Help? Rescued plants in hydroton, tropicals, etc...did I mention, "help?" : )

[beautifulbunny]

Hello Orchid friends!

How's everyone on St. Pat's Day?

O.k., across the street my neighbor moved and out with the trash she threw a *beautiful* basket of assorted plants: kaloche (sp), ivy, ranuculus, english ivy, some other vine-y/ivy, golden pothos, croton and some upright tropical plant that looks like it's growing from *tiny* coconuts : ) Honestly : ) See, she left the basket out against a concrete wall, which in AZ, I think, translates roughly to the same temperature as the 2nd circle of Dante's inferno : ) The plants suffered some heat damage--fried leaves, flower heads dried and falling off...but I brought them home, put the basket on a chair on the back porch (facing East) and watered as well as I could with a mix of Miracle Grow and Superthrive. Most all perked up, but they were still kind of touch and go. So I poked in there and saw they were jam-packed--9-ish plants in 2 10" round plastic containers with no drainage. So I thought, "Ah! I'll dip them in Brookn's-Mojo-happyplant-bug-free-mix!" (as it's now known affectionately around the house) And dip them I did and rinsed them, then potted them up in Hydroton soaked in R/O water, even giving them wicks from the hydroponics shop and set them on the only other plant-friendly table in the house on the south-east side. Day one, splendid. Today's day two, what horror have I brought to these plants? The concrete wall in the sun seems kinder : ) Actually, the ivy, croton and tiny "coconut" tree seem o.k., but the rest are falling faster than St. Pattie's Day revelers at this early hour : )

Anyone feel like helping? : ) For a start : ) I'm thinking of moving them back to the east side of the house : ) Every other suggestion on Earth would be greatly appreciated : )

Thanks fellow Orchidgeeks!

Bunny

[jerrymeola]

your plants are displaying the results of the first damage not your work.

when plants are stressed the roots can have a lot of damage that Will not show itself for a while.

I would eliminate the fertilizer. The plant is not strong enough to use it and be careful on the watering. When roots are bad the plant can not absorb water and fertilizer. How much to water is a gut feeling. You have to watch the plant and see how it goes. Once the roots start to grow the plant will be past its problems.

I would keep the plants in lower than normal light. You only want the plants to start growing roots not force grow a good plant. So do not put it back in heavy sun.

This advice goes to either regularily potted plants or hydroponics.

[lmartiny]

I'm curious to see the one growing out of the coconut thingy.

[11Orchid126]

Rather than water the roots, you might try misting the leaves a couple of times a day to keep the plants hydrated.

[beautifulbunny]

((((Hugs)))) Thank you three for writing. I really needed it : ) Jerrymeola, you've literally picked my heart up off the floor with..."your plants are displaying the results of the first damage not your work." : ) I've been checking on them every 6 or so hrs and just shaking my head.

It's such a roller coaster watching these plants wax and wane and wonder which will make it and which won't (wow, that's a lot of "w"s! : ) ) I'm going to take *all* of your advice, actually, I've begun to already--the plants are in a shady nook atop the mantle and as of after the below picture was taken, all the plants, save the ivy, have no water in their "reserve" bowls (that's only because I rooted ivy in water successfully many years ago in Michigan.) As of tomorrow, it's spray bottle misting only with no fert! : )

The unidentifyable ivy-ish plant, despite water, is crispy and looks like it may be a total loss. The ranuculus' seem hydrollically stable, at least that's to say they're not falling over limp, but they took that initial sun *hard*. The kaloche's leaves are a bit limp (I'm thinking stress + too much water,) so it's gone dry now in an attempt to perk it up (it's also being supported by straws, it's a bit top-heavy.) The croton's youngest, bottom two leaves only today look fried--but all the rest look really good. So the best bets for survivial seem to lie with the "coconut" plant, the kaloche, the ivy and the croton for sure. (hold on, I'll pop downstairs and snap a pic or two of the little "coconuts", some sort of rhyzome, to show you, too...o.k., they're there now : ) Each stem emerges from one of these rhyzomes.)


I've read the primers here on semi-hydroponics and the one on Ray's website, can anyone think of any others I can read to help me figure out this new-to-me-medium? (In MI I could grow almost anything, in water, in soil--I had a collection of ivy and african violets, cleomes... But here in AZ... Just water isn't enough, roots are weak to form if at all, and soil...*so* bad with fungus gnats! Even out of newly-bought soil. I've even gone so far as to follow the directions for baking soil in quickly an *oven* to nix any beasties. So that's why I've turned to Hydroton : ) The middle path : ) My only luck in AZ has been with orchids

Thanks guys : ) I'll let you know how they do.

Bunny

[tansyflower]

The ivyish thing (is it bottom right?) may be an ivy geranium (pelargonium).

And the things sprouting out of the palm nuts are palm trees (I'm not a palm person, so not sure which type).

[lmartiny]

Several of them look OK to me. The Kalanchoe (sp?) is a pretty hardy plant.