Continual irrigation so far.

[quaker]

The tap water in my region is very soft and slightly acidic. Since starting the continuous watering ( 24hr ) some 6 weeks ago today I had a look at some of the roots of phragmipediums and paphiopedilums. The compost of which some are in a bark mix and others in NZ sphagnum and is absolutely dripping wet. However all are showing excellent root growth. The new roots of both species are virtualy the same - a very light colour and very,very hard. It seems as though the plants are pushing out a root that adapts itself to its conditions, also the growths are much better and now I don't get any tip burn on the leaves. I hope that this will continue --has anyone had adverse effects using this method??

Ed

 

[likespaphs]

how do you do this? do they sit in a tray of water?
i haven't had much experience with sphag, but i've heard things do well initially then don't
i hope someone with more experience will chime into this convo

 

[John M]

Verrrrrry ineresting! Please post photos. Usually, the problem with roots that are too wet is that the moisture/potting mix in the pot goes sour/putrid because of the decomposing organic material and the lack of oxygen. Eventually, anaerobic bacteria take over and that's not good for roots. However, a continuous flow of water remains oxygenated; so, plants will often grow water adapted roots which function quite well in the very wet; but, well oxygenated conditions.

 

[quaker]

how do you do this? do they sit in a tray of water?
i haven't had much experience with sphag, but i've heard things do well initially then don't
i hope someone with more experience will chime into this convo

You will find my simple irrigation system on the phrag section dated 10/29/2011. under the heading of phrag las varines. I know that not everyone can adapt this system especially when grown in the home but an alternative is to heavily water them every day and feed sparingly and not too often. Phrags do not like to be over fertilized.I haven't fed my plants on this system since setting it in motion almost two months ago! I will take a paph out of it's pot and put a pic on this thread tomorrow.
Thanks for your input.

Ed

 

[cnycharles]

one thing i'd heard about continual irrigation is that things can grow very well, but if you have a problem with your system and the water stops then you can have problems. also the media may break down very quickly so you would have to check a lot and repot more often

 

[SlipperFan]

You will find my simple irrigation system on the phrag section dated 10/29/2011. under the heading of phrag las varines. I know that not everyone can adapt this system especially when grown in the home but an alternative is to heavily water them every day and feed sparingly and not too often. Phrags do not like to be over fertilized.I haven't fed my plants on this system since setting it in motion almost two months ago! I will take a paph out of it's pot and put a pic on this thread tomorrow.
Thanks for your input.

Ed

Ah, yes -- I remember your system. Very impressive.

 

[NYEric]

I grow mostly in hydro so I know it works, you must watch out for turning media into mush!!

 

[Rick]

The tap water in my region is very soft and slightly acidic. I hope that this will continue --has anyone had adverse effects using this method??

Ed

Ed how soft is "very soft" EPA soft has hardness of 40-50 mg/L (as CaCO3). Very soft comes in at 1/2 that (hardness ~20-30) and alkalinity ~15.

I use RO water but blend back in about 10% of my well water to get similar water quality to your mains.

My phrags are in a variety of systems. Longifolium, pearcei, richteri and caracinum are in SH that I dump and refill every few days. The media is mostly hydroton, but overgrown with moss. The long petalled phrags are in hanging baskets that get watered every day. I recently picked up a lindleyanum and some fisherii this spring/summer and left them in the bark mix they came in. I did at a tsp of "building sand" and a 1/4 tsp of aragonite (calcite) sand as top dresses, and washed them in. These also get watered almost every day, and stay pretty wet. I do feed lightly about once a week as long as its sunny.

I have found over the last couple of years, that adding the building (or play) sand does seem to keep mixes in better condition a big longer. Maybe it ups the drainage a bit.

I guess the 3 items I have potted in bark are getting the closest treatment to what you are doing, and so far they are also doing great.

I don't know if you've been following the threads on reducing potassium use, but in general the problems with leaf tip burn and erwinia have really slowed down or completely disappeared, not necessarily by feeding sparingly, but by selectively reducing the amount of potassium relative to N, Ca, and Mg.

So at this point I would anticipate good growth for your plants. May consider small dosing of calcium nitrate every now and then to add a little nitrogen.

 

[keithrs]

A while back there was a youtube video of a guy from Austria that grow his Cym.'s in continual irrigation. Pretty impressive plants...

I personally would not use organic material.....

 

[likespaphs]

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22790

interesting
i had envisioned they were sitting in a tray instead of constant top down irrigation

 

[Brabantia]

A while back there was a youtube video of a guy from Austria that grow his Cym.'s in continual irrigation. Pretty impressive plants...

I personally would not use organic material.....

And... what do you use as substrate?

 

[Ozpaph]

So, this is trickle irrigation, really.
If the drip rate is right for the media and plant it should stay moist not sodden.

 

[keithrs]

And... what do you use as substrate?

Hydroton, perlite, growstones, diatomite, dyna rok, rockwool, epiweb.....

 

[Rick]

So, this is trickle irrigation, really.
If the drip rate is right for the media and plant it should stay moist not sodden.

Yes.

Around here I here it called drip irrigation. It was pushed primarily for water conservation of general garden or GH watering typically using spray systems.

There are bunch of different "emmitters" that I've seen marketed for the ends of the tubes too if you wanted to add more stuff.

You can also put a timer on the main inlet valve if you wanted to reduce the total watering time rather than have it drip continuouly.

They also make soil humidity sensors that turn the system on/off when it senses a minimal level of desired pot moisture.

They also make a system for outdoor growers that shuts the system down when rainfall is detected.

 

[keithrs]

Other types of drip systems are drip line, soaker hose, and drip rings. There are also adjustable emitters to fine tune your system.

 

[keithrs]

Are you using a drain to waste or recirculating?

 

[quaker]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Here is a pic of Paphiopedilum kolopokingii x glaucaphylum that has been in the sysyem for 6 weeks. The last leaf has grown in that time.

 

[quaker]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

And here is the pic of the roots---the light coloured ones are the new growth over six weeks.

 

[SlipperFan]

Great looking roots, and plant!

 

[quaker]

Ed how soft is "very soft" EPA soft has hardness of 40-50 mg/L (as CaCO3). Very soft comes in at 1/2 that (hardness ~20-30) and alkalinity ~15.

I use RO water but blend back in about 10% of my well water to get similar water quality to your mains.

My phrags are in a variety of systems. Longifolium, pearcei, richteri and caracinum are in SH that I dump and refill every few days. The media is mostly hydroton, but overgrown with moss. The long petalled phrags are in hanging baskets that get watered every day. I recently picked up a lindleyanum and some fisherii this spring/summer and left them in the bark mix they came in. I did at a tsp of "building sand" and a 1/4 tsp of aragonite (calcite) sand as top dresses, and washed them in. These also get watered almost every day, and stay pretty wet. I do feed lightly about once a week as long as its sunny.

I have found over the last couple of years, that adding the building (or play) sand does seem to keep mixes in better condition a big longer. Maybe it ups the drainage a bit.

I guess the 3 items I have potted in bark are getting the closest treatment to what you are doing, and so far they are also doing great.

I don't know if you've been following the threads on reducing potassium use, but in general the problems with leaf tip burn and erwinia have really slowed down or completely disappeared, not necessarily by feeding sparingly, but by selectively reducing the amount of potassium relative to N, Ca, and Mg.

So at this point I would anticipate good growth for your plants. May consider small dosing of calcium nitrate every now and then to add a little nitrogen.

Before starting this system I top-dressed the phrags with blood and bone fertizer every 6 months so I will probably continue this in the New Year.