Hi Annabel! We talked about this at society meeting over the weekend. I’m soOOOO scared to even try inorganic media. I am intrigued by self watering pots. Thanks for the upload! I really am learning a lot and appreciate your having us along on your orchid journey!
Good to see that you're getting positive results! I think that the pumice top layer looks nicer than LECA... hmm.... If this continues to work well for you, I might try something like this as well.
Hi, is there an update video about this setup please? I have noticed that later you put a layer of non wicking pebbles on top, instead of pumice. Why is that?
Very interesting! That pumice... tempting tempting tempting 👍🏼 thoughts for spring next year ! Thank you for this video x I was thinking to get my struggling neos (bought from orchid garden) out of the moss / perlite combo as it’s not ‘yet’ doing any good ... pumice ? 🤔... I’ll have to check their progress throughout winter and see what I need to change , if anything, in spring.
I will keep you updated!! 😀 So far so good but still very early on... It will be interesting to record the progress! I was also trying my neos in SH after some issues with moss- the roots in the LECA have branched with no problems, but I'm concerned about when new root tips emerge as this is my major battle with LECA... so if this works I may switch or put a pumice top layer 😀🤞
I use pumice mixed with sphagnum moss with great success. I think your setup will work very well. Pumice is wicking, water retentive and has a good air to water ratio when wet.
Great to know you have success with it! I'm excited to see how this goes- so far all seems well and the fact that others are using it successfully gives me confidence! 😀
Pumice is a volcanic rock, but it isn't the same type as the one commonly referred to as lava rock if that makes sense 😄 they do have different properties. ' Lava rock' holds less water than pumice.
I've only recently been notified of your channael and I'm slowly catching up. I really like Nelly Isler ( and its relatives) but they died every year. Could you please make a video on potting media,lighting and general care of Nelly Isler as I've bought yet another one. As I'm growing my orchids on a glazed balcony, I'm enjoying your videos as you are not growing yours in a special grow room so your info is very relevant. Thanks for the idea of using Zerowater as I can't install RO in my flat. Keep the videos coming
Hi James! Sure no problem, sorry to hear of your troubles with the Nelly Isler, it can definitely be a difficult one to get established. I will do my best to answer your questions in a Nelly Isler video 😄 For now, generally I would say that I treat all my Oncidiums and Miltoniopsis/ Nelly Islers the same in self watering pots with Sphagnum moss/perlite mixes. They are under artificial LED under counter lights (the type designed for kitchen cabinets etc) and they have a mini fan directed at them for air movement. Temps are cooler in winter but I keep them above 18C for the hotter growers I have, and in summer the grow room went up to 35C this year but generally stayed between 22-29C. The one bit of advice I'd give for people in warmer climates is to try to buy them as autumn is starting and the temps are cooling, to give them the best chance of getting some new roots down before the next summer hits, as they can be slow to establish. They also like constant moisture if you don't have high humidity or your temps are on the warmer side, which is why Self-Watering pots with Sphagnum mixes seem to work very well in my environment. But I will make a video to answer your questions also 😄 What sort of temperatures does your enclosed balcony recieve? What part of the world are you growing in?
