How to Grow Orchids in Semi-hydro - Answering your questions! Water, Fertiliser, Flowering & Repots

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thanks so much for watching everyone! Let me know any other questions or thoughts down below 🙂🌸 Hope this video was useful!

[@kaiserbrett9266]

instaBlaster

[@NicoleDeanna]

The grow room looks lovely and your orchids all look so healthy. My favorite thing I learned from you is the non wicking pebble top layer. I've been implementing it on all my semi hydro repots. It's working out nicely and I'm seeing success with the grow method. Now if only my cat would stop trying to take the pebbles off 😂 Does Muffin mess with your orchids? Would love to see how you keep muffin away 🙂

[@pattymorrowparkerparker7789]

Welcome back! Been missing your videos. Good info, thanks for taking the time to answer all the questions.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou 🤗😘

[@orchidgarden3124]

Your collection is HUGE, and beautiful! So many gorgeous blooms. Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful advice and guidance.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou as always, I really appreciate it 🥰🙂 Need to get my act together and make some flower videos, but this time of year it's alot of NoIDs!

[@AngelLerinsCollections]

Love to see your colorful collection ma'am 😍

[@ngatran4541]

Thanks you very much , your orchids so beautiful.

[@NinjaOrchids]

Listened while cleaning up the patio from a very disrespectful gardener's work earlier this morning... he was busy on the outside of the perimeter and all his junk dropped into my patio! I was listening and putting a check mark on every point ... except silicone... which I do supplement for 6 months only (during the summer) but... I will watch out for the points you mention regarding too much silicone thank you 🌸 I hope you are doing well 🧜🏽‍♀️

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Sorry about the gardener giving you even more work!! 😥 Hope you and King are well 💗

[@ancientorchids]

Nina from Ninja! Love your videos as well...you two ladies are amazing, thanks so much for sharing all your expertise with us!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@NinjaOrchids]

@@ancientorchids 🤸🏼‍♀️🤸🏼‍♀️😑💐

[@darcylyon1870]

Where did your Vanda video go? The one with the birds going on? That was the best information out here

[@andredumas9547]

Hello Annabelle, that is a lot of important information, I will have to replay this video a few times. Much appreciated thanks for sharing this with us.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi Andre! Thankyou! I always feel I missed things out of these videos, but I guess if I put everything it it would be very long and rambly 😆 Thabkyou for watching!

[@wandashaw3551]

Thank you, Annabel! This FAQ was just what I needed! Over the past several months I've switched the majority of my collection to LECA in self watering! So far so good, but your video answered so many questions that I was curious about! 😍

[@TheOrchidRoom]

No problem Wanda! Since I get the same questions alot I thought I probably hadn't made some of these things too clear 🙃 Glad if it helped at all!

[@plantorchidshubby9497]

Healthy beautiful orchids

[@marygorchidsmore2058]

Great informative video! Looking forward to see your orchid room update and the orchid wall. Thanks for sharing and happy growing. 😊

[@juliapaust4840]

Hi Anabell, I adore your collection. It's marvelous. 💖💖 Super Special Edition, thank you very much! Great

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou! 🙂😘

[@CheeryOrchids]

I definitely agree on the electric sprayer🤗 I use a 2in1, can be battery operated or manual and it really saves time and effort😊 You have beautiful orchid collection and interesting way of growing them 😍

[@TheOrchidRoom]

I can't believe it took me so long to get an electric one! It's a life changer, cuts watering times in half! Thankyou 🙂💗

[@bettapalfish9057]

Thank you for this video. It was very informative and your orchids are healthy and gorgeous. You really love orchids.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou 🙂😘

[@ioanatanase4626]

Hi Annabel. Your orchids look amazing. Thanks for sharing with us your experience and knowledge. 😍

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou! 🙂💗

[@helenhawkins4054]

Made sense , definitely useful.👍

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thanks Helen 🙂😘

[@KP-gw5zv]

Since I have been watching your videos from your old place to the new place I never realized just how large your collection is. From what I can see it is a large collection which looks green, lush and healthy. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and answers to so many questions. This is helpful to me and how I look after my orchids. One question is: How are the Maxillaria doing when you used the three in different types of media? I am really wanting to add this orchid to my collection and Koyadama is the way I am thinking of going with it. What are your thoughts. Anyways love this video and have a wonderful day.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi Kim, the update I posted recently was after over 7 months in those different media kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXyai6Nupc6IqNU . So they are basically the same, all flowering now!

