What type of dendrobiums did not like the s/h?

I tried a no Id Den/Phal type, bigibum compactum and a kingianum.

Here are a few of the set ups.

Mo have a Brassia, Cymbidium, Zygopetalum in this type of pot. The medium is Hydroton, there is a reservoir at the bottom and a drainage hole at the side.

This is a wick type pot set up

Above is Dendrochilum with PET fiber as the medium. I also use these pots for Masdevallia, Phrags, and Miltoniopsis

This is a home made set up. The wick was made from a synthetic mop and the medium is a mix of Hydroton and Orchiata bark . I like this because the net basket allows air movement but the mix stays damp

This one uses the pot to wick up the water. The medium is sphagnum, I keep the water in the glass so it just touches the bottom of the pot.

I haven't used these yet but you fill the middle with water ant the ceramic wicks it to the outside of the pot.

Where did you get the pot in the last picture?

I had seen those in pictures online but could not find them for sale anywhere. I tried to create my own by glueing together two tall terra-cotta pots and closing the bottom hole on one of the pots. I found regular terra cotta pots too porous so the Bulbo that I had attached to it was always sopping wet.

I am also experimenting with semi hydro since we had Tom Voytilla from "The Orchid House" as a speaker at our orchid society meeting last June. For me Dendros do best, I have several hybrids growing and blooming happily. I had seen some people grow Neo`s in s/h but that did not work for me, it killed them almost instantly. A lot of people in my OS grow Paphs and Phrags in s/h very successfully.

The idea with the wicks is cool, I need to try that as well.

Love your sunroom set up with the glass shelfs in front of the windows.

The company is Kool logs see the link below

http://www.kool-logs.com/

Thank you!

I love the set up and the room. James, why do you wick over using the resovoir technique? Are there advantages?

Thank you both

I do have some reservoir type and I think they both work as well as the other.

One thing I like with the wick pots is that it is easy to change the water in the reservoir. The water gets slimy after a while so I change it once a week and rinse the outer pot. To change the water in the other type you have to hold the pot upside down.

You can do the two pot method and let the media wick up the water but I feel the media that is under water gets nasty.

I also like the look of the wicking pots. My wife is picky about the pots I bring into the house and Chinese food containers wouldn't fly.

Back in the mid-2000's I had most of my collection in Ray's S/H setup. I had an issue with phals in the winter getting too cold (@60 degrees in my orchid room/spare bedroom during cold winter nights, but in S/H they struggled), but my Oncs, Dend-phals, phiaus' and catts seemed to do really well. I stopped doing S/H for a couple of reasons: 1) I grow a lot of phals 2) It was messy to deal with the old media 3) The green slime in the pots. The main benefit was the ease of dealing with watering, just top them off and flush once a month.

Eventually, I lost 95% of my plants (@150) in 2009 to a serious fungal 'thing', but that was my fault (back surgery leading to inattention for several months). Once they were gone, I started back using more 'traditional' medias.

YMMV,

Bob

Darlene, how did your Coelogyne do with SH? I´m trying to adjust my C. Flaccida to SH since she hasn´t bloomed nor given new growth lately.

Raul, this thread is four years old! Coel. flaccida doesn't need Semi Hydro. Where are you in the world and what are your growing conditions.

Thanks for your reply, Arthurm. I knew the post was old but was sure there was somebody "awaken." lol.

I live in Argentina, near Buenos Aires capital. My summers can reach 104 F (only for few days anyway) , but my balcony is too HOT and dry all the summer. Winters can sometimes be cold to very cold, like this year: about 32 to 39 F for several days during the night. Humidity tends to be very high in my zone -no less than 75% in winter, but tends to be lower in summer and spring. I guess I´m not in the exactly better conditions for Coelogyne, especially with such a hot and dry balcony. But anyway I have a nice indoors laundry room anyway -facing the south- where I have practically all my plants. The humidity there is sure higher, but lighting is quite lower -about 50 to 60% -. Oncidiums grow very well there i.e. Not direct sun in that place.

I bought the plant this year in autumn, but she didn´t give new growths nor spikes (anything) in five months. Logically, she was in rest period,.. but so long? We´re very near spring here and all well cultivated coelogynes in this country are producing spikes.

So, last week I decided to dismount it. The roots were adhered VERY firmly to VERY LARGE pieces of bark, but they all look healthy. I made the mistake to wet them until the bark would get separated from the roots (instead of maintaining the whole thing together). But I was sure to move it into SH in fact. I still haven´t mount it ; just prepared the leca...

The retailer told me that she didn´t bloom just because I didn´t give her enough cold in winter (and kept her in my laundry room); but she said that too late. Not sure if that was the only reason... I didn´t like SO big pieces of bark and so much slow release fertilizer everywhere in the mix during the rest period. Who knows if the bark wasn´t too old too.

Second mistake: I didn´t wait for it to give new growths before repotting... But OK, what is done is done.

Here I´m sending to you two pics: one from when she came in March (the one on the left). The older leaves dried out and fell; and the other picture is from right now, still dismounted.

Why do you say she doesn´t "need" SH by the way? When do you use that method then?

Many thanks for your interest.

Here are some pics of Coel. flaccida and friends (closely related orchids).

Coelogyne flaccida and related orchids

Here is Sydney, Australia where Coel flaccida is a beginners orchid. Latitude is almost 34S.

Coel. flaccida is cool tolerant in winter down to just above 0c at night, with a warm up during the day to say 16C.

Easily grown in a shade-house, best in a hanging basket so that it can get air movement and the racemes can hang down. Potting material should never be allowed to get completely dry.

No Shade-House! find a spot with morning sun and protection from searing sun in the afternoon.

Sorry, no one uses the Semi Hydro method here. You might have to grow your plant indoors and move it out to the balcony when the weather cools down in late autumn.

Hi, Arthur! Thanks for the message.

I guess the two of us have similar environments due the latitude. The plant is somehow thriving in S/H and is producing a rhizome she had never showed. Also about two spikes / growths but very slowly.

The temps have been freezing so I have it indoors. As soon as the days warm up I´ll put in my balcony and perhaps she ends up giving those "things" she is intending to. The point is exactly what Darlene asked: how to deal with the rest period, that in the case of C. Flaccida is exactly NOW and S/H wouldn´t comply with it.

Anyway I´m trying to move EVERYTHING to S/H since it´s the only method that ensures a constant humidity I can not provide in a flat by other means. The rest of the plants I have in S/H are doing well too.