Why semi hydro vs true hydro?

[let_it_grow]

I have been considering semi hydro and have also looked into water culture. Is there any reason why i cant grow some orchids hydroponically? Is there any benefit to semi hydro vs hydro?

[Royal]

No, there's no reason why you couldn't. Yes, there are benefits to semi-hydro. The main benefit (and the only reason why most would advise against conventional setup) is that individual plants don't share fertigation water. In a conventional hydro set-up viruses can and will be spread easily. The other big benefit is that the plants are portable and can be moved to different areas depending on cultural requirements.

[quiltergal]

It's cheaper to maintain as well. No pump to run.

[let_it_grow]

Thanks, my brother has a hydro setup to grow jalapeno peppers so i was hoping to work on an orchid friendly setup with him at my place

[Royal]

A crop of jalapenos are all the same. An orchid "collection" is bound to have varying cultural needs. If you had several of the same type, say a dozen Phals and that's it, it may work.

[let_it_grow]

Makes sense. I wanted to get my dendros in a hydro setup. Thought about going with water culture with the oncid then semi for the others. Do Paphs and phals and cymbid do well with semi? I hear they dont do well withy hydro or water culture cause the leaves are so close to the base that they can get bacteria buildup in the crevices. Should i be removing the sheathing on the base of the dendros for a hydro setup?

[snow]

for me they do well in s/h. also no overwatering. the reason full hydroponics don,t work as well is because orchids need oxygen at their roots

[let_it_grow]

I thought the bubbler was intended to increase the oxygen