Thank you SO much for sharing your knowledge. I will be repotting my cymbidiums, Stanhopeas, phalanopsis and dendrobiums in lava rock. I live in Sydney Australia. 🇦🇺 🇦🇺🌏🌏🫶🫶
Hi Louise 😍💐 thank YOU so much for watching this video and letting me know that it was helpful! You are heading into spring, lovely lady and I am soooo envious 😅 I wish I could just be a hedgehog and hibernate the coming 6 months, and wake up to warmer temps, but... alas... tough conditions ahead. I sincerely hope that you are enjoying the warmer conditions and seeing your orchids responding accordingly. Happy Happy repotting season ahead 🥰 have a beautiful and relaxing evening. I appreciate your support all these years, thank you 🫶🏼 ❤️🌸
I changed to growing in lava rock after watching Rick L and my phals and dendrobiums are doing really well. I am amazed at how thick the roots are. Really appreciate you passing your vast knowledge on. We are so lucky to benefit from it.
Eileen, hi 😍💐 Welcome! I have not seen you here before, so first of all, a warm warm welcome and a huge thank you for being here, for watching and your kind feedback! I truly appreciate YOU 🫶🏼 I am so glad that you were inspired to try lava rock after watching Rick L! It is the bees knees for orchids and if I have not figured out how to get an orchid to grow well in leca, where I am at, then into lava rock it goes. Then, I just hope that I did not weaken the orchid too much and it has a chance to recover 🤞🏼🙂 wet / dry cycle, lava rock ticks the box, semi hydroponics even if there are limitations, it ticks the box as well, saving on purchasing media all the time, tick and so many other reasons it proves to be a wonderful substrate, tick tick tick 😃 wishing you a wonderful day, Eileen, once again, welcome!! 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Sattori, hi 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so, a warm warm welcome and thank you so much for being here, I really appreciate it! 🤗 granite pebbles are awesome for the vanda orchids and I am glad that your neo is loving it! I have mine in seramis and semi hydro, because my humidity is so low here, I need the added humidity that the set up brings along with a more water retentive media. Bet it looks beautiful in those pebbles! Thank you so very much for watching, and, once again, welcome! 🙌🏼🌸
Emilio, hi 😍💐 I appreciate you for letting me know that this video was not only well timed but also informative in such a way that it will serve it's purpose for the move to lava rock! Thank YOU 👍🏼 If you have any questions as you are in the process of transitioning, anything you want to run by me, you know the drill... do not hesitate to ask 🫶🏼 thank you so much for watching and for your support here on the channel. Have yourself a fabYOUlous day ❤️🌸
Hi Jones Jones 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching 🫶🏼 I appreciate your feedback on the video, thank you for letting me know. Wishing you a fabulous weekend and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Hi Ninja, could you please tell me the name of the video where you were talking about fertilizing and you had 6 cards ,I want to write it down and would love to watch it again, Thanks 😊 ❤
HI Barb 😍💐 I hope that I am providing the correct link. This is the video in which I created recipe cards for orientation purposes and helping out if someone doesn't know where to start with what and how much. ruclips.net/video/2D2COL1xNJ0/видео.html You are welcome to take screenshots because the cards are designed in such a way that you can add occasional notes to your screenshots. Please let me know if this is the video you are looking for 🫶🏼 thank you so much for watching this video, as well! I truly appreciate your support and hope you are having a wonderful rest of your day ❤️🌸
Hi Deann 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and for your kind positive feedback! I truly appreciate it 🫶🏼 Happy Growing, right back at you and I hope you are already having a fabulous day ❤️🌸
Such a helpful video! So much info I watched it a few times! From what I'm understanding, its okay to basically keep them wet all the time? I try to do wet/dry with lava, but the very center doesn't dry out all the way before the orchid is ready for more water (leaves going limp a bit) most of the roots dry. My main issue is I tend to water too much, so i switched to lava rock for phals and denphal, with bark or moss, I'd always have root rot. So if i watered this setup often, it shouldn't matter because of how much air the roots have, right? I know you cant give gaurantees or anything, I have just struggled with watering since I started with orchids, a few years now, and only now I'm starting to make them happy. Thanks so much for all your help!
