besseae culture

[Stone]

Just bought a flask of these. I have never grown them.
Could growers give me an idea of the best way? Especially temps (rest?) but also any other info like water, mix, light etc etc.
Thanks

 

[theorchidzone]

Water heavily every day or every other day. Never let dry. We don't advise sitting in saucers of water, but if you are away on vacation for instance, it is the less of evils. [that said, I think some people have great success in Ebb/flow or related set ups; but fresh water remains important]
Clean water is very important.
Temp range 45F-85F. I would worry above this range.
Low light. Weak fertilizer.
Good air movement.
JC

 

[MorandiWine]

Invest in an RO unit. All of your orchids will thank you, especially seedlings.

Tyler


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[Stone]

Water heavily every day or every other day. Never let dry. We don't advise sitting in saucers of water, but if you are away on vacation for instance, it is the less of evils. [that said, I think some people have great success in Ebb/flow or related set ups; but fresh water remains important]
Clean water is very important.
Temp range 45F-85F. I would worry above this range.
Low light. Weak fertilizer.
Good air movement.
JC

Thank you JC

 

[Stone]

Invest in an RO unit. All of your orchids will thank you, especially seedlings.

Tyler


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Thanks Tyler. I have plenty of rainwater on hand. 26,000 litres Funny though that last time I checked the pH it was about 4.5!!

 

[ALToronto]

Thanks Tyler. I have plenty of rainwater on hand. 26,000 litres Funny though that last time I checked the pH it was about 4.5!!

Acid rain never went away, it's just not in the news anymore.

 

[Kawarthapine]

Alla. What is your PH for Toronto rain and what do you do to adjust (if you use it)?

 

[Stone]

Acid rain never went away, it's just not in the news anymore.

Acid rain is not an issue here. probably CO2 and or decomposing OM in the tank. (it's under a tree)

 

[gonewild]

probably CO2 and or decomposing OM in the tank. (it's under a tree)

Then it's not rain water it is pond water. And represents "dirty" water in JC's advice to use clean water.

 

[MorandiWine]

Agreed!!


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[Stone]

Then it's not rain water it is pond water. And represents "dirty" water in JC's advice to use clean water.

No it's rain water. I comes off the roof the the shed, the glasshouse, the workshop. There is a small meshed opening on top where a bit of organic material collects. The water is extremely clean.

 

[gonewild]

No it's rain water. I comes off the roof the the shed, the glasshouse, the workshop. There is a small meshed opening on top where a bit of organic material collects. The water is extremely clean.

Now you change your story.
If you have 26000L and enough decomposing organic matter from a tree above to lower the pH to 4.5 It's not clean rain water. It may be good quality water but it does not conform to standard "rainwater" when talking about irrigation and fertilizers.

 

[ALToronto]

Alla. What is your PH for Toronto rain and what do you do to adjust (if you use it)?

I don't use rain water, I use RO. We have asphalt shingles on our roof, and lots of squirrels and raccoons visit it. I don't want that runoff.

 

[Rick]

Now you change your story.
If you have 26000L and enough decomposing organic matter from a tree above to lower the pH to 4.5 It's not clean rain water. It may be good quality water but it does not conform to standard "rainwater" when talking about irrigation and fertilizers.

Conductivity and hardness are probably more important than the pH in this case.

The buffering capacity (alkalinity) of rain water is generally so low, a sneeze will cause the pH to drop 4.

If the conductivity is up over 500 (or so) uS/cm then I'd say there's lots of stuff in this water.

 

[Brabantia]

Conductivity and hardness are probably more important than the pH in this case.

The buffering capacity (alkalinity) of rain water is generally so low, a sneeze will cause the pH to drop 4.

If the conductivity is up over 500 (or so) uS/cm then I'd say there's lots of stuff in this water.

The rain water I use has a conductivity of 15 µS. My conductivity meter is calibrated with 0.005M KCL (715 µS). I cannot measure its pH because its low conductivity (very poor in salts). Unless we have a very expensive equipment it is not possible to measure correctly the pH of a solution having a very low-salt content. Is this one a "good" rain water for my Paphs and Phrags?

 

[gonewild]

Conductivity and hardness are probably more important than the pH in this case.

The buffering capacity (alkalinity) of rain water is generally so low, a sneeze will cause the pH to drop 4.

If the conductivity is up over 500 (or so) uS/cm then I'd say there's lots of stuff in this water.

I'm confused a little.... Are you saying rainwater has up to 500 us/cm?

My meter reads in mMhos, do you know what the conversion from 500us/cm to mMhos is?

 

[Brabantia]

I suppose that you want to say mmhos for mMhos (the full name is Mmhos and abbreviation millimhos per centimetre) .

1 mmhos/cm = 1 mS/cm and 1 mS/cm = 1000µS/cm

500 µS/cm = 0.5 mmhos

Reference Here

 

[gonewild]

I suppose that you want to say mmhos for mMhos (the full name is Mmhos and abbreviation millimhos per centimetre) .

1 mmhos/cm = 1 mS/cm and 1 mS/cm = 1000µS/cm

500 µS/cm = 0.5 mmhos

Reference Here

Thanks! I never really new the abreviations. I learned in milimhos and never really read or wrote the word. I've been using the same EC meter made in Denmark by Volmatic since 1983. I think that was before the other strange measurements were invented.

0.5 mmhos is the reading I have always considered as the boundary between a good and poor quality water supply. But that's way more mineralized than rainwater.
At 500 µS/cm (0.5 mmhos) there is still room to add enough nutrients to the water without the EC becoming a problem in horticultural production.

 

[Brabantia]

Thanks! I never really new the abreviations. I learned in milimhos and never really read or wrote the word. I've been using the same EC meter made in Denmark by Volmatic since 1983. I think that was before the other strange measurements were invented.

0.5 mmhos is the reading I have always considered as the boundary between a good and poor quality water supply. But that's way more mineralized than rainwater.
At 500 µS/cm (0.5 mmhos) there is still room to add enough nutrients to the water without the EC becoming a problem in horticultural production.

And... at which value the EC became an issue in horticultural production (orchids?).

 

[gonewild]

And... at which value the EC became an issue in horticultural production (orchids?).

In horticulture production EC becomes an issue of concern above 1.5(mmhos).
If the irrigation water has an EC of 0.5 the grower can add an additional EC 1.0 of nutrients and be at EC 1.5. That nutrient level is enough to force a commercial crop of most plants and is safe as far as salts for most plants.
The benefit of starting with a low EC water source is you have the ability to supply more nutrients and still remain below the EC 1.5 upper limit. Now under ideal management of environmental conditions Phal growers are pushing to higher levels to get faster production.

What I said above would not apply to salt sensitive orchid species it is the general rule guideline for commercial production (forcing) and it actually applies well to most plants in general.