@@TheOrchidRoom Hi Annabel. I really didn't such a quick response to my request for info concerning Nelly Isler. From the suggestions you gave me, I shall repot the plant I bought yesterday and let you know how it goes. I'll outline my growing conditions which are: The glazed balcony faces SW which receives direct sun at around 14.30 until 18.45 and, as its sunny most of the year, the sun light s quite adequate. Summer temps from July to mid Sept. are min 25 deg C to max 31 C, humidity 70%, Winter min 17deg C to 22 C, humity same all year, rest of the year obviously varying between to two seasons. Except on very cold occasions, the glazed doors are open and I control the sun light with either sun blinds or net curtains during the hours of direct sun mentioned previously. My other "promblem" has been water. The tap water has a ph 7.9, TDS 210 and even bottled water gave me similar readings. Only recently I discovered a shop with aircon, the condensed water, which they let me take, being collected in a bucket, gave a ph 7.4 TDS only 16.. I corrected the ph with vinegar down to 6.7 not to shock the roots. I will take it down further in the future. Sorry for such a long reply, please take your time in replying. I very much look forward to your video on Nelly Isler ( What a perfume ) With thanks, James
Hi James, So your conditions don't sound too different to mine, more natural light and a bit higher humidity, both great things! What was it potted in? Did it have good roots? I'm not sure why yours would have struggled before other than the higher temps maybe but hopefully this one will do better for you, it's just figuring out what works in your environment to get it adjusted, once it's got good roots down you should be just fine! The pH of the tap water is quite high, if you put it into a moss or moss bark mix that will lower the pH in the pot anyway so just double check what's coming out of the pot after you've run the solution through a bit to see what's actually in the pot 😄 The filtered lower TDS water will definitely help out as Well! Let me know how it goes! 😄
@@TheOrchidRoom Hi Annabel, When I bought the orchid last week it was potted in coconut bark and small stones plus the usual spag moss plug. I repotted it in a mixture of new spag moss together with orchiata bark and pearlite. I made a self watering pot with a wick. The root system appears to be healthy. Time alone will tell if N I adapts to my care, fingers crossed
Hi! So the good medium grade Pumice in this video is from orchid garden (much better quality that the stuff I ordered as a top up at the end). I have since ordered a smaller grade pumice from Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07V9GKZSZ/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which is also very good quality amd seems like it would be better for more moisture loving orchids- I went back and top dressed the rhynchopsis Dragon charmy with this smaller grade pumice at the end which you might be able to see in the pics of it 1 week on maybe. Think I'll be using this one from Amazon in future purely because it comes in bigger bags and shipping s free in the UK 😄
Thanks! Biohome looks to be quite similar to large grade seramis at first glance, the price is quite prohibitive, but in a mix to make it more economical maybe it could work. I quite like the large grade seramis for that though. Will look into them, thanks for the recommendation!
Its been in many repots as a staple in my mixes for a long time 🙃 I did several medium tests on it to determine that it held more water than LECA, you can find those in an inorganic medium test playlist. I also talked about it a few months after this initial video in a semi-hydro video here: ruclips.net/video/k2nmcWAz_rc/видео.html Then updated here: ruclips.net/video/YxVPh7jfVcY/видео.html Maxillaria in leca, pumice and kyodama: ruclips.net/video/kK7Zp8piUrs/видео.html Pumice vs leca vs lava etc- moisture retention: ruclips.net/video/09Inrxr14tQ/видео.html And many repots and updates 🙃 I now use lava mainly instead in mixes since it holds more water 💧
Where was this video when I started getting into orchids (jk hahaha)? I actually potted all my orchids in pumice since july-august. Not S/H but as just regular potting media instead of bark and sphagnum. It doesn't compact and it's water retentive. It's like the perfect combination of bark and sphag (airy and moist) and it doesn't degrade which is a plus.
I'm so glad you're in the pumice revolution also! 😀 It's amazing and there will never be another repot with acidic broken down bark/moss! 😀 I also find the orchids seem to be growing better as it's holding that bit more moisture evenly through the pot. Yay pumice!
@@TheOrchidRoom I'm glad you made a vid about this. It's not something that's being talked about much. I even search about it at OrchidBoard when I first thought of using pumice as media but sadly there's not much info about it. I hope people realize that LECA is just a man-made version of igneous rocks like pumice and scoria(thus making LECA inferior)
@@jeancachero I totally agree. I never participated in orchid board or anything but found the info there very useful but limited... The advice on Rays website both says there is no dry line issue because of evaporation, and also says if you get a dry layer you can use a sheet of plastic on the top.... 😂. Feel like roots don't tunnel through plastic so well though. I think the info on semi hydro has been invaluable in making growers think about inorganic in a new way, but I don't know why they settled on LECA exclusively. Apparently all types of wicking material were tested. It's good to hear you've already been using pumice for a while, I can't really foresee any issues so I'm excited to track progression! 😀
Hi Jo 😄 The medium grade Pumice in this video is from orchid garden, the finer grade Pumice I have ordered for oncidiums (but also top dressed the rhynchopsis Dragon charmy with in the update photos) is from Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07V9GKZSZ/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . These are both good quality would recommend either. I showed another pumice in this video I wouldn't recommend which is the one I used for the phal after I'd run out of the orchid garden pumice. It was a cheaper small bag from Amazon but very variable size and not very porous.