😍Hi Jess 💐 It is ok to have roots wet all the time, especially if the pot is somewhat larger and the middle does not dry out. The lava rock has ample crevices and pores to allow for gas exchange. You are right to go with what you see your leaves are doing. Not all phals need the same amount of water, and you will notice that some candidates just need more water, despite the fact that the centre could still be damp. Follow what you see on the structures to determine if you need to water more, and don't worry about having a strict wet / dry cycle. You will notice that other phals will skip a watering because they appear to be happy with their lot, for longer. Den Phals will only get root rot if they the ambient temperatures drop below 20ºC / 68ºF. Den Phals are warm to hot growers. If they get a slight dip in their temperatures, the first thing to go is the roots. I have tried to grow Den Phals, here in Spain, and it sounds silly that I cannot grow them because I am in S'ern Spain, but, I never kept my grow space above 20ºC / 68ºF because I did not want the excess cost back then either, just for 4 orchids when all the others can handle the lows. Well, the 4 months of temperatures no higher than 18ºC / 64ºF and the Den Phals had a problem with that. I don't have specific videos on Den Phals, because I don't have any footage of them to make a video out of them, but I have had many years with them in the past, and the media usually is not the problem, the low temperatures are. Making them real divas. So, make sure that your Den Phals are always nice and warm, maybe uncomfortably warm for you, but they will love it, and they won't dump their roots. 👍🏼 If you are ever struggling with a specific candidate that you see in lava rock and are doubting the media, run the situation by me and we can troubleshoot what is going on. Lava rock is usually not the culprit. It is one of the safest media to grow orchids with a very low margin for error 👍🏼 thank YOU so much for watching, Jess! Have yourself a wonderful Friday 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Hi Joe 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so first of all, a warm warm welcome and secondly, thank you so much for being here, for watching and your inspired comment. Using a screen to separate the lava rock is certainly much more time effective 👍🏼 I shall take that into consideration if I ever have to separate a new bag of lava rock.... that can take a day doing it by hand and eye only 😅 wishing you a wonderful day, and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
🌸🥷🏼Julie San 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐so sweet of you to watch another video 😘 thank you! Lava rock is amazing when not concerned with repotting every 2 or 3 years. I am always confident for an orchid to go into lava rock. If it doesn't make it, then it was not the media that was the problem, it was me ... as per usual 🤨😅 ❤️
🤗🤗Jambo, Hi, Habari Nina, I have started using red lava rock only for my Vandaceous orchids including Rhynchostylis they are all putting out new roots, growths, although I experience algae in the pots a lot. I plan to pot my Neos, Sarccos, and other mini orchids into lava soon. It really does help with reducing watering from every day to two or three times a week with a flush every fourth. My Vandaceous orchids have never looked better! Even my Renanthera Imshootiana is growing new leaves and roots after languishing for a year. Stay well Rafiki🌸🌺🌼💕🥰😘sending you some mvua🌧🌦⛈
Sue 😍❤️hi! 💐 memsab!! 😘😘 I am so happy to hear that the lava rock is working so well for your orchids, Sue!! That is awesome 🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥳 I just had some mvua 🤣 I rushed out and left my 3 empty buckets out and well, if I got an inch of mvua, then I am lucky, but I am leaving them outside in case it rains again a little! But yeah, thank YOUUUUU!! I apprecite your kindness in sharing some of dem drops 😘 really appreciate you watching, rafiki yangu!! Thou art truly special to me and it is SO good to see you 😘 stay safe!! Much love ❤️🌸
Hi Johanna 🤩💐 welcome!! I have not seen you in the comments before, so... thank you very much for watching the uploads in the past, and I really appreciate you commenting so that I can welcome you 'personally' 🤗 and express my appreciation for your support here on the channel, thank you! Your feedback is very encouraging 🙌🏼 hope you are having a great day, Johanna 🤗🌸
👏👏👏👏Yes totally agree, the last 12 years I use lava rock....never 👎 turn back to organic medium. Orchids love it, no stress for them or for me, without disturb the roots year after year the grow stronger...If they need uppotting I can put the smaller pot to a bigger...That's it. Great masterclass again Nina!
