I have have transitioned a phal very easily to full water culture. I was lucky and plant acted like transition never happened. Researched my phrag pearcei 'Green Godess' a bit and wondered if it might be happy in either semi or full water culture? Has anyone tried their phrags this way and how did the transition go? Did it work better in semi or full culture? I'm curious to see if it would work, but don't want to try if I would most likely lose the plant. Appreciate any thoughts/advice/personal experience you may have to share.
Phrag pearcei/water culture
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Kalyke
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Pardon me if I am wrong here but most phrags with very few exceptions, are kept in a bowl or "saucer" of water. Semi hydro is created by using a pot that does not drain with the drain holes lifted at maybe 1 inch above the base. So both are semi-hydroponic. There are some differences, of course, and one is that semi-hydro is often done using lecca or expanded clay pellets-- meaning the drainage is also super fast. But in semi hydro you can use bark, moss, rock wool or anything else but you just have to re-pot and change medium more often. So I would say that most phrags are already in "semi hydro" as far as the mechanics of the definition of semi hydro go. Both could be seen as "standing water" at the bottom of the pot. Is this correct? Ray is an expert of this, so he would know.
Hah! I think folks get too hung up on what things are and what they are not.
The way I originally defined "semi-hydroponics" - simply as a way of differentiating it from "traditional" culture and the active types of hydroculture - was as a passive-hydroponic technique utilizing inorganic media. The "reservoir" could be internal (pot with holes in the sidewall, or external (sitting in a tray).
If you want to look at it a bit more broadly, one might consider the pot culture of all epiphytic orchids to be "hydroponic", as the plants (unlike terrestrials) get no real nutrition from the medium, which is there primarily as mechanical support and for some temporary water and nutrient storage.
The way I originally defined "semi-hydroponics" - simply as a way of differentiating it from "traditional" culture and the active types of hydroculture - was as a passive-hydroponic technique utilizing inorganic media. The "reservoir" could be internal (pot with holes in the sidewall, or external (sitting in a tray).
If you want to look at it a bit more broadly, one might consider the pot culture of all epiphytic orchids to be "hydroponic", as the plants (unlike terrestrials) get no real nutrition from the medium, which is there primarily as mechanical support and for some temporary water and nutrient storage.
I was not keeping mine sitting in water. Just pouring water through often. Figured media would break down too quickly and/or end up with rot. Semantics/definitions aside, I was considering placing the phrag in a pot (no media) with either A) only most distal 1/4 of roots in water for cycle of 5 days with 2 dry days B) vast majority of roots in water constantly for 3-4 days followed by 3-4 days of drying out. Thoughts on which might be better? Yes, I know I have to get those roots super clean of media, keep base of roots out of water and be vigilant for rot.
I am not a fan of “media-less” growing. Plants grow better when they are mechanically stable - “pot bound” or with lots of roots clinging to a mount.
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