Hi! Full inorganic media series playlist: ruclips.net/p/PL76ceLYvhJsue7RVoR3DdbkQCoXz_sArB Media tests/ characterisation: ruclips.net/p/PL76ceLYvhJstWOaxgKsq92xadAxjpid_r Pumice updates: ruclips.net/video/YxVPh7jfVcY/видео.html Semi hydro setups and explanations: ruclips.net/video/k2nmcWAz_rc/видео.html You'll notice it and Lava are in most of my repot videos now, so I guess they are all updates too 🙂 Hope that helps!
I’m really interested to see how this pumice works! Annabel. I heard pumice was very porous which seems weird to me because I found some floating one day when I was swimming in Turkey! However, I’ve also got some volcanic rock and someone’s suggested using both in a pot to make it more water retentive. The volcanic rock/pumice I’m planning to use on a small Cattleya division I took once it’s new growth starts to put out roots! So 🤞🤞🤞
Let me know how it goes!! This pumice doesn't float at all and seems to hold quite a bit of water so I really have no idea! Is the volcanic rock the 'lava rock' (surely they are all lava rock just different types of rock composition?!) that doesn't hold much water? Sounds like a more airy mix as a replacement for a more traditional media if you don't want to go down the semi hydro rabbit hole 😀😂 I'd be interested to hear your results with It!!
Yay! I’m so glad this is working for you so far.
Very early yet but your success gives me confidence! 😀 Thanks for your advice on the Pumice ratios and set ups! 😀
Hi Annabel! We talked about this at society meeting over the weekend. I’m soOOOO scared to even try inorganic media. I am intrigued by self watering pots. Thanks for the upload! I really am learning a lot and appreciate your having us along on your orchid journey!
I like the way you keep experimenting in order to find the best.
Good luck.
Fascinating I may have a try with one or two struggling orchids. Interesting to see the future progress.
I will keep you updated 😀🤞 It will be interesting to record the progress!
Good to see that you're getting positive results! I think that the pumice top layer looks nicer than LECA... hmm.... If this continues to work well for you, I might try something like this as well.
Hi, is there an update video about this setup please? I have noticed that later you put a layer of non wicking pebbles on top, instead of pumice. Why is that?
Very interesting! That pumice... tempting tempting tempting 👍🏼 thoughts for spring next year ! Thank you for this video x I was thinking to get my struggling neos (bought from orchid garden) out of the moss / perlite combo as it’s not ‘yet’ doing any good ... pumice ? 🤔... I’ll have to check their progress throughout winter and see what I need to change , if anything, in spring.
I will keep you updated!! 😀 So far so good but still very early on... It will be interesting to record the progress! I was also trying my neos in SH after some issues with moss- the roots in the LECA have branched with no problems, but I'm concerned about when new root tips emerge as this is my major battle with LECA... so if this works I may switch or put a pumice top layer 😀🤞
I use pumice mixed with sphagnum moss with great success. I think your setup will work very well. Pumice is wicking, water retentive and has a good air to water ratio when wet.
I have never tried it with self watering pots though. I use pumice as a substitute for bark.
Great to know you have success with it! I'm excited to see how this goes- so far all seems well and the fact that others are using it successfully gives me confidence! 😀
is this the same as lava rock?
Pumice is a volcanic rock, but it isn't the same type as the one commonly referred to as lava rock if that makes sense 😄 they do have different properties. ' Lava rock' holds less water than pumice.
The Orchid Room Thanks
Do you have an update on the progress of how you found the Pumice?
I've only recently been notified of your channael and I'm slowly catching up. I really like Nelly Isler ( and its relatives) but they died every year. Could you please make a video on potting media,lighting and general care of Nelly Isler as I've bought yet another one.