HI Elen 😍💐 no stress indeed! I like that you can just uppot! I would love to have the space and strength to be able to do that, because truly, it is the best thing ever! You have it perfectly dialled in. The hobby takes on a totally different vibe when you can uppot and hakuna matata... as do the orchids 👍🏼👍🏼 amazing! Thank you so very much for watching, Elen, and for leaving your experience with lava rock in the comments for anyone who is looking for more information to read 🤗 I really appreciate that 👍🏼 hope you had a fabulous day 🌸
Thank you for this video! I often see dancing ladies in lava rocks. I’m going to test out lava rock sometime soon! Ian update, me my roommates and our birds are safe. The rain hasn’t caused flooding in our area. The wind wind is picking up but my bare roots are secure. The storm is going to simmer down before it gets too close, regardless we are safe and prepared. My vanda ‘sweet pea’ sent out her very first spike a couple days ago, it wasn’t until I lowered her down that I noticed😱! There is a silver lining to every cloud! Hope you are doing well! Once again I’ve been loving this series! I’ll update you when the storm has passed! 🌸💖
&yLand 🤗🙏🏼🙌🏼😍💐hi!! I am so happy to hear that you are all fine! Thank you so so much for going to the trouble of watching the video and leaving me an update comment! You have no idea how much I appreciate it, because I cannot put it into words 🥹🥹 I had the live stream on for the most part last night and again this morning and was so concerned! I consider you family, even though we aren't but .... yeah! Thank you so much for getting in touch 🙏🏼 and you have a spike coming!! Oh!! EXCITE! 🥳🙌🏼 I had a super windy day on the patio today, but I don't even want to talk about it, because it is nothing compared to what I saw happening ... so 🤫😘 hope that you and everyone near and dear to you, are going to be ok, even after all these hours! ❤️🌸
I switched to lava rock about three years ago. I live in Western Washington, during summer my Dendrobiums and Cattleya orchids live outside and have thrived. Thanks for mentioning fertilizer in ppm, I have been watering with 150 ppm of 20-20-20 as it is injected in my drip watering system. I follow your thinking about salt build up and switch to plain well water when I see white residue. The big plus for me is they never blow over and never over watered and I haven’t had to repot. Makes life easy! Thanks, Mike t.
Mike, hi 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a thank you for being here is the first thing on the docket 😊 I appreciate you watching the video and leaving me a comment, thank you! I love lava rock with my orchids, and am using it a lot with orchids that can stay outside during my 'mild' *cough winters. I say it like that because while the orchids outside can tolerate the lower temperatures, I am not able to 😅 they are the troopers of the patio! 😅 I like your conservative ppm, I am a fan of less is more and it resonates with me what you are writing 👍🏼 and yes... pots do not blow over which, in my windy climate can sometimes happen with the pots I have in leca. (back in the day, I have gotten better at weighing the pots down now and some orchids are finally heavy enough to handle the wind without falling over) IF, I did not have to repot so frequently because I am limited on space indoors for the orchids that cannot tolerate the winter months outside, I would have more of my larger orchids in lava rock. The fact that lava rock is so unforgiving on the roots when it comes time to repot, I use it for orchids that I have no intention of repotting for 'ever'! Hope you had yourself a fabulous day, and once again... welcome! 🤗🌸
Hi 😍💐 I believe this is your first time commenting, at least, if my memory doesn't fail me, this is the first time I am seeing your name here, sooooo either way, welcome! Thank you so much for watching and for being here. I truly appreciate the support 🫶🏼 yes, definitely! There may be the odd one trying to stake a claim in the pot, but they are far and few in between. In all the years that I have had my orchids in inorganic media, I have counted 4 fungus gnats. I think they came from other pots that my neighbors have outside close to my patio. They do not last and definitely do not find a footing to establish themselves. 👍🏼 hope this is helpful in what you are planning to do! Wishing you a wonderful day, and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
HI Barb 😍💐 If you are accustomed to growing in bark, then it pretty much behaves the same way, with a single exception that, there is a tiny bit more water held within the crevices of lava rock as opposed to straight up bark. The wet dry cycle can be replicated very easily. So, the smaller lava rock will behave like sphagnum moss or seedling bark, the medium sized bark will pretty much behave like bark mixed with sphagnum moss, and the large lava rock will behave like chunky bark. Depending on the water requirements / thirst of your orchid, you can stick with the same watering schedule when using lava rock only, as you would be doing with bark. I am assuming that you are in a bark and other organic media mix. If not, please let me know and also, let me know if I was able to answer your question without leaving any doubts. Thank you! Also, thank you so much for watching, lovely lady! I wish you a wonderful Sunday 🫶🏼❤️🌸
@NinjaOrchids Thanks very much Ninja for the information you explained it very well for me. I'm new at orchids and trying to fine a way that is best for me to grow orchids in. Since I'm in my 80s I better get all I can to learn about orchids, love cattleya.
@@barblucas2539 I am here to help you do that 🫶🏼 if you would like an easy assessment guide as to what you are dealing with by way of thirsty orchids, that like a lot of water and how to make it happen for those orchids without needing to guess, here is a video link that helps make the judgment as per size of media, no matter if it is bark or lava rock, based on root size ruclips.net/video/TNx-ouyqL_g/видео.html this helps out in case there is some uncertainty at the beginning, as to what is best for the orchid as well as, what is feasible as per way of watering schedule...as in, no need to water every day when the orchids in question are in active growth 🫶🏼 never hesitate or be shy about asking, Barb! No matter the video no matter the question 👍🏼
Hi Nina, im experimenting with lava with few of my phals and catts in this media as I do not want to repot them too ofter. Still can’t decide if clay and lava would be better than plastic pot.