[@deniseweintraub1137]

great videos

[@LegumesEtFleurs]

Very informative video. But too much to bear for my simple mind. Lol. Honestly, I only fertilized my orchids on the first year I got them (2015) then, nothing follows. Most are phals, only one Oncidium and another which I could not identify. I bought most of them at Ikea and the rest from the supermarket. They haven been flowering year after year, although not as many as when the first time I got them but I am happy with that. I bought two phals last Sunday at the garden center and hope they will do well. I repotted them the same day. Back in my home country (Philippines), my Mom only fertilizes with urine mixed with water and boy, they flower abundantly. I remember we had this denrobium-phal ( before moving house) attached to a Moringa tree that flowered abundantly almost through-out the year.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Optimal growth vs fine growth are very different things 🙂 Do what you're happy with, and I'll do what I'm happy with. I'm always striving for optimal growth and the best I can achieve in a set home environment with its own challenges, where watering with urea based Nitrogen would be an absolute no due to lower temperatures. Ammonia form Nitrogen is absorbed best at high temperatures, and can therefore burn roots in lower temperatures, you see. Organic media like bark has an inherent nutrient value, and in nature bird poop, rotting leaves, decomposing debris, all provides nutrients. Very different to a pot full of rocks, which is how I grow. People say to me, well I've been growing my orchid with no fertiliser and it does fine. I think thats great for them. But could it have done better with more optimal conditions? We will never know (except where I compared my mums no fertiliser to my fertiliser conditions 😆) but I suspect so. I'm not sure why it's too much to bear, but I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it! I try to provide very in depth information and detail, so maybe that isn't for everyone 🤷‍♀️ It's the type of content I enjoy making, maybe because I've spent so long in a research field, so it's just me I'm afraid. I try to take a fact based, research backed approach, and think my results speak for themselves in many cases 🙃

[@bamanana9093]

I have a synthic question for you, if you don’t mind. We can not buy it in the US, nor can I find information about it. I would like to try it in my semi hydro. The way you use it and describe how it functions in your set up, I must wonder if it is some sort of microfiber product. IF my assumption is correct, I found microfiber mop heads at the Dollar Tree that are made with long microfiber ropes that are intermittently tied to keep the long strands together. This feature made it easy to cut the long ropes from the mop heads without the strands falling apart all over. Being a microfiber mop, the strands are water retentive and wicking. I am somewhat hesitant to add it to my own system, since I know so little about the actual make up of synthic. May I please have your thoughts?

[@MelissaWalker82]

Stellar video!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou for all the moral support! 💗🥰

[@BasiePlants]

Omg I felt so bad that I was counting to 10 (or 30, because I have a big monstera in SH 😂) and not really checking if that was enough, but now I see Queen of SH does it herself so I feel much better. Patent idea: Electric pump watering tank WITH a built in heater and pH+ppm meter - wouldn't that be magical? 😂

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Yassss, I walk around my grow room going " one two three, four five six, seven eight nine ten" on repeat, like I'm dancing 🤣 the big reservoirs get a twenty 🤣 or I count slower. Technical right 😘 Yes great idea! If I could just add water, set desired pH and it did the rest and stirred that would be amazing 😆 I end up shaking the tank up if I need to add more nutes, it heavyyy 💪

[@tanugaur5341]

Beautiful flowers and a really helpful and informative video. 😊 Annabel do you give all the orchids equal feed ( 200ppm ) cos some people mention that dendrobium and Vandas are heavy feeders

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi! If you want to see a more detailed fertiliser video for the active growing season , this one shows composition and adjustment for different orchid types. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmmaXnuZhNqFiqc Larger, faster growing orchids require more nutrients when actively growing. As mentioned in this video, in summer I go from 300-500ppm depending on the orchid size and growth 🙃 You want to be looking at the individual element breakdown rather than overall ppm though.

