First try at s/h. What did I do wrong? Tiny white spots...Mold?

[emmajs243]

Ok. A week ago today I took the plunge and went into s/h with one of my Catts to see how it went. The media was brand new hydroton, cleaned, soaked in magnesium, boiled (which I am pretty sure was pointless), more rinsing, soaked in magnesium one final time for 24 hours then used. I wore gloves to ensure it stayed clean. I didn't drop a bead and put it back in the pot, none of that.

I did a half of my weakly weekly dose fertilizer that was then watered down even more to be about 1/4 of weekly weakly strength and some "orchid love" kelp extract (I am trying to get it used up to buy Rays....I hadn't realized he made some at the time I bought it and not pleased with its shelf life so wonder if this may be the reason).

My "pot" was soaked in bleach mix for 24 hours to clean it then thoroughly rinsed before use. My cutting tools are always soaking in alcohol. They had at least a weeks soak in alcohol without being used on any other plants. I then moved them to physan 20 about half an hour before use.

I did NOT put ANYTHING on the roots. Besides water at least. I rinsed them and that was it. My humidity is only at 50% maybe a tad higher with temps at 75+ pretty consistently and the seedling on a heat mat...

Oh and FYI this is a seedling. One I love a lot. Which doesn't mean much because that's all of them....But Now, there are these tiny little white spots spreading everywhere I see today. Are the mold? Has anyone experienced this before? Is it something I did wrong?

[emmajs243]

Oh my goodness....just found a sorta similar thread...sorry guys. Their white stuff was more cobwebby though. I just worry it might be snow mold? I don't know....would I have salt buildup though after only a week in semi hydro?

Oh my goodness..........do I need to use different amounts of fertilizer in semi hydro???? Oh goodness....I'll need to now go look into this!

[Ray]

Wow! Did you go unnecessarily overboard on the prep! Rinsing new LECA then soaking it in an excess of water to remove manufacturing residues and to get it saturated is all that's really necessary.

I cannot tell anything from those photos - too dark. Please try again, so we can see what's going on, and describe IN DETAIL the amounts of Epsom Salt, Physan and fertilizer used per gallon.

By the way, there is really no need to fertilize at all while the plant is becoming acclimated to S/H.

[Dollythehun]

This is supposed to be a relaxing hobby. Nothing happens suddenly with orchids. Please try to relax.

[Mountaineer370]

The pictures are very dark, and the only white spots I see appear to be on the Hydroton pellets. I'm wondering if that could be magnesium salts leaching out?

[emmajs243]

Hey hey hey! This was before I figured out that leca only needed like one rinse and we were good Ray! By that point I had already washed over half the beads unnessecarily! Since learning this.....and reaching my point with washing leca beads too thoroughly. Now I rinse them three times max and throw them in a bowl of water!

Ok Epsom salts was.....oh my goodness....well I was about to type away that I used exactly what Rays website says at 1Tablespoon/gallon HOWEVER that would have been a COMPLETE lie!!! I am sitting here re-reading my journals of what exactly I did with her repot and those say 1 TBSP and then re-reading Rays website print out and I am viewing where I highlighted that part with a pink highlighter....clearly stating 1 TEASPOON/gallon.

Oh my goodness......did I ruin all of the leca? I mean....how much work exactly is it going to take to get all the salts back out??? Because I was just reminded this hobby is suppose to be fun and I need to relaxed! 😉

[emmajs243]

And really sorry guys on the photo! I knew better!! It was late and I was rushing and totally should have taken two seconds to turn on the light first! Hopefully these come in better!

[emmajs243]

Oh sorry ray! Never finished your answers! I jumped in the "magnesium" train too quickly! Ok other substances used!

- Physan 20: for surface cleaning. (Used on my tray for repotting on) - 1 TBSP physan/1 gal. H2O
- Physan 20: for soaking cutting tools in. - 1 tsp. Physan/1 Quart H2O
- Epsom Salts with leca beads: WAY too much at 1 TBSP/1 gal. H2O
- MSU Well water Fertilizer: a tad over 1/8 tsp/1 gal H2O
- "Orchid Love" Kelp Extract at the recommended 2 oz. Orchid Love/1 gal. H2O (planning to use it at this strength for first watering or two and then cut the strength in half)

[Ray]

One tablespoon of Epsom Salts per gallon is no problem whatsoever. I have watered my entire collection (~500 plants at the time) with double that, with no negative reactions.

What I see is old tissue that is failing and being consumed by molds, which is perfectly normal - and is why repotting as new roots are emerging is so important.

[emmajs243]

Whew! Ok so just hang tight and don't panic. Thanks Ray! Also, thank you for totally making feel ok about the magnesium mix up! Will not continue doing that in the future for this reason at least BUT! That makes me feel so much better about it this time!

It's almost like this light dust of powder....If I didn't use RO water in my hudimifiers I would suspect it was from being right below that! Oh my tap water use to cover my house in white powder due to the minerals and I finally decided to use RO instead! Well and it's the only plant with it! It's like I was shaking powder sugar and a puff clouds spread tiny particles everywhere.

Even my new little roots have the slightest little skiff of the stuff on them but just super super light. I will practice patience, monitoring and relaxing however and hopefully she pulls through! I just really hope it isn't due to the media itself or me!

Man I am sure you guys know this but holy cow orchids really teach you patience...and a few breathing exercises at times!