Doritis in water culture - Orchid Board

greenbean · #1 01-21-2009, 07:26 PM

I've been reading about water culture and really wanted to try it. I just received a small division of Doritis pulcherrima 'Coerules' (this is what the tag said, but I'm guessing it's actually var. 'Coerulea', because nothing came up in searches under 'Coerules'). I know it's a little risky, but it was a free plant, so I thought it would make a good lab rat. I put another part of it in an old orange bag with some moss around the roots to preserve moisture. I've never heard of Doritis grown either way, so I'm trying it.

Currently, I have it in a small shotglass under a mini "greenhouse" on top of a light fixture so that it receives heat to promote root growth. There is a very dilute fertlizer in the water. I don't have any algae yet, but I have a covered glass of water under the light to attempt to grow a stock algae source. I treated the plant with listerine, because I've read that it can be used to sterilize orchids and I am a poor college student without easy access to other materials.

The clouds have moved in, so for the next week or more, the chid receives less than 1000 fc, perhaps as little as 100. I intend to wait for new root growth before I move it into a brighter location.

I know that Orchidineverwindow has experience with Phals in water culture, so I was specifically wondering if you have problems with water soaking up into the base of the leaves and, if so, how you treat or prevent it. Currently, water seems to soak up to the second leaf but does not make it to the top two leaves. Also, should I maybe try to get my hands on hydrogen peroxide or something better than listerine?

Any other advice anyone can give me will be most welcome! I always forget or don't think of something.

Both set-ups below

orange bag wrap

water culture

OrchidInEveryWindow · #2 02-12-2009, 03:12 PM

Evan,
I would try to find a small vase or bottle with a narrow neck to allow the plant to be supported by its leaves, and then fill it up with water just to the top of the root, so that the root is suspended in the water, but not the stem/crown.

Add some fertilizer to the algae propagation tank to speed up growth. How much? Maybe the full recommended amount, as opposed to a more dilute solution for the orchid in water culture.

Then, when you add the algae water during a water change, you are also adding fertilizer, which both the orchid and algae can use.

It seemed to me that root development was encouraged when they are given room to grow, instead of resting on their tips at the bottom of a small container.

Hope this helps.
OrchidInEveryWindow

Becky15349 · #3 02-12-2009, 03:21 PM

Yay for water culture!! I have 12 things now in water, all doing well. But I see one thing I don't like: Be careful having the plant under a vase, that kinda cuts down on the air movement. You are basically suffocating the plant. I would take the plant out and allow it to get air (not out of the water, just out of the outer vase). You don't want to get rot or mold, and that is exactly what you will get with stagnant air. With the plant in water, it will get plenty of humidity, trust us!!

dabblin-n-orchids · #4 02-12-2009, 05:17 PM

YAY FOR EXPERIMENTS!!
Another one of those projects y'all have inspired me to do . . . . . .Now i just need to get my hands on a free orchid division

. I'm really interested to see if water culture is feasible for us poor, space challenged college students. keep us posted!

greenbean · #5 02-13-2009, 01:03 AM

Thanks for the suggestions Becky and Orchid. I've been keeping carefull records of this plant, so I hope I'll have something usefull to share with you Michael.

The base of the stem is actually no longer active. The new root is growing from the base of the lowest leaf. Otherwise, I would have used a taller container. The leaves are indeed supporting the plant, as the base doesn't quite touch the bottom, but my pics aren't good enough to see that. I removed the dome about a week ago, after I saw that growth was evident. I wasn't having any luck growing algae from just the tap water, so I went to one of the greenhouses on campus and scraped up some samples. They are now growing in fertilizer water and being observed for any harmful organisms. I want to allow the algae to multiply before I start using it up. I think I touched on all the points you mentioned

Thanks for the responses and I'm glad to know I've got people to help with my questions!

Here's my latest pics. Sorry for the quality. These weren't taken in good light.

This picture was taken about 5 or 6 days ago. Notice that the newest leaf has grown substantially and the tiny new root emergin from the base of the lowest leaf.

This picture was taken about 2 days ago. The new root has at least doubled in size, though that's not saying much. And although I couldn't get a picture of it, there is an entirely new leaf just showing deep inside in the protection of the top leaf.

Sun rm.N.E. · #6 02-13-2009, 11:29 AM

Evan

Thanks for sharing your experiment with us. The little new roots look good. You are really taking on a challenge, due to the size of the plant. It wouldn't hurt if you tried to clean up some of the decaying matter with hydrogen peroxide but being careful not to injure the growing root tips (its best if nothing touches them if they are healthy). I just pour a little of the drugstore variety into a tiny cup and use either cotton swabs of some sort, or if it is a larger area, I put gloves on, or a plastic bag, and use toilet paper, paper towels or napkins.

greenbean · #7 02-13-2009, 08:04 PM

You're welcome Maria, and thanks for your support. I did finally get out and bought some hydrogen peroxide to treat it. That cleared up the little bit of mold that was trying to grow. I should have mentioned this in my update, but with the new roots splitting the base of the lowest leaf, I'm starting to have trouble again with water seeping up into the leaves. It only makes it up into the lowest leaf, not the center, but I will be working on getting the water level right so that no water gets into even the lowest leaf.

I just couldn't wait for those divisions I'll hopefully be getting in the spring. I saw an opportunity and siezed it! I don't think this Doritis will be a permanent W/C chid, so I view this as practice.

m_ms09 · #8 02-27-2009, 09:42 PM

Hi there!
Just wondering how the water culture turned out?? What's the final result!

PS. I too am a poor space challenged college student bitten by the insiduous orchid bug.

greenbean · #9 02-27-2009, 10:11 PM

Hi Ema! Sorry, I suddenly found myself very busy and forgot to post my recent photos. You know how it is. I've been running this little experiment for a little over a month now.

Here are the most recent pics. I moved it to a larger glass to give the roots room to grow. The leaf sticking almost straight up has grown since I started this project. There is another new leaf growing too. The last picture shows (not very well) the two new roots that are growing.

I'm sort of burnt out right now, so I don't want to think of everything to say on my own

If anyone has specific questions I will do my best to answer them.

AboutOrchids · #10 02-27-2009, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenbean

... I'm starting to have trouble again with water seeping up into the leaves.

I think I missed this in a previous discussion about water culture, but why do you need to have the water level so high? I keep my w/c orchids in only a inch or two or water, and so the upper parts of the roots are exposed to air. Is that incorrect?