Heeey!!!! 🦊😍💐 it is so good to see you! I hope you are doing well 🫶🏼 if your humidity is consistently high as in above 75% then clay pots will not dry out as quickly. However, if you are going to be busy and cannot water your orchids as much as they might need, if they were in clay pots, then plastic pots will help retain the moisture in the crevices of the lava rock. Clay will help with faster evaporation, so, basically... plastic is more forgiving when it comes to having to water as opposed to clay. Let me know if this was helpful or if I made things sound more confusing 🫣 hope you are having a wonderful day already 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Shirley 😍 hi! 💐 it has it's advantages which I am happy to exploit 😅 thank YOU so much for watching, even though you are not actually using it! I so appreciate the support, Shirley! Hope your day was beautiful and that you had some wonderful surprises within your orchid collection to feel amazed by ❤️🌸
🦒🙋♀🙌💖 Very useful information as you've covered all angles including how to prepare the lava rock. I loved the detail of going away from any windows "depending on how hard your blow is" 🤣🤣 The concept of not having to disturb the roots is just wonderful. The idea of using lava rock as bark substitute is fantastic and the equivalent to a mount in a pot, without the nuisance of algae moss. I have been using it as well as other inert materials a lot more this year, not only in pots but also in my tower-like mounts. Not only Orchiata bark is super expensive but it also deteriorates fast. I still have a little bit of it but I had already decided not to buy more and in my latest repots I have used coco chips or coco fibers instead although in a very small amounts. Thanks for another wonderful masterclass and enjoy your day 🥰🥰😍😘
FFF 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐 good morning, meine liebe Freundin! Thank you for your feedback on the video and it's content, and thank you so much for, once again, watching 😍🙏🏼 I am glad that I did not have to resort to using a hammer with the lava rock that I could get here. But, the bag I brought home from Italy decades ago, which is now mixed in the with the lava rock I got locally, was so much dirtier ... the original mud or clay or what ever, was caked around the individual rocks. It was like unearthing monetzuma all over again😂 imagine back in the early 90s, I went to Italy and came back with lava rock for orchids, seeing as I could not get it locally 🤣 my treasured souvenir! And then, I did not use it until 2020, or thereabouts. 20 years of moving homes with this single bag of lava rock, in between collection 2 & 3, unused.... goes to show how precious that bag was to me and, even though I did not know it back then, I kept it and it is now used up. Incredible 😅 meanwhile, Spain now has lava rock in garden centres. Love the stuff! Thank you so much for your time watching and... I hope that your day is already beautiful 😘❤️🌸
Thanks for your masterclass tutorial. I have to pot some catts today and I am going to use lava rock and crush them with a hammer. Lol. Before I was using pebbles I am going to change now. Do you use lava rock for phalenopsis too? Thanks agin for you video.. You are the best.
HI Genizi 😍💐 welcome!! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome, thank you so much for being here, for watching and for your positive feedback on the video. I truly appreciate all of the above and the support 🫶🏼 thank YOU!! USE safety glasses!! 🙏🏼🫣 but that is one very effective way to get lava rock to size! I love the stuff, if only it weren't so harsh on the root system when it comes time to repot. But, I have used a lot of lava rock this season to hopefully rescue some orchids that I just could not get right in leca. Before loosing the orchid, enter lava rock. That includes a phal, yes. She was doing great in lava rock for YEARS!! Then I thought I knew better and switched her to leca, well.... nope, she was not having any of it, so now she is back in lava rock. Highly recommend 👍🏼👍🏼 thank YOU, once again for watching and for your kind comment. I hope your Sunday is going beautifully for you and welcome! 🫶🏼❤️🌸
I love this masterclass and got some great ideas from it. Thank you. I seem to rot cattleya roots on organic media no matter what I do. I transitioned all my cattleyas to either mounts or lava rock in pots about 3 years ago. Both ways have worked so much better-not losing cattleyas now. But I was surprised to find that lava rock retains more moisure than I expected at first-so I don’t water the pots more than 2 times a week all year round. But what I learned and now want to experiment with, is oncidiums will also do well transtioned to lava rock. Thank you-I’m going to try it. 😊
