My "water culture" experiment

[Cjcorner]

I've seen Asco. types potted like a cattleya. I have also seen them in baskets with coconut fiber. I'm not sure if this would work on one, but theres always a first time for everything! lol

[Cjcorner]

Since asked I went back and took a few more pics which inspired me to go outside and rescue a few more with the water culture method. So far, I have only tried this on phals, although I've heard it also works on cattleya types as well. That may be my next post as I have one or two laying around trying to grow new pieces.

First: Obtain some clear, or semi clear containers. I like the ones we get from the deli. Clear containers allow me to see what is going on with the water and roots.

Second: Remove the phalaenopsis from it's current container. Remove ALL material whether wood or moss from the roots. Also be careful to remove dead material around the base of the phal, where the roots are attached. Cut off all dead roots, leave only the healthiest rooots.

Third: Soak your phals in Physan 20 or another anti-fungal, anti-bacterial mix for 3-10 minutes, depending on the size of the plant. Let the plant hang upside down in an area with very good air movement to get all water out of the crown of the phal.

Fourth: Place the phal in clear plastic container suited to the size of the roots. For very small plants, I use a water bottle, cut a small notch , and use the notch to hold the leaf above the edge. The bottle can be cut as short or tall as necessary to keep the roots from touching the bottom of the container. Then add tap water up to the roots, I try to leave the bottom of the plant above the water line. If possible, only the roots are in the water.

Here are some pics I hope show the water line and finished plants. This first picture shows a plant after it has been through the initial cleaning and soaking and is in it's new water culture home.



This second plant has been in water for over two months. I removed it yesterday from it's water, removed roots that didn't convert to the water culture, rinsed the container with physan water, replaced the plant and filled with fresh water. You can see some of the new roots, they are all from the last month or so.



The third pic shows another of the original two, this is the one throwing off keikeis' and growing a leaf at the same time. It's main root just touches the water.



This plant needed more material removed from the base as well, and it's container also cleaned and fresh water added.



I'll do one more post to show the group....

[Cjcorner]

The entire water culture group now....



When you mix up a bucket of water with fertilizer, keep a bottle to the side to top off the water for your water culture group. It's also good at first to add a drop or two of SuperThrive into the water as well. It will help promote good root growth.

Hope this helped. I was having trouble with my camera program or i'd have done a thorough picture by picture post.

[Phyrex]

Looking good Connie. I think I might try this with my paph that has been sitting there with one bad root.

[blrnut]

Thanks for the pics and the details, Connie.. I've a phal seedling that I will try this on.

Satish

[delphiguy]

ah thanks for sharing this.

[Cjcorner]

I decided the water culture experiment was going well....but really messy to keep up with. So, yesterday I put them into S/H, even added a couple more plants to the group. Here are the S/H 10...one weirdo is a catt struggling to survive, there's always got to be one strange one in any group.



The two newbies...these went straight to s/h. I used a plastic stick to hold the cattleya just above the clay pellets.