Phalaenopsis in water culture

[OrchidInEveryWindow]

Phal bellina 'Montclair' was removed from its shipping pot and placed in this vase with ordinary tap water on 7/11/08. The blossom opened on 8/4/08. A weak solution of Dyna-Gro plant food helped the algae develop, which provides oxygen to the roots and prevents slime mold from developing. I had to wash the roots and change the water almost daily at first, due to the mold problem. Now it's only necessary to keep the water topped up and changed every few days. Advantages over s/h? You can see the roots! Are they healthy, growing, rotting? Plus, fancy vases look better than plastic buckets full of rocks. I switched all orchids and houseplants to water culture, and all are doing well. No more surprises of ants pouring out of clay pots during watering, either. That one alone was worth the change. (ants are a big problem here in South Florida)
I also have Phal Orchid World, Phal brother wild thing and Phal Sogo Rose blooming in water.

[bonsai1504]

very interesting! i have never seen one grow this way. i would think that the roots would drown but you have proved otherwise. thanks for sharing!

[adlemsi]

Interesting....

[bellini girl]

Wow indeed. What type of house plants do you have in water culture ? I recently saw some clivias in vases.. doing very well.

Lecent

[snow]

only time will tell if this method of you,res will work.
i wish you all the luck.

[Lene Th.]

This was interesting, indeed! Are they sitting in the water all the time?? You mentioned that the algae is providing oxygen to the water, therefor you want it(algae) to grow in the vase? As i have experienced( and read), the most important thing when switching culture, is that the new roots are allowed to grow into adjustment to the new culture, and then i belive the chids here will need to have new roots growing at the time youre repotting as well? How are the roots provided air, by the way? Are the oxygen provided by the algae enough?

[DelawareJim]

Since the algae are plants themselves they will be competing with the Phal. for the little bit of fertilizer in the vase. It will be interesting to see how this plant looks in a couple of months.

Cheers.
Jim

[OrchidInEveryWindow]

Please excuse the poor photography... cheap camera.
Right to left is a little Sedirea japonica, Winter Jasmine and Arabian Jasmine (already bloomed once in water, has new buds in progress now). Also have Patchouli, Sweet Olive and Gardenia, plus many more orchids.
They are all in water constantly. Yes, I encourage the algae, which provides all the oxygen the roots need. You can even see tiny bubbles clinging to the roots, as the algae releases oxygen.
If the algae are competing with the orchids for the fertilizer, that's an easy fix. I'll just add more fertilizer and keep the algae under control with more thorough water changes.
Yes, it will be interesting to see how they are doing in a few more months. I'll post new pictures as time goes by.

[Ray]

No surprise at all! If the roots grow into the liquid, they will be fine. If you put roots grown in another environment into the liquid, it's a whole different story.

Rod Venger originated the idea in orchids a good 15-20 years ago, but found that he must keep the water at least 70°F, and the algae must be present or it stinks to high heaven!

[OrchidInEveryWindow]

Ray is right, of course. I never meant to imply that I had invented this method of growing in water. I had heard of it first on another, ahem, orchid site. Jerry Meola proved it was possible to grow Paphiopedilums in water and worm tea, and he possibly got the idea from Rod Verger.

There are others using this technique successfully, and algae does seem to be the key in keeping the roots healthy and in equilibrium.

It's definitely an indoor method though. I think mosquitoes would find vases of standing water quite attractive to breed in.