Today we will address the question of watering Orchids in leca and the semi hydroponic system. It will be quite the detailed discussion as well :)
▼▼▼More info below!▼▼▼
First of all let's get the traditions out of the way: IF orchids are potted in the traditional, organic media, then you should really stick to the rules. Here is what the rues are:
How to water Phalaenopsis https://youtu.be/2sO3IrT4AA8
How to water Cattleya https://youtu.be/zn0Lg5EjcuE
How to water Oncidium https://youtu.be/STMu6PWn6TI
And some others that don't have media:
How to water Vandas https://youtu.be/jLW4Qf7CGnc
How to water mounted orchids https://youtu.be/Yyzo8L54Ui4
Now if you are here to learn about semi hydroponics watering, you'll need to forget pretty much everything I said in those videos :)
First a tutorial on my spray pump technique https://youtu.be/-jMmm_0oE-4
The rules of watering orchids have been created because of their media, not because of the actual orchid. In nature they could dry out in between rain.. or not. They could have their root systems dry.. or not. Nature doesn't run on schedules and nor do the roots.
What does pose problems is the medium. Coco husk, bark, sphagnum moss, they're all good.. if they were alive. But we use them already stripped from their habitat and dried. This means they will start to decompose and pose problems to orchids the wetter they stay. They will need to dry out to avoid or delay complications.
Inorganic media doesn't organically decompose, therefore half the problem is solved. The other half (even moisture, great air exposure, functionality etc) is solved by the setup. Semi hydro caters for the basic needs: water and air. All other factors, such as fertilizer, temperature, offering adequate sized pots and other things, those are still our responsibility. But things are much better when we don;t care about root rot and when, how and if we should water orchids ;)
The air quantity in semi hydro pots explained https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_packing
More on semi hydro https://youtu.be/iTuZmwqdoPQ
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✿ My Orchid growing setup explained:
Watering: https://youtu.be/pSnIyzAbaK0
Pots: https://youtu.be/D0ykLRsT3FU
Light: https://youtu.be/U-0kgmLC3Jc
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