Transferring healthy plants to S/H

[Abbie9]

I've been considering transferring to S/H culture for a while, but haven't quite committed yet. I know that when changing environments the plant will have to develop new roots in order to thrive. My question is, if my plants are doing well in sphag or bark with healthy root systems, how will they react to being placed into S/H? Will they have to completely grow a new root system and therefore be "under the weather" for several years to get back to the same level of root system they currently have? What's the general length of downtime they will experience before being back to their normal selves?

I'm thinking of experimenting with some of my rescues first since they already need to grow whole new systems, but if I like S/H I'll want to switch all my plants over to it eventually. I am reluctant if it's going to mess up an already good thing with my healthy fellows.

[The Orchid Boy]

Welcome to Orchid Board!

About S/H... Yes, if you transfer a plant to S/H, it will need to grow an etirely new root system. It depends on the type of plant on how long it will take to recover. Most phals, phrags, and faster growing orchids will recover sooner, maybe in a year or less. Slower growing orchids will take longer. Don't get worried if lots of the old roots start rotting, they may do this until they get their new roots.

Just a few tips: Make sure you use pure (distilled or RO) water, flush every week or two, and use a complete fertilizer (I use K-lite).

[Vanda lover]

Some plants adapt to it with no problem at all. My epi and phrag recovered right away. Others will need to grow new roots. This varies quite a bit. I have an oncidium sherry baby that someone gave me that looked like it was going to die, so I put it in s/h. It's taken several months but it has beautiful roots now. I think it might have taken just as long if I left it in bark.

[Abbie9]

Thanks for the advice. I'll do some experimenting with the strugglers first and see how it goes.

[Vanda lover]

Good idea. Most of them really do well and it does take the guess work out of watering. Once a week I give mine a good flushing with clear water. Then I drain off as much water as possible and add diluted fertilizer.

[Cattleya17]

The phals will recover quickly IMO. You don't really have to worry about a long recovery period if you transfer at the right time in the first place. Always repot when the plant is making new roots so it will recover much faster. I had a lot of trepidation as well when I made the jump. I am so happy I did!! I have had 3 successful transfers already. And both phals are blooming and I switched them over just in August. The Phrag it's growing a lot and fast I transferred it only 2 months ago. Give it a whirl I think you will love it.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Abbie9

Thanks for the advice. I'll do some experimenting with the strugglers first and see how it goes.

Nope. That's a terrible idea. Transplantation is stressful. Starting out with a weak plant is asking for failure.

How easy of a transition the plant has is dependent upon several parameters; two of the more significant are:

> Whether the current root system will "hang in there" or not is dependent upon how different the new and old root zone environments are. The closer they are, the longer it will be until they succumb. A moist sphagnum environment is a lot like the s/h pot, only likely with less air flow. Most plants going from sphagnum to s/h never miss a beat (as long as the root system is healthy).

> If the plant is actively growing new roots, they will take over support of the plant immediately, and loss of the old roots becomes far less significant.

Don't forget that the rest of your environment can also play a role. If you have very dry air, the evaporative cooling from the pot - something mostly showered by the compact nature of more traditional media components - may add stress.

[Abbie9]

Thanks. I think that allays most of my s/h fears. I have some prime candidates for transplantation so I'll be ordering supplies soon! I've been itching to try it out for months and have been anxiously waiting for new growths.

[ALToronto]

My rescues are doing much better in s/h than they were in damp sphag. And when I tried to bag one of them, it died in 2 days. I disagree, Ray - rescues in s/h with kelp extract and a heat mat at least have a chance of survival.

On the other hand, I'm having second thoughts about cattleyas in s/h as a long-term environment - I think it's very important for them to dry out and have seasonal changes of conditions, so I will probably replant mine into something else.

[billc]

Originally Posted by ALToronto

On the other hand, I'm having second thoughts about cattleyas in s/h as a long-term environment - I think it's very important for them to dry out and have seasonal changes of conditions, so I will probably replant mine into something else.

Al, Don't water them. The leca dries out just as thoroughly as bark, CHC or whatever kind of mix one would use. If I waited a week between waterings the plants I have in S/H would be bone dry.

Bill