[@tanugaur5341]

Thanks , sure sounds great advice 😀

[@tanugaur5341]

Can charcoal be added as a part of inorganic medium

[@TheOrchidRoom]

If you want, I don't know what purpose it would serve really as it doesn't hold moisture very well

[@sleepgas]

I wonder if you could do a video of how And where you set up your plants: the warm plants I know the vandas should go where it's sunny....and the colder plants ( I get confused as to which are the colder plants) in which part of your greenhouse..

[@TheOrchidRoom]

They're all in the same temperature range, the masdevallias live upstairs, I did a bit of an explanation with the nelly islers in the last bloom tour and that's the only seperate zones I have. Conservatory is heated to one temp only, too hot for cool growers in summer.

[@CK110553]

Hi, love your videos and learning a lot! I live in So California and it hardly rains, so rainwater is like gold. I know you checked the ph but what was the ppm on the rainwater? I usually let the first rainfall go then start collecting. Last year, the rainwater was 9 ppm, this year its 24 ppm! I think it would be ok to flush, but I’m thinking of getting the zero water pitcher since the rain is coming from the roof. Do you think it would be worth it? Thanks!

[@Ian-pf2pw]

Now you have to change your channel’s name to theorchidparadise 😄 🌸

[@TheOrchidRoom]

🤣 Deal 🤝🌴🌅

[@apc7716]

Thank you for this vidéo 😃👌

[@TheOrchidRoom]

No problem! 😘🙂

[@maysorchids1689]

Hi how are you I live in UK too love to watching your video

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou! 🤗🙂

[@juliapaust4840]

Hi Annabel, if you'll have time to answer, what do you think, can I put styrofoam as an upper layer instead of pebbles? 🤔

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Sure, why not 🙂

[@juliapaust4840]

@@TheOrchidRoom thanks a lot for your quick answer, I'll give it a try 😊

[@xiaowenjiang786]

Very helpful, thank you for your info. I like your conservatory, so tidy! I have a question about salt buildup-apparently you don’t suffer it as much since you use rain water. Mine is pretty bad, using water from deep drilled private well. While my water test came back as very soft, My Leica and pumic get mineral buildup especially in 16 oz pots. I am considering using FloraKleen Hydroponic Clearing Solution, though I am quite nervous about whether it would harm the orchid roots. Any insight on this would be much appreciated. Thanks again for your videos. I really enjoyed watching them!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

The first thing I would do is buy a TDS meter and test your water yourself- they are very cheap, under £10, and no calibration needed. If it comes back that your water is over 100ppm it isn't ideal, but there are ways around. Can you filter the water at all? ZeroWater filters remove all salts but are expensive, but even a standard filter will remove about half of the salts. Thats what I had to do for a few years while using tap water at the old place, tap and well water are definitely not ideal. Or can you install an RO system? You can pick basic ones up reasonably and run them off a tap adaptor. If you can't do any of those you will need to flush very regularly and be careful with fertiliser addition.