HI Mary 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, I appreciate it 🤗 woohoo!! No more cattleya losses 🥳👍🏼 awesome and thank you for sharing your experience with this fabulous media. Lava rock is awesome when it comes to media retention... that is why it works for self watering, even though it doesn't have any wicking properties. It is amazing. I would love to use it more, as it is also cheaper than leca, but... I cannot justify the weight on my shelves when my orchids have to come inside for the winter. Seeing as I would use larger pots to allow for many more years of growth without repotting on a 2 / 3 year basis. Thank YOU for the feedback, for watching and for taking the time to share your experience 👍🏼 I hope you have yourself a wonderful rest of your day 🤗🌸
Hello Nina.. 👋🏻 Well when I said keep on rocking it, I didn't think you'd take me seriously!! 😆 But lava rock is great for so many orchids, around here in some places you can collect it, but I always advise tumbling it to dull some of the rough/sharp edges. Lots of pumice around here to and it works well .... Just tumble, rinse and use. 😁 I have a few large pieces of pumice that I carved out and use as planters. 😉 Still have more contacts to make before I can get all my insurance paperwork done, and some how I managed to pull my back out yesterday, and all it wants to do now is spasm so been staying still today, I see my pain management Dr tomorrow, so hopefully he'll be able to help with that issue. This video is so very helpful in many respects.. I will be sharing it later with a friend..... 👍🏻 Well hurricane IAN certainly did a number on Florida, checked on several friends there to see how they faired. A couple went to hotels just to be safe... Half the state has no power right now too... And in some areas 7 foot tidal surges!! 😱. Reminds of God asking Noah, "How Long Can You Tread Water" 🤣 Have an awesome evening Nina.. catch you on the next vid!! 😎
Hi Robert 😍💐 I had a little chuckle last night because I knew what was coming next... 😬😆 I have so much to film to get this series into perspective, but the orchids are not going in the right order... eventually the playlist will make sense, but I have to film in accordance to what the orchids are allowing me to do. It is not from A - Z, we are kinda jumping around the alphabet and hopefully eventually it will all make sense. The to film list is long, the days are getting shorter and I have stupid strong winds on the patio as from 14:00, so things are just a little discombobulated with my schedule atm, .... I need to get to the orchids / practical before I can sit down and focus on the 'theory'. So, thank you so much for remembering your comment, and tadaaaa!! 😅 love the idea of carved out pumice planters. Awesome!! I hope that you get that dratted back back! I am so sorry to hear that you are dealing with this just when you have the other things to deal with as well. Gah!! I am so sorry! Ian was being a d...k... with a capital D, for sure! Yesterday I had the live feed on a screen next to me, and saw the whole thing unfold and ... it is never a pretty sight, even though I have watched many hurricanes from a distance! I really started to get nervous for our orchid friends. I don't know where everyone is exactly, but that thing was so big, it did not matter where our buddies were, they were being hammered hard! This is something that had me freaked out while living in Dallas. Not that I experienced a hurricane, thank goodness, but the bad weather was BAD!! It wasn't just bad weather, it was aggressive, violent and just terrifying... ALL the time! I hated it! We can get some bad weather here, but what I experienced in the states, no way! Just terrifying! 🫣🫥 I have heard from some of our buddies and they came through. Without power, but they came through as did their fur babies 🥹🥹❤️ thank you so much for everything, Wingman! Take it easy, although you are already doing that, but ya know.... I got to get my 2 cents in 😘 have a relaxing rest of your day and I hope sans spasms!! ❤️🌸
Good information. I am slowly transitioning my orchids to lava rock for many reasons. I appreciate that you took the time to share your ideas on the use of this medium.
