

If you do try one out, you will have to post photos as you set it up and maybe keep an online journal to let us know how it goes.

jay

[tom499]

i dont think i understand the concern :S lol

Apart from them being rather small it looks like a great hydroponic mount.

[GrowInHydro]

Hello Orchidgeeks,

I was working on getting Google to crawl my website properly and came across this forum testing search results! I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Jesse Wright and I'm developing the SwampStick ceramic mounts.

This product is brand new. I've been thinking about it for years, but started developing it February of this year. The SwampSticks have be for sale now for about 2 months. I just posted some updated photos on the website showing some root growth. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer the few I see in this post.

With this mount there is no need to dump out the reservoir water and it will not go "stale". Exactly like a clay pot, the SwampStick is going to wick the water and nutrients through to the surface of the mount, delivering moisture directly to the roots. The velamin in contact with and locked into the mount will take care of uptake and the rest of the root can work on gas exchange.

My idea for the SwampStick is to aid mounted orchids, as mine seemed to suffer even growing in the greenhouse, and I'm positive it will aid people growing indoors or suffering low humidity.

I would suggest following the same culture as any mounted orchid, misting and so forth. The SwampStick is going to lengthen the orchids exposure to water and nutrients for days instead of hours.

I've only been testing for a few months an am getting the results I wanted as dessicated leaves plump back up with a burst of new root growth. I'll continue to add updated photos every month or so.

Best regards!
Jesse

[GrowInHydro]

Here are few photos I just put on the website:

[fred]

GrowInHydro
We do not allow advertising on this forum sorry but that is one of the forum Rules
I have edited out your website with ( PM member for details )
Please see your PM box for more details
thank you Admin

[GrowInHydro]

My apologies. Since my website was posted earlier in the thread before I joined this forum I didn't even think. I deleted my signature. My intent was to post some information since there was some interest here.

Other forum Administrators have invited me to their websites for my input and I have reciprocated with donations, both monetary and in products to use towards contests and auctions to earn revenue for their forums.

Please accept my sincere apologies and feel free to delete my posts.

Kindest regards,
Jesse

[Miki]

I have a few of questions:
1. How is the fertilizer delivered?
2. Are there any issues with salt deposits from the water reservoir?
Thanks,
Miki

[GrowInHydro]

Originally Posted by Miki

I have a few of questions:
1. How is the fertilizer delivered?
2. Are there any issues with salt deposits from the water reservoir?
Thanks,
Miki

Hi Miki,

The fertilizer is delivered through the mount by reservoir water and I mix a weak solution in my spray bottle. The mounts I have in the greenhouse get hosed down (and filled up) at 125 ppm (N) like all the rest

I haven't had any issues with salt deposits. My mounts in the greenhouse get hit by the freshwater sprinklers every 3 days and the one I have in the house gets a little bicarbonate ring at the top on the inside. I had a mount sitting in a pot wicking water up and it built up some hard water stains on the outside at the bottom of the mount when the pot ran dry.

Best regards,
Jesse

[kmarch]

I think it's quite clever and it would be interesting to see how genera like Masdevallia take to it since they like constant mositure. Have you tried Masdevallias on it yet?