As I'm growing my orchids on a glazed balcony, I'm enjoying your videos as you are not growing yours in a special grow room so your info is very relevant. Thanks for the idea of using Zerowater as I can't install RO in my flat. Keep the videos coming
Hi James! Sure no problem, sorry to hear of your troubles with the Nelly Isler, it can definitely be a difficult one to get established. I will do my best to answer your questions in a Nelly Isler video 😄 For now, generally I would say that I treat all my Oncidiums and Miltoniopsis/ Nelly Islers the same in self watering pots with Sphagnum moss/perlite mixes. They are under artificial LED under counter lights (the type designed for kitchen cabinets etc) and they have a mini fan directed at them for air movement. Temps are cooler in winter but I keep them above 18C for the hotter growers I have, and in summer the grow room went up to 35C this year but generally stayed between 22-29C. The one bit of advice I'd give for people in warmer climates is to try to buy them as autumn is starting and the temps are cooling, to give them the best chance of getting some new roots down before the next summer hits, as they can be slow to establish. They also like constant moisture if you don't have high humidity or your temps are on the warmer side, which is why Self-Watering pots with Sphagnum mixes seem to work very well in my environment.
But I will make a video to answer your questions also 😄 What sort of temperatures does your enclosed balcony recieve? What part of the world are you growing in?
@@TheOrchidRoom Hi Annabel. I really didn't such a quick response to my request for info concerning Nelly Isler. From the suggestions you gave me, I shall repot the plant I bought yesterday and let you know how it goes. I'll outline my growing conditions which are: The glazed balcony faces SW which receives direct sun at around 14.30 until 18.45 and, as its sunny most of the year, the sun light s quite adequate. Summer temps from July to mid Sept. are min 25 deg C to max 31 C, humidity 70%, Winter min 17deg C to 22 C, humity same all year, rest of the year obviously varying between to two seasons. Except on very cold occasions, the glazed doors are open and I control the sun light with either sun blinds or net curtains during the hours of direct sun mentioned previously. My other "promblem" has been water. The tap water has a ph 7.9, TDS 210 and even bottled water gave me similar readings. Only recently I discovered a shop with aircon, the condensed water, which they let me take, being collected in a bucket, gave a ph 7.4 TDS only 16.. I corrected the ph with vinegar down to 6.7 not to shock the roots. I will take it down further in the future. Sorry for such a long reply, please take your time in replying. I very much look forward to your video on Nelly Isler ( What a perfume ) With thanks, James
Hi James,
So your conditions don't sound too different to mine, more natural light and a bit higher humidity, both great things! What was it potted in? Did it have good roots? I'm not sure why yours would have struggled before other than the higher temps maybe but hopefully this one will do better for you, it's just figuring out what works in your environment to get it adjusted, once it's got good roots down you should be just fine! The pH of the tap water is quite high, if you put it into a moss or moss bark mix that will lower the pH in the pot anyway so just double check what's coming out of the pot after you've run the solution through a bit to see what's actually in the pot 😄 The filtered lower TDS water will definitely help out as Well! Let me know how it goes! 😄
@@TheOrchidRoom Hi Annabel, When I bought the orchid last week it was potted in coconut bark and small stones plus the usual spag moss plug. I repotted it in a mixture of new spag moss together with orchiata bark and pearlite. I made a self watering pot with a wick. The root system appears to be healthy. Time alone will tell if N I adapts to my care, fingers crossed
Hi Annabel
Where do you get the pumice from? Thanks
Hi! So the good medium grade Pumice in this video is from orchid garden (much better quality that the stuff I ordered as a top up at the end). I have since ordered a smaller grade pumice from Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07V9GKZSZ/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which is also very good quality amd seems like it would be better for more moisture loving orchids- I went back and top dressed the rhynchopsis Dragon charmy with this smaller grade pumice at the end which you might be able to see in the pics of it 1 week on maybe. Think I'll be using this one from Amazon in future purely because it comes in bigger bags and shipping s free in the UK 😄
Inorganic media, many fish keepers use a sintered glass product called Biohome or Siporax. There are some wicking tests you can find on youtube.
Thanks! Biohome looks to be quite similar to large grade seramis at first glance, the price is quite prohibitive, but in a mix to make it more economical maybe it could work. I quite like the large grade seramis for that though. Will look into them, thanks for the recommendation!
Do you have an update on this?
Just bought some pumice so keen to experiment too.