Hi Pat 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and your feedback 🫶🏼 I appreciate YOUR time, thank YOU! I hope that you are having a great day and know that, if you are in any doubt as you transition your orchids, any questions or you just need a confirmation on something you already know but a second set of 'ears' would be helpful, always feel free to ask. 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Hi Nina. All the Dendrobiums I got at the show - they are all potted in a combo of lava rock and bark. That seems to be the very common growing media choice here for these such natives. I’ve never used lava rock on my other orchids but I do have plenty, so anything that’s considered to be a lithothyte, I’ll definitely throw some lava rock in the mix. That was really awesome and had a lot of info I didn’t know. I’ve used lava rock as well for other epiphytic house plants, I.e. my aroids - and they love it! As a suggestion, I’d really love to know what needs to be considered when combining lava rock with other organic media, like bark, since it’s such a common thing to see. Really great video 💚🌿🌸
🌸🥷🏼Sharon San 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐hi 😍😍 you have been busy and I so appreciate the time you spent watching the videos, thank you so much 🙏🏼 in a nutshell, combining lava rock with spahgnum moss is not advisable, because the weight of the lava rock will crush the moss and it will degrade much faster, then it blocks the airy climate in between the nooks and crannies of the lava rock itself, just not advisable at all. Plenty of water retention in the lava rock all by it's lone some! But, people mix lava rock into bark, to stretch the bark seeing as that is the more pricey media and lava rock is the cheapest of the 2. So, nurseries will use the lava rock to save on the bark. The added bark makes the climate of the pot drier than if the pot had lava rock only. The bark will dry. out faster, and take absorb any moisture in the lava rock, which will then also dry out faster. As far as a potting mix it works well, saves on bark, and a wet dry cycle can be maintained just the same as if bark were mixed with sphagnum moss, with the exception that, the lava rock acts like the more water retentive media, if that makes sense. Funny though, that the 'saving' of the good media, being bark, by adding the cheapo media, being lava rock... may in turn convert people to go for the cheapo media as the main media in their pots, because this organic media growing can get very expensive, if not ... IS already very expensive. So, I hope that answered your question, your suggestion? Lemme know 😘 Thank you so much for your support, 🌸🥷🏼❤️
Very interesting video again from you Nina you always have some surprise for all of us every single day yes it’s hard for you to decide what you want to talk about on your videos but you always come up with something my plan that I was on about wasn’t doing so well well I’ve taken it out it’s pots the roots are lovely and green Put it in some water to make sure they were green and took all the other bits off but put it back in the pot and it’s not doing very well again so what do I do leave it in some water and just take it out in and out all just leave it in the pot or put it in some other material what do you think please help me don’t want to lose it it’s such a pretty plant when it’s in flower I even cut the flowers off because it wasn’t doing very well and put them in water I’m just about to throw them away I know it only cost me £8 from the garden centre but it was a present for my birthday
HI Andrea 😍💐 please send me your information in more detail by filling out this form! 👉🏼 cutt.ly/3XbDtKg 👈🏼 based on what you are asking, I need to know more, and possibly also some fotos. I don't want to give advice under these circumstances, because I need many many more details about your temperatures and light etc. So, if you don't mind to fill out the form, then I will get back to you via email, Andrea!! I will be looking out for the submission! Thank you so much and I hope that you had a great day 😘 really appreciate you watching the video ❤️🌸
Hi again Nina, I can’t believe you've done it again 😊 I keep saying that you are bringing out videos just as I need them. I am having terrible trouble finding good quality bark, having to throw lots away as it's rubbish. I heard you mention a little while ago that lava rock is a good substitute, holding water and keeping roots warmer in winter so I ordered some and it arrived yesterday. I didn't realise it needed sterilising if it was new so I will do that after washing now. Also my humidity can vary from 70% but go down to about 40% on occasion so will watch the surface carefully. Again thanks for the advice, I hadn't thought about bigger pot size either.
HI Carole 😍💐 ooops! I did it again!! 🫢 and I'm lovin' it! 😅 thank you so much for putting a smile on my face... I LOVE it when this happens! 😅 you are going to be soooo happy with the switch! I am not doubting that for a minute and wow, yes... so glad that you are prepped to clean and boil and get the best start for your orchids in lava rock! I am grinning from ear to ear 🙌🏼 On Saturday, a video about layering with lava rock will air, so... that could be something that could be of interest to you as well. I am hustling to get some videos out, but I am running out of daylight and the wind has been so bad on the patio lately, I have had to really try and watch the orchids outside. So, if you have any questions in the meantime, please always feel free to ask and not wait for a video 👍🏼👍🏼 thank you so much for your support and your encouraging comments ❤️🌸
Sylvia, hi 😍💐 welcome!! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and leaving a comment. I truly appreciate the support 🫶🏼 I am linking a web page of an Australian rock supplier that claims to supply other Australian suppliers, so maybe if you contact them, they can point you in the right direction? australian-rockstar.com/products/red-lava-rock-sunset I hope this helps. 🤞🏼🤞🏼 it is a great way of growing orchids no matter the environment. I wish you a wonderful Friday and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Don Miguel 🥰💐 hola jefe!! Wow... ever so slowly YT is showing me comments! I did not see this one earlier 🙄 and I am here to say thank you so so much for watching, for not ignoring me... the algorithm ... pfft... doesn't know I exist, but I am glad that you are here and that makes it a hit, not a miss! 🤗🥰 thank you for your support ❤️ always! 🌸
I have orchids and the best thing I have found was lava rock. It holds moisture and is very airy. I have used it 100% as medium but use it throughout or in the reservoir to hold moisture and humidity. We are either too dry or too humid so I used it to my advantage.