[@xiaowenjiang786]

@@TheOrchidRoom Yes, I did just buy a TDS and ph combo tester. Thank you for making it clear that water quality is the main reason for buildup. I had the suspicion but wasn’t sure if that was the number one thing I needed to address. By the way, I also bought two enclosed rainwater barrels similar to yours. Though I am a little concerned about whether the barrel or the faucet may burst in freezing temperature during the winter

[@TheOrchidRoom]

@@xiaowenjiang786 Just thought I'd come back to this as I've now had to go through freezing temps with the rain water collection system! Both barrels have frozen solid several times and nothing has split so far 🙂

[@Matilda52]

Hi Annabel, This is probably a strange question, but you have mentioned many times that you rarely, if ever, need to flush your plants in semi-hydro, would it be possible to keep them in containers with no flushing holes?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Yes, but when you do need to flush that would be an issue. I keep some houseplants like this but only a few orchids.

[@Matilda52]

@@TheOrchidRoom What would be a reason to flush? Would you flush if you have green algae?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

You would flush to prevent or remove salt build up

[@ancientorchids]

Great information Annabel! 🙏 ..Quick question, do you think that the fertilizer in the self watering reservoir will build in concentration with subsequent waterings? I wasn’t sure if I should use less because of that potential effect?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou! Well, the water/ nutrient mix will be almost used up between waterings, so that shouldn't be an issue if fertilising correctly- this is where regular flushing while you get used to the system can be useful, then re-topping up with your nutrients as a reset button 🙂

[@darcylyon1870]

How long does ammonium take to break down into a form of nitrogen that orchids can use? Also I would love to see a video about why plants need darkness?

[@tinajordan6591]

Hi Annabel how do you heat your sunroom in winter?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

With heaters to 18C minimum

[@annaskhan9771]

How do you keep your sunroom Warm in winter months 💗

[@TheOrchidRoom]

With a small fan heater and the house heating 🙃

[@helenxiao-li7486]

I love your video. What is the name of the electric water pump you use? Where can I find it?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi! Thanks 🙂 The pump sprayer is linked in the description if you're interested! It was just called an electric pump sprayer from Amazon 🙂

[@normantorok5919]

Annabel this was so helpful, thx for this video. One question that I would ask...when you grew under lights, did you have ideal or seasonal lighting recommendations? For instance, I'm running under lights at 14 hours per day. getting great growth, some freckles, some flowering...so I think I'm mostly dialed in, but would you have any recommendations to add? Thx!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

No problem Normal! I'm glad if it was useful at all! One thing I would say is to vary day length with the LEDs so the orchids have some seasonal variation- so 10-12 hours winter, 14 hours summer etc. Orchids that originate near the equator with little seasonal variations won't need this, but orchids that bloom in spring/ winter etc will appreciate it!

[@normantorok5919]

@@TheOrchidRoom thx so much for the follow up, I'm going to try that advice. cheers!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

I think that's a major reason my Encyclia cordigera wouldn't bloom, and suddenly now it's spiking all over! So I've learned first hand from a few orchids that they want to know what season it is!

[@normantorok5919]

@@TheOrchidRoom Brilliant! Of course, we want to see pics!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

The spikes are in this video, when it blooms I'll be sure to post 🙂

[@michaelmccarthy4077]

Fertilizing, that's always a hornets nest, what works for one may not work for another. I think it is important to talk in PPM as you did, rather than volume measurements, because a lot of people are using different formulations. 300 PPM of 13-3-15 is close enough in NPK to 300 PPM of other balanced feeds such as 20-10-20, 18-14-13 or 7-9-5 to call it even (the low K 13-1-1 being different). But, and forgive me for using imperial units, 1/2 tsp per gallon of 13-3-15 will yield 1/3 less NPK than 1/2 tsp per gallon of 20-10-20. Good talk. BTW, don't distract me with what you're saying by panning over to L. Elegans, I had to rewind. 😂 😉

[@TheOrchidRoom]

I agree, a real minefield, and when people ask me how much to fertilise with I always get a little tiny bit uncomfortable because it's really impossible to generalise. PPM of each individual nutrient is the best we have, but I vary it so much between summer and winter now, since I'm getting much less active growth not running all the lights over winter. It was lights or heat, and heat had to win 😆 But how much our orchids are even using and needing will vary between different growers! My small orchids definitely need less than the big, fast growing orchids, but in winter I can't be bothered to make them up seperate batches like I do in summer 😆 I should probably start doing that....

