I have not had much success with orchids in the past and killed many plants. Now I'm determined to do better, so I've got them in different planting mediums to see how well they do. I have 3 plants in expanded clay aggregates, also known as hydrotons, I think. It always feels dry as the medium is supposed to trap the water inside but the outside is dry. Then it releases moisture slowly and the roots absorb it so there is no root rot. The roots look very healthy - green and fat, and one of them even has 2 new shoots coming out and they look very healthy! I am very happy about the roots and shoots. But the leaves tend to be limp and dry. The lowest leaf is now starting to yellow, but I understand this to be normal? But its not normal for the top leaves to be sort of limp and striated. You can basically see the veins a little bit, like it doesn't have enough water? I water these once a week.

I have recently started to add 1/2 inch water at the bottom of the pot, which has holes and sits in another outer pot. Then the water is slowly wicked up to the rest of the clay, but anything above the half inch is dry on the outside, so the roots are not sitting in any water.

If anyone has experience planting orchids in hydrotons, I would appreciate your advice.

Thank you!

Irene