Hi Samantha 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you in the comments before, so first of all... a warm warm welcome and a massive thank you for being here, for watching and for your input! So very much appreciated 🫶🏼 I love lava rock! I wish I could use it in all my pots, but there are limitations in my climate and with mobility issues, I have to watch out for the weight of the pots. It really is super versatile and I am glad that you are having great success with it as well 👍🏼🌸
Ty! For sharing your lava rock information, I grow different types Dendrobiums etc. in lava rocks with a few pebbles for some, even phals. This helped me so much per I tend to over water my orchids here in Texas its so hot! my orchids are not in full sun, some are indoors and outside under patio filtered shade, and yes I hammer my lava to break it up😊 so I can get lots of different sizes, thanks again for sharing.
HI Anita 😍🌸 it is good to see you again! I hope that you are doing well 👍🏼 thank you for sharing your experience with lava rock. I love it, and if I did not have to be so concerned with shuffling orchids around depending on the time of year, more would be in lava rock... simply because I just don't have to repot as often as I do orchids in leca. I used to work in Dallas, so, I am familiar with the climate up there. It used to get nasty there in the winters though, which I absolutely hated. When I get ahead of myself and complain about the winter here in Spain, I always go back to the winters in Dallas, and then I am grateful to be home again 😬 thank you so much for watching and for supporting the channel, I really appreciate it! Hope you have yourself a great FriYAY ❤️
Nina, Thanks for another great masterclass. I was just looking at some lava rock on EBAY and wondered what the difference is between red and black/grey. They are about same price per kg but I can’t visualise the volume of 1kg, in other words how heavy it is in general. At this stage I’m still trying to get used to growing in leca and as I bought a 15kg bag I’m kind of stuck with it. (don’t like to waste it) I can see the logic in everything you say in this video and would very much like to give it a try but leca it will have to be for now. On another topic…Den Berry Oda keikis are now ready for me to pick up at the orchid show in a week’s time, I’m so thrilled, I’ve actually asked for 2 or 3 keikis just to “hedge my bets” I thought I would start them off in moss the way you did with the reed stem epi you showed recently.
Renate, hi 😍💐 1 kg of lava rock is not much, and if you are wanting to try one or 2 orchids, that is what you can consider the quantity.. of course, the size of your pot will factor in, but it is not a large quantity. Lava rock is heavier than leca by about 10x when you take one leca bead and have a piece of lava rock next to it of similar size. The difference in color is due to the mineral composition. Black / grey lava rock is called Basalt ... but even black / grey lava rock will eventually turn rust red due to oxifidation of it's iron rich minerals. But, eventually being the key word here. It may not happen in our life time. The rust rest lava rock as in this video, is older and for that reason considered weathered etc etc. If you go down the rabbit hole you will also find Basalt stone, which is a generic term in the construction industry for any volcanic stone, so... the same but not for the purposes of growing orchids, more for decoration / tiles etc. I am so excited to read that you are finally going to get yourself the Berry Oda keikis! As you are heading into warmer temperatures, you are good with the sphagnum moss option, but you may be surprised to find that your keikis already come with roots, which would be even better 🤞🏼😃 thank you so much for watching, lovely lady! I so appreciate your support ❤️ have a beautiful Friday 🌸
I enjoyed this many helpful tips in this video! Quite. Few years ago I converted bi-foliate cattleyas to lava rock since they don’t like being disturbed. They seem much happier and I am happy not to bother them. I’m working on converting the other cattleyas as well. Lava rock is easily accessible here and works much better than lecca. I plan to take your advice and convert some other orchids as well. As an over-waterer🙄🙄 I think this will work out nicely!
