# Kovachii basket update



## Rick (Feb 3, 2013)

Here's an update on the kovachii seeding I got from Glenn Decker in July 2011. If you go to the thread I started on basket culture you can see what it looked like as a single growth 9"LS plant.

So today:














The original growth is indeed the two yellow leaves (that sacrificed themselves for the new growths). The roots are coming out of the basket on all sides and the bottom. The individual leaves on the new growths are 12" apiece, the plant span is pushing 20" with the leaves being somewhat upright. I pulled that small yellowing leaf off the bottom of the new growth and found a whole new growth sprouting.

I have seen it twice now (in print) that K lite will ultimately cause death from K deprivation, as it is just a matter of time before all the stored K in old growth is used up.

Logically this cannot be the case for seedlings that have no old growth with stored up K to tap into. The total biomass of this plant is now multiple times greater than the original plant and the moss I stuck it in. Realizing that plants really make the most of their mass from thin air (as far as carbon and water go), it doesn't appear that this plant is nutrient deprived by the present fert regime after 19 months in this system.


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## mormodes (Feb 3, 2013)

Picture me whining in jealousy, like a german shepard puppy at the end of its leash.


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## wjs2nd (Feb 3, 2013)

Looks great! What kind of humidity do you have? I like using moss (sphag) but it usually drys out pretty quick for me.


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## biothanasis (Feb 3, 2013)

They look great!!!


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## Rick (Feb 3, 2013)

wjs2nd said:


> Looks great! What kind of humidity do you have? I like using moss (sphag) but it usually drys out pretty quick for me.



It pretty much stays above 70%.

Besides the wet wall, I have a fogger hooked up to a humidistat (set at 70%). Often the gauge is ready 80-90%.


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## wjs2nd (Feb 3, 2013)

Thanks Rick. I really like the basket culture but it think, with my grow conditions, I would have better luck using S/H culture. I don't have a kovachii yet but would like to get one. Was it the 99.00 dollar one you bought from Glen?


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## keithrs (Feb 3, 2013)

I'm jealous Rick!


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## NYEric (Feb 3, 2013)

Good luck. Pk is not easy to grow.


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## Rick (Feb 3, 2013)

wjs2nd said:


> Thanks Rick. I really like the basket culture but it think, with my grow conditions, I would have better luck using S/H culture. I don't have a kovachii yet but would like to get one. Was it the 99.00 dollar one you bought from Glen?



Yup (don't tell my wifeoke


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## JeanLux (Feb 4, 2013)

Dramatic growth for a 18 months' period !!!! I am going to buy some more material for baskets  !!!! Jean


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## dodidoki (Feb 4, 2013)

Very nice plant, Rick!
My experience , too, that kovachiis like high humidity.


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## quietaustralian (Feb 4, 2013)

Looking good. Just wondering if the new growths were lacking in K so the original growth took a dive. Joking!


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## Rick (Mar 16, 2013)

4 new growths just started up last week. The biggest leaves are now 12-14" long


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## Shiva (Mar 16, 2013)

It would be nice to compare this to other kovachiis of the same age growing in different mediums.

So I'll volunteer a first picture of my kovachii ('Jewel' x sib)





It has three growths with the two back growths, each making nearly 20 inches leaf span. The plant grows in Aussie Gold Mix watered by and ebb and flow system once every day. I add a dose of high pH water (8pH) to the plant every few days. The plant is about the same age as yours and the pot is mostly filled with roots.


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## Rick (Mar 16, 2013)

Looking good Shiva!

What are "back growths"?


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## Shiva (Mar 16, 2013)

I meant old growths at the back. :rollhappy:


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## Rick (Mar 16, 2013)

Shiva said:


> I meant old growths at the back. :rollhappy:


Where they previously bloomed, or was one the original seedling?


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## Paphman910 (Mar 16, 2013)

It is growing in pure moss?


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## Carper (Mar 16, 2013)

Great growing Rick. Are you feeding the k-lite strength and ph the same to the pk as all your other plants. What is the ph of your k-lite that your giving them?

Gary
UK


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## dodidoki (Mar 16, 2013)

Both are very great looking plant! Can't wait to see their flowers!


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## Rick (Mar 16, 2013)

dodidoki said:


> Both are very great looking plant! Can't wait to see their flowers!


Me too! When's the normal blooming season start? They're going to do it this year...( I can tell:wink.


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## Rick (Mar 16, 2013)

Carper said:


> Great growing Rick. Are you feeding the k-lite strength and ph the same to the pk as all your other plants. What is the ph of your k-lite that your giving them?
> 
> Gary
> UK



So far this winter K lite at 50ppm N (per week) with no pH adjustment so its under 7.0 all the time. The irrigation water is also very weak ionic strength with alkalinity around 10-20ppm. pH around 7. Really no difference than anything else in the GH.


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## Shiva (Mar 16, 2013)

Rick said:


> Where they previously bloomed, or was one the original seedling?



No flower yet, but I have high hopes for this year.