[@michaelmccarthy4077]

@@TheOrchidRoom prepping different formulations is time consuming! I've got the plants split into groups so I try to water different groups on different days so I'm only mixing one formula on a given day. Sometimes they cross over, though, and it takes me forever to finish. (and that's just the ones in the house 🤣 ) Although I'm currently trying out alternating feed and flush, versus 3 feed to 1 flush, to see if that makes any real difference. Roy Tokunaga says he only feeds every other month and he has some impressive plants. So far the black hair Dens seem to be growing well with the new regimen, produced the tallest, fattest canes so far. Next question is how will it affect the blooming. Obviously results will be different in organic media versus inorganic.

[@danielm.1441]

Are there any orchids that you don't grow in inorganic? I've had people say you can't put X, Y, Z into SH as it will kill them (typically fine rooted oncidiums)... Also, I've recently found those pesky snails in two oncs that I had repotted into SH & treated... so I'm not sure peroxide is a dead cert anymore (appreciate it breaks down over time, but it did still fizz when I used it)... Also, inorganic for non-orchids - might be beyond the scope of this channel, but would be interesting to hear if 1) you do this and 2) what with/successes 🙂

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi! No, all of my orchids are in inorganic now, I made a video when I converted the last of the oncis and documenting the miltoniopsis in synthic / seramis 🙂 I have a few houseplants, but when I put out videos on them they bomb, I appreciate most of my sub base doesn't want to watch them but I keep persevering as I find them interesting too 😅😀 I snuck my maidenhair fern and syngonium frosted heart into this video, have done a video on the sansies before etc, violets coming soon but had the least interest on the video poll haha. All my plants are in inorganic 🤗

[@danielm.1441]

@@TheOrchidRoom Oh yes, I remember that one now you say it, that was the first time I'd ever heard of synthic. New side channel... The Houseplant Room 😀 I tried to grow schlumbergera cuttings in SH (before I had rain mix mind, so maybe they were missing some key nutrients) one rotted, but the other took - it just grew so much more slowly than the cuttings that went into soil. Someone mentioned spider plants do well in SH. Basically SH is great for getting rid of pesky fungus gnats... so I'd love to covert more to SH.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Maybe! 🤣 I have a Begonia pavonina I'm very proud of but I'm obviously not the right channel to make a video on it 😆 I'll sneak it into the african violet video I have on the back burner, for when enough time has passed that people don't think I'm trying to spam them with non orchid content 😆😉 I have one hoya, a few alocasia which do amazingly in semi-hydro, and several syngonium which again are super easy to grow in straight semi-hydro with LECA. I even have peperomia doing surprisingly well 🙂

[@danielm.1441]

@@TheOrchidRoom I have a couple of hoya (recent purchases) spider plants, two different tradescantias, golden pothos & an alocasia amazonica that I think would be good candidates for SH. Might try schlumbergera again considering I've got better fertiliser now. I do have other plants (succulents) that probably wouldn't take to SH so well? Too moist &/or too airy? I suppose most of them will happily make cuttings so I could try...

[@MelissaWalker82]

@@danielm.1441 I have all of those growing in sh including some succulents so it’s worth a try if you feel adventurous! :)

[@karensicard7304]

Thanks for this video. My question is, how many hours of light do you give your plants for the winter months?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Old house under LEDs, 12-14 hours. New house- natural light, whatever the sun gives. Maybe 8 hours on the shortest days. Supplemented with LEDs for the darker shelves underneath, which are on a 10 hour timer.