Hi Judy 🤩💐 Welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and thank you so much for being here, I so appreciate it 🤗 I absolutely love lava rock and clearly, so do orchids! The only issue I have with it, is, how unforgiving it is when it comes to repotting orchids... it does a lot of damage. But, I am certainly potting up a few orchids into lava rock again this season, to hopefully save them and bring them back from what I consider a disaster effort while trying to grow them in leca. I think that lava rock will give those orchids a chance 👍🏼🤞🏼 your feedback on this video is appreciated, Judy, thank you! And thank you for watching. I hope that your Sunday is fabulous and once again, welcome 🤗🌸
Hi dj 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and thank YOU so very much for being here, for watching this video, I appreciate your time 👍🏼 I hope that you will find more useful videos and if you ever have any questions, never hesitate to ask! Have a fabulous day and once again, welcome 🤗🌸
HI Lisa 😍💐 welcome!! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and the support that comes along with the it. I appreciate your time, thank you! 🫶🏼 If you have a preference toward bark and do not want to go completely inorganic, you can definitely add bark into the lava rock mix you put into your pots, without having to worry about bark breaking down and repotting as frequently as you would if you were to use bark only. However, you can absolutely use lava rock only. I assume that you are bringing your orchids indoors during the winter months, possibly have them outside for the summer? Or do you not take your orchids outside weather permitting, growing them strictly indoors? Lava rock is a fantastic substrate no matter the temperatures because it does not have the evaporative cooling characteristics that leca has, so... it is safe when it comes to that aspect, growing in a wet dry cycle culture as well as, in a semi hydroponic set up (with limitations, but until I don't know how you grow your orchids, I won't go into that too much and stick with just answering your question). I have a habit of going off on tangents with information that may be of interest as well 😬 let me know if my reply has prompted further questions! In the meantime, I wish you a fantastic Saturday and look forward to hearing from you / seeing you more often! Thank you 🫶🏼❤️🌸
You can go full lava rock then! You can grow your orchids in a wet dry cycle, just like you would if you were to use bark, the only differences being, your wallet will thank you and your media won't break down, you can use it over and over again!! I cannot tell you the relief I felt in 2020, when the pandemic hit, that I was able to repot all the orchids that needed it without having to worry about not being able to afford all the bark. Apart from the fact that I wanted to have this 3rd collection inorganic, the amazing side effect was.... recycle! No worries about having to spend money! It was awesome 🙌🏼
Thank you so much Nina for the master class on lava rock. This video will act as a reference material for selection of orchid media in future. Thanks Ninja orchids video on ph, my daughter ordered a ph meter for me.
Hi Jose 🥰💐 I appreciate your kind feedback and your time also watching this video, thank you so very very much 🙏🏼 I am so happy to hear that your daughter ordered you a pH meter! What a wonderful supportive lady she is 🥰 speaking of daughter... I hope that your granddaughter is doing well. Please give her my ❤️ and tell her hi from me 🤗 hope your day was awesome and I wish you a great Thursday, amigo 🌸
I've been curious about using chunks of Coco husk with Lava rock My purpose to hold a bit more moisture in the clay pots I started to use. Especially for Catteleya.
HI Richard 😍💐 that would work without any issues. Also, an added advantage because the chances of the roots going through the coco husk, or grow along it, will make it easier when it is time to repot. A lot of the roots won't stick to the lava rock, exclusively. That to me is a bonus if you added coco husk chunks 👍🏼 thank you for watching, I appreciate your support 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Hi: a question: I have over 100 various orchids in pots, baskets and mounts on trellises on my patio. After watching a few of your vlogs, I am wondering if I could mount all on mounts? I know it is going to be tedious and mb I will have a few deaths, but I am thinking of how they grow in the wild and less repotting for me each two years or so. How wd I go about this? I know I wd have to water more frequently esp during summer, but I am retired and have the time. Also, I love your blogs, but I have to hang on tight to follow your discourse as you go so fast. Pretend you are having a conversation with me, not at me, face to face and speak slower. Just a thought . I watch all of your blogs and find them informative and quite sensible as you are detailed and meticulous. Thanks for reading and keep up the good work.
One thing I know that can help with cadence issues, is playing the video at 0.5 speed. It’s hard as a content creator because making a video tutorial isnt - and can’t be - the same as having a conversation face to face. You can’t replicate that. But I do know that slowing down the video playback speed does indeed help some people with achieving the cadence they need that is optimal for them. Just a suggestion that might help. 🌿🌸
HI Girlygirl 😍💐 good to see you again, thank you so much for being here 🤗 if you are contemplating mounting your orchids, please consider how much humidity you have to help you out on the days when you may be otherwise not around. I am currently not employed, have 'all the time in the world' and still have a tough time keeping up with my orchids that are mounted when it gets warm and there is a constant breeze going, drying them out within an hour. I do not have humidity to help me out, so... I just want to bring that to your attention. If you have humidity, your watering will be supported by that and your mounts won't dry out so fast. You can support the freshly mounted orchids with sphagnum moss, or some form of media that helps with water retention. Know that, sphagnum moss will degrade, so you can either add to it as it degrades, or remove what is left on the mount and refresh as necessary. I would always wait for new roots to grow to change ANY set up or ANY media... even if repotting