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## Carper (Mar 16, 2013)

My k-lite mix @ 50 ppm N with RO comes out at around 6.0 ph. The RO water has a PH of around 7 so the feed must be lowering it slightly and just wondered whether this might be too low for PK. Our tap water is very hard with a high PPM and don't add any to my mixes. I may add rain water but rarely need too.

Gary
UK


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## Rick (Mar 16, 2013)

Carper said:


> My k-lite mix @ 50 ppm N with RO comes out at around 6.0 ph. The RO water has a PH of around 7 so the feed must be lowering it slightly and just wondered whether this might be too low for PK. Our tap water is very hard with a high PPM and don't add any to my mixes. I may add rain water but rarely need too.
> 
> Gary
> UK



I haven't been measuring pH on a regular basis. Just a couple of random batches. TDS gets measured frequently. There's a little bit of Cichlid sand in the basket (if it hasn't washed out). That could supply some extra pH control and alkalinity, but last time I did a pour through, alkalinity wasn't very high. I don't think pH outside of normal 5.5-6.5 is an issue for PK, but becomes and issue depending on the type of nitrogen you supply (nitrate vs ammonia). Hardness is the measure of calcium and magnesium. If you were feeding a high K fert, these could become deficient in the plant if you were watering with RO or soft water.


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## Ron-NY (Mar 16, 2013)

Rick said:


> Me too! When's the normal blooming season start? They're going to do it this year...( I can tell:wink.


They are winter/spring bloomers. I see JPMC has one blooming now http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29084

So I would have expected to be in spike already.


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## Carper (Mar 16, 2013)

I have a seedling plant which I nearly lost. It has 3 growths, the largest about 6 ins across. However, I repotted it a few months ago in small bark & perlite. It is very slow, but having a closer look today I can see new roots making their way through the perlite. I stand in a few mm of RO water then let dry out to damp and feed with the k-lite weekly by passing through the pot. Do the seedlings tend to be very slow until established then pick up speed?.

I take it my present feeding regime is good for PK.

Gary
UK


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## Rick (Mar 16, 2013)

Carper said:


> I have a seedling plant which I nearly lost. It has 3 growths, the largest about 6 ins across. However, I repotted it a few months ago in small bark & perlite. It is very slow, but having a closer look today I can see new roots making their way through the perlite. I stand in a few mm of RO water then let dry out to damp and feed with the k-lite weekly by passing through the pot. Do the seedlings tend to be very slow until established then pick up speed?.
> 
> I take it my present feeding regime is good for PK.
> 
> ...


Slow versus fast is relative, but I started with this plant around 9" and its been going great guns from the start.


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## abax (Mar 17, 2013)

I hope you see a bud soon. I'd love to see a PK that I actually like. The
plant looks wonderful.


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## dodidoki (Mar 17, 2013)

I expect flowers from first of mine, too.
I have two plants, both do well. Second one produced an "interesting" root: I covered the base of plant with sphagnum and this sily root is growing upwards into sphagnum..

My another question: how can I take higher res. pic, than 97 KB. It is very small.....


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## cnycharles (Mar 17, 2013)

what kind of camera? they usually have settings for low medium and high resolution.
or, do you mean how can you upload a larger picture?


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## dodidoki (Mar 17, 2013)

cnycharles said:


> what kind of camera? they usually have settings for low medium and high resolution.
> or, do you mean how can you upload a larger picture?



I could make pic about at 8-10 MB with my camera, but forum allows to upload up to only 97 kB. What you can see from me are about 95 kB pics ( exactly 95,3). If I tried to increase resoution, I always get this message from server that I exceeded 97 kB .....
But I see everytime that you send higher resol. pics....


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## cnycharles (Mar 17, 2013)

oh, I see. 
if you upload directly to the slippertalk forum's server you will get the message saying to keep underneath 97k (small) to save space (a lot of storage space would cost more money). 

most of us upload a picture somewhere else, and then post the link on the slippertalk page. if you do this, your file can be as large as you want and there isn't any storage space used on the slippertalk server. 

if you have somewhere where you can store files on the internet, you can upload a picture to there, or you can get a picture posting account on some of the photo places on the internet like flickr etc. I use space on our orchid club account because they have a huge amount of storage and use very little of it, though I do have a flickr (I think) account that I haven't used yet, in case I no longer have access to the club's space


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## dodidoki (Mar 17, 2013)

Many thanks for advice!


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## Silvan (Mar 17, 2013)

great looking plants you all have.. can't wait to see them all in bloom next year around this time  

Shiva, do you find "Jewel" more difficult than the "laura x Ana" ?


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## Shiva (Mar 18, 2013)

Silvan said:


> great looking plants you all have.. can't wait to see them all in bloom next year around this time
> 
> Shiva, do you find "Jewel" more difficult than the "laura x Ana" ?



I only have Jewel for now. But I'll be able to compare when I get the Laura and Anna cross next weekend from Glen Decker.


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## Rick (Mar 18, 2013)

The plant I'm growing is LauraXAnna, but since its the only PK I have, I can't compare it to any other crosses either.


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