Its been in many repots as a staple in my mixes for a long time 🙃 I did several medium tests on it to determine that it held more water than LECA, you can find those in an inorganic medium test playlist. I also talked about it a few months after this initial video in a semi-hydro video here: ruclips.net/video/k2nmcWAz_rc/видео.html
Then updated here: ruclips.net/video/YxVPh7jfVcY/видео.html
Maxillaria in leca, pumice and kyodama: ruclips.net/video/kK7Zp8piUrs/видео.html
Pumice vs leca vs lava etc- moisture retention: ruclips.net/video/09Inrxr14tQ/видео.html
And many repots and updates 🙃
I now use lava mainly instead in mixes since it holds more water 💧
@@TheOrchidRoom lol okay
Not sure why lol, sorry if my answer wasn't sufficient! 🙂
@@TheOrchidRoom yr answer is fine, don't read into my lol, I lol alot lol
Where was this video when I started getting into orchids (jk hahaha)? I actually potted all my orchids in pumice since july-august. Not S/H but as just regular potting media instead of bark and sphagnum. It doesn't compact and it's water retentive. It's like the perfect combination of bark and sphag (airy and moist) and it doesn't degrade which is a plus.
I'm so glad you're in the pumice revolution also! 😀 It's amazing and there will never be another repot with acidic broken down bark/moss! 😀 I also find the orchids seem to be growing better as it's holding that bit more moisture evenly through the pot. Yay pumice!
@@TheOrchidRoom I'm glad you made a vid about this. It's not something that's being talked about much. I even search about it at OrchidBoard when I first thought of using pumice as media but sadly there's not much info about it. I hope people realize that LECA is just a man-made version of igneous rocks like pumice and scoria(thus making LECA inferior)
@@jeancachero I totally agree. I never participated in orchid board or anything but found the info there very useful but limited... The advice on Rays website both says there is no dry line issue because of evaporation, and also says if you get a dry layer you can use a sheet of plastic on the top.... 😂. Feel like roots don't tunnel through plastic so well though. I think the info on semi hydro has been invaluable in making growers think about inorganic in a new way, but I don't know why they settled on LECA exclusively. Apparently all types of wicking material were tested. It's good to hear you've already been using pumice for a while, I can't really foresee any issues so I'm excited to track progression! 😀
Where are you ordering the fine pumice from?
Hi Jo 😄 The medium grade Pumice in this video is from orchid garden, the finer grade Pumice I have ordered for oncidiums (but also top dressed the rhynchopsis Dragon charmy with in the update photos) is from Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07V9GKZSZ/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . These are both good quality would recommend either. I showed another pumice in this video I wouldn't recommend which is the one I used for the phal after I'd run out of the orchid garden pumice. It was a cheaper small bag from Amazon but very variable size and not very porous.
Hello! Is there an update as to how this went? Cheers
Hi!
Full inorganic media series playlist: ruclips.net/p/PL76ceLYvhJsue7RVoR3DdbkQCoXz_sArB
Media tests/ characterisation: ruclips.net/p/PL76ceLYvhJstWOaxgKsq92xadAxjpid_r
Pumice updates: ruclips.net/video/YxVPh7jfVcY/видео.html
Semi hydro setups and explanations: ruclips.net/video/k2nmcWAz_rc/видео.html
You'll notice it and Lava are in most of my repot videos now, so I guess they are all updates too 🙂 Hope that helps!
I’m really interested to see how this pumice works! Annabel.
I heard pumice was very porous which seems weird to me because I found some floating one day when I was swimming in Turkey! However, I’ve also got some volcanic rock and someone’s suggested using both in a pot to make it more water retentive. The volcanic rock/pumice I’m planning to use on a small Cattleya division I took once it’s new growth starts to put out roots! So 🤞🤞🤞
Let me know how it goes!! This pumice doesn't float at all and seems to hold quite a bit of water so I really have no idea! Is the volcanic rock the 'lava rock' (surely they are all lava rock just different types of rock composition?!) that doesn't hold much water? Sounds like a more airy mix as a replacement for a more traditional media if you don't want to go down the semi hydro rabbit hole 😀😂 I'd be interested to hear your results with It!!
Na en voice avlo nallarukathu. nalla irunthu thaan aaga porathu eannanna.. naan paadagi aaga poratha pochu. pothum na ithuve. oh.. athu sari en voice eappadi irukkum'nu ungalukku thiriyathu illaya... Kekkave mudiyathu na.. athaan unga voice irukke rasikka.