Back to Bark?

[S&K Maley]

We have grown a Phrag. Eric Young in S/H since we got it in 2009 and it has been one of our most reliable bloomers,twice a year for 4 months or so a time and that was with large bark as a medium!
This past Feb. we bought a large bag of Hydrcorn at a local Hydro.store as we usually use orchiata but the shipping cost is so high we were looking for an alternative medium we could source locally and we had a lot of plants to repot.We still ordered a bag of orchiata from Tindara for Phal.s and Cats.
We repotted the Phrag. as well as 2 Cymbidiums,4 Paph.s, a Maxillaria Tenuifolia and 1 Bulbophyllum Madeline Nelson into the hydrocorn and placed the pots into a saucer of water and so far everything has gone great. All the plants have shown fantastic root growth except the bulbo.but that one was in a vanda basket previously so it was quite a change.
We tried to follow Ray's excellent guidelines and as we did it in early spring, just as roots were initiating[as we would anyway] and they had the spring and summer growing season to adapt that may be why almost all are doing fine.We havn't given up on the Bulbo yet, last time we repotted it it sat for a while before doing anything.
As far as more work goes,and we are inside as well, we take a small pail over to the stand on watering day and pour each saucer out before we move them to the sink where we wash each saucer before flushing each plant and returning it to it;s saucer. We then place it back onto the stand. When all the S/H ones are done we pour some fertilizer mix into the pot and top up the saucer with dehumidifier water.This allows us to vary how much food each plant gets according to its culture preferences,ie. the phrag gets a little foo the maxi gets a lot.
Although it is a little more work,emptying and washing saucers, carefully adding food and topping off,we feel the improved root and overall growth is worth it.If we lose the bulbo, well thats still a pretty good success rate 1 out of 8=87.5% worked out.
Over all we would recommend S/H for terrestrial plants at least and maybe we will one day try a few cats.As for the Phrag. it is growing roots better in the hydrocorn than in bark but otherwise growth is still fine and should be flowering again soon after being in flower all summer.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by LovePhals

The oncidium I had in it got algae growing on the roots where it meets the psuedobulb, not just the pot sides, and my root growth wasn't good. I assumed it was the algae inhibiting the growth. I have an epicatt. in it also which seems to be doing very well, so I will keep it in that medium for now. I am doing a physan flush once a month to kill off the algae and that works very well.

My Zygo which seems to love S/H also gets algae where the bulbs meet the roots, as well as on the leca touching the outside of the pot.

It's never done it any harm, even the roots which are growing close to the pot edge and get algae on them grow well and look healthy.

As this started out as a rootless p-bulb when it first went into S/H it's had to grow a lot to get to the point of flowering this year.

This is the one one of my S/H ones which grows a lot of algae (no idea why the others don't) but from the experience of that I don't think the algae does any harm or inhibits the plant. Don't know for sure, but certainly with this one there is no sign of adverse affect

[AnonYMouse]

Originally Posted by RosieC

I grow them in leca with great success now, but not with the S/H watering style.

@Rosie, how quickly did they transition? Did you follow the usual rules about repotting? I think I want to try my Phals this way and add a reservoir later but I don't want to sacrifice what Phals I have left (mostly species). TIA

[RosieC]

The Phals didn't miss a beat. I found that for my Phals I didn't loose roots when putting them in S/H and I didn't loose roots when drying them out either. Other orchids I've had root loss and regrowth on transition but the Phals didn't do that.

I initially didn't repot when I changed to plain leca from S/H, I just started emptying the resevoir completely after every watering and letting them dry completely between watering. They have been repotted since and others potted straight into plain leca from bark.

I found that for Phals they didn't miss a beat for the change, though I did change them too S/H when new roots were appearing. I avoid changes mid-winter, but otherwise repot Phals at any time.

[Ray]

Root loss and rate of "transition" are - like most orchid things - a case of "it depends". In this case, it depends upon how much the new- and old root environments differ.

I have taken phals from moist sphagnum and put them into S/H with no "transition" needed whatsoever. S/H to bark, or bark to S/H are both extreme changes, so the plant needs to grow new roots tailored to that new environment. How quickly those new roots grow is the time of the "transition".

[svlair]

Unfortunately, S/H is not "One size fits all". I have learned that each orchid reacts differently, even within the same genus. Some of my Phals love it, others hate it. Oncidiums and Catts seem to thrive for me in S/H but my Paphs have been a disappointment and I am moving them back to traditional media. As Ray said, you have to tailor culture conditions to your growth environment.

[Ray]

That's a great comment - for example, for me, paphs are a "no brainer" for S/H.

In fact, a paph was the first plant I tried when developing the method, and it worked so well, that it encouraged me to try other plants.

[WaterWitchin]

For what 'tis worth, I have 25+ orchids all in S/H. Don't know much about orchids, other than they keep multiplying and I know how to kill one with benign neglect.

Because of my growing conditions (lack of time & attention span) S/H has been a life-saver for them. I have about six Phals, ten Cats, eight Oncidiums, four Onc. relatives whose names I cannot remember right now, one Paph, one Phrag, and two or three others that are "oddballs" whose names also escape me.

And also have "lurked" for a long time and likely never posted. Likely should stop by the "hello" page. then post a bit every now and then.

[BettyE]

I have been growing orchids for 45+years. The day I discovered Rays LECA was a very happy day for me & my orchids. I have ALL of my orchids ( about seventy ) in the LECA. Still have the phals. in bark, but those are the only ones. ( they seem to do better in bark ) The roots on the orchids in LECA are doing much better...many more/stronger root systems. AND...so easy to re-pot! I just lift the plant out of its clear plastic pot, clip off the dead roots, and put back into the pot and on to the next one. For me, LECA is making orchid keeping sooooooooo much easier! BettyE.

[greenpassion]

Wow. Lots of response to the 'Back to Bark' question. In reading the latest, it occurs to me to ask, what are the growing conditions that most of you have? From the sounds of it, many of you have a greenhouse, or a set up that is close to that condition. As for myself, my orchids are in my living area, and in no way in greenhouse conditions. OMG! If I could have something like that, I'd have 40 orchids, not 20!