[@nealam100]

Do you adjust your ph when fertilizing?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi! Yes, details at 07:00 in this video, more detailed info in this playlist 🙂 kzbin.info/aero/PL76ceLYvhJss5jYnWhft9WV8meYM-S1lL

[@jackiehill6557]

Hi Annabelle With regard to feeding extra silicone, do you still feed it to your species phalaenopsis and Cattleyas ? I feed Rain Mix and have been adding 1ml per 2 litres even though the water I use is filtered. Would you recommend that I stop feeding extra silicone to my species phalaenopsis and Cattleyas? Your answer would be appreciated. Thank you.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi Jackie! I don't feed any at the moment, I will probably resume in spring/ summer at a lower dose. This wasn't to say don't feed it, but more if you are feeding any extra elements to watch out for interaction with absorption and mobilisation of other nutrients. Phragmipedium are calcium lazy, they evolved in calcium abundant environments and therefore are probably less efficient at taking it up anyway, which is why they need high levels and are probably more sensitive to any nutrients that compete with it. I dont feel it is needed currently for the level of growth I get during winter, it is more important during development of new growths and spikes, and without any supplemental lighting I don't feel it is currently necessary as it was last winter in my old setup. I say if you are using it and feel you are getting benefits, continue, if not and you notice any leaf tip blackening of new growths that looks like calcium deficiency, maybe reassess.

[@jackiehill6557]

Hi Annabelle Thanks you so much for your prompt reply. I haven’t noticed any blackening of the tips of leaves more like the leaves are sprinting in growth and the flower shoots are still growing. I have seen a remarkable difference in my phals and Cattleyas since feeding the Rain mix plus seaweed and silicone. I have also added some extra lighting as these dark winter days are a no no as far as I am concerned, so the conservatory is still like summer. What we do for our orchids eh?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

No problem! I had to choose between heating and lighting this year, the conservatory gets lots of natural light but also needs lots of heat on overnight, so I decided for this year to see how I go without supplemental lighting. With the house move costs I dont need a giant Xmas electricity bill too right now 😆🤦‍♀️ But I definitely think Si is great for spring active growth for Phals, Vandas and Catts. Most of mine are flowering right now, they are growing too but I havent noticed any difference withdrawing Si for the winter.

[@shelliepage8271]

Is there a US version of the electric sprayer? I love the PH reader!!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi there, there isn't a pH meter, but the electric pump sprayer was one I had to get through Amazon, shipped from China. So they probably also ship to the US 🙂

[@shelliepage8271]

@@TheOrchidRoom thank you!

[@kathydevries6513]

Hi, does your pot topping prevent root desiccation? I have a few of my orchids in semi-hydro but I’m having real issues with dedication.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi! 🙂 Yes, in many cases for some types of orchids it can help 🙃 The non porous layer stops moisture being wicked up from the top layer of LECA, and traps it a bit so it isnt lost to the environment by evaporation- which will be faster the drier your environment. The non porous nature of the pebbles means they can't suck moisture from roots in the same way. They will still remain dry however, so for really sensitive rooted orchids they may not totally eliminate the issue, just help alleviate the harsh porous dessication issue. potting lower in the pot to allow a humidity shield and spraying down the top layer are other options that can help too.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

For more detail I did a repot and update series where I added the top layer on and explained the effects- this video has the most detail in the updates section kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2bHmmiEo7eMkJo Or this video when I first started trialling the top layers with semi-hydro, and mixing other moisture retentive media in, over a year ago- kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWPRnpaNdt-SqMU

[@kathydevries6513]

Thanks so much! I binge watched you most of the day yesterday and got so many great tips!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou for not getting bored of me babbling on! 🙂💗

[@kathydevries6513]

@@TheOrchidRoom Heavens no! So informative. I have some pumice coming to mix with my leca. I live in the US in Florida so very warm and humid but I still haven’t been able to overcome the dessication issue with leca. I am going to top my pots with pebbles and see if that solves the issue! You just keep rambling!!! ❤️

[@ngatran4541]

Very

[@tuyetvo4353]

Slow down - what a rush ? You talk like a train express. Terrible,.