Results of my 3-year s/h Experiment

[shadytrake]

Let me preface that this is unscientific.

I had most of my collection in s/h for almost 3 years and here are my results.

My nobile type and antelope type Dendrobium species and hybrids LOVE s/h as long as they are not overpotted (they like to be rootbound). Blooms have been abundant and on schedule every year. (Following proper culture conditions for the species type - e.g. temps, winter rests if needed, and light).

Dendrobium Formosae types absolutely NO s/h success. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong on these but they were too expensive to let die so I pulled them and rafted. They are epiphytic in situ in deciduous forests so now they are recovering very nicely.

My Oncidium species and hybrids have mixed results. They seem to do better in s/h ONLY if completely rootbound and TIGHT in the pot (e.g. roots practically overgrowing). Some that were struggling, I removed and rafted and they are happier.

My wet loving Paphiopedilums LOVE s/h. Great success with growths and flowering.

My wet loving Phragmipediums are in a special modified s/h mix (see my repotting thread). They are doing GREAT.

I had very good success with the Cattleyas too but the larger plants were very difficult to find the correct s/h pot to encourage specimen growing so I rafted them in larger baskets.

Interestingly I had GREAT success with flaskling/seedling sized Cattleya species and hybrids. I took them directly from the flask or baggie and put in individual s/h dixie cups and they grew to large seedlings very fast. The trick I learned from both First Rays and from a local guy who is an expert in seedlings from flask is the heat. These guys did not winter in the converted shadehouse. They came inside to a warmer temp setting.

It's really a no-brainer for Phalaenopsis. They LOVE s/h as long as they are firmly seated in the pot. The roots need to have something to grab.

So the bottom line is that I am still a s/h fan but I am going to evaluate each plant case-by-case before potting it up.

One of the advantages of s/h is being able to control pests. Slugs don't generally like the hydroton balls and applying systemic is easy because it pools in the reservoir. You can see if ants are invading the pots if you use the clear pots.

Anyway, there you go. My unscientific s/h results.

[WhiteRabbit]

Very cool - I don't really use s/h, but have gotten a rootless Catt seedling recovered EXTREMELY well using s/h method. Interesting to see what did well, what didn't for you.

[billc]

I'm surprised that you're finding the oncidium hybrids doing not so well in s/h. Mine grow like weeds when I water them enough. I've had a masdie in s/h for about 3 months and it's doing very well. It's like having a mounted plant though, it needs to be watered every day or so.

Bill

[magicatt]

My oncid loves s/h, of course it was dying of thirst before i changed over. Glad your other orchids are doing well.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by billc

I'm surprised that you're finding the oncidium hybrids doing not so well in s/h. Mine grow like weeds when I water them enough. I've had a masdie in s/h for about 3 months and it's doing very well. It's like having a mounted plant though, it needs to be watered every day or so.

Bill

I would have thought the same, but I think Ryan (Pilot) is having issues with his Onc Twinkles in S/H. I have a Miltionopsis and a Brassidium type in S/H and they are really growing exceptionally well.

I've heard that while Phals do really well in general, they really do not like in the root zone gets too cool in the winter, so some people have to sit them on heating mats.

And what on earth is 'rafting'??

[shadytrake]

Rafting is another word for mounting.

[shadytrake]

Originally Posted by billc

I'm surprised that you're finding the oncidium hybrids doing not so well in s/h. Mine grow like weeds when I water them enough. I've had a masdie in s/h for about 3 months and it's doing very well. It's like having a mounted plant though, it needs to be watered every day or so.

Bill

I should have remarked that the Oncidiums grow but they put out very few bloom spikes.

Patricia Harding came to do a talk about Brazilian Oncidiums (Gomesa) and I learned that many of the Oncidiums like to dry out before throwing spikes and some like very wet conditions. So even with the hybrids, taking the time to research the parent culture helped me make the decision about which ones to pull out and which ones to leave in s/h.

We always assume that the intergeneric hybrids will be easier and prefer intermediate conditions. But this is not always the case. It has been a very interesting learning experience.

[Lana]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm currently in a process of switching some of my orchids to S/H, and your post really helps.

[Oscarman]

Thanks for your observations. I completely agree with your plant by plant evaluation. S/H is not a potting miracle for every plant.

Because my grow room is warm and I water frequently (daily or every 2 days) and the media drains well and has lots of airspace almost all of my plants have done well.
For me: Phals have done well with a warm root zone. Catts establish quickly and easily, I think because the establishing roots never stay too wet and there's tons of air in the pot. Phrags have been loving the extra moisture. Paphs seem a little slower to get going in S/H, but there is good root growth in the pots. Oncidium and Brassia hybrids seen to like the extra moisture (no pleated leaves!) and also the air down there! In other media I was a serious oncidium killer.

[shadytrake]

Yes and I should comment that temperature regulation in winter is critical. Having a shadehouse covered in visqueen for winter, I routinely let temps go to 54. Some s/h orchids can't take that because the wet hydroton is even colder. Cold and wet is a bad combo for the warm lovers.

I don't have the option for heat mats. If I did, I bet some would have done much better.

What I did find was that reducing the water (emptying the reservoir) on some oncidium alliance plants and letting the pot actually dry during the colder periods didn't hurt the orchids. They used water reserves from the pseudobulbs and went almost dormant. The key to that is regular misting when the weather warms. Then when the new growth starts and the weather stabilizes a full flush and refill the reservoir.

So basically most of my s/h orchids got a winter "rest". This was a lightbulb moment for me.

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