My first impression with S/H

[DavTom]

Quick update after about another month of S/H.

Well, I can't see all of what is going on with the roots as most of them are quite under the leca, but what I can still see looks fantastic to me. I see a lot of new growing roots in the surface or close to the surface (i.e., just after the first lyaer of leca) for all the orchids, and now there is also a strong new growth of leaves in all orchids.

One of them, a non-common (I guess) Phal hybrid is already blooming despite it is still very tiny! See attached picture.


By the way. I am sure that light conditions (good spectrum, high PAR and high DLI) do play a big role here. I am experimenting with a DLI of about 12 for Phals up to about 25 for cattleya. About 2 weeks ago I had to reduce the light intensity by about 20% (DLI was even higher) as I was starting to see too many purple spots on the Cattleya leaves, some of them turning somehow brownish - oh, oh... The 20% reduction seems to have worked fine as the spots have stopped growing and new growth looks very healthy.

I will provide another update in a month or so.

Cheers,
Davide

[WaterWitchin]

Sounds like it's going well. And that's a paphiopedilum, not a phal.

[Shadeflower]

It's an interesting phal hybrid. Looks like it's growing a spike like a paphiopedilum

[DavTom]

Opsss! You are right, thank you!.
I misread the label.


OK, now I understand why the spike of the flower comes from the center of the plant and why it has only one flower on the spike. I looked too different to me to be a Phal, but I thought it was just a strange Phal hybrid.

Dav

---------- Post added at 05:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:25 PM ----------

found it. it is an hybrid paphiopedilum, not a phal.

Paph. Schöne von Kaunitz x Hamana Clover

[WaterWitchin]

Yup. And paphs and phrags Loooove SH.

[DavTom]

Really? I will try one day...

[WaterWitchin]

Well, I think ya already are!

[DavTom]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Well, I think ya already are!

Well, I have a Paph not a Phrag...

[DirtyCoconuts]

i will add some anecdotal fuel to this thread-

i like the concept of SH and i use it a good bit and i have used concepts from it in a lot of other little experimental setups

i use pure, RAY-style, SH on most of my pleurothalids and they love it - i use a version of it on 30-40 other plants in various configurations (giant 5 gallon buckets of leca for my phrags; 2-3 gallon buckets for a max tenifulia, an old 5 gallon water jug made into a home for my ludisia dicolor etc)

many orchid roots like different things and this is compounded by the fact that a root grow t oits environment and when you change that environment the root has two choices, adapt (not always possible) or die.

MY EXPERIENCE, not a universal, is that roots can go from wetter to dryer but not the other way. so if FWC is the wettest and mounted is the dryest. we can make a spectrum of various mediums and cultures to fill in the example.

So, if youre moving an orchid from one culture to another say wet bark to SH, those are pretty close in moisture so the roots might just keep rolling. From big open rock mix to sphag, those will be a lot moister and i bet will rot.

So move any plant and it is going to be shocked.

change anything about the medium and culture and it will also experience some adjustment

I am a big fan of SH but only 10-15% of my plants are in it but this has more to do with the challenges of outdoor growing and that my environment is already pretty great for orchids






side note- if Roberta is an "experienced novice" then i cannot even find words to place myself on the spectrum....maybe "chance thumbed troglodyte" or "semi sentient dirt mole"

[DavTom]

Hi DC,

I leave it to Ray to comment on this.
Based on my very little experience so far with S/H (100% of my orchids are in S/H, but I have only 10 orchids and I am using S/H since only about 2 month!), what you write makes sense to me and it is not in contradiction with what I have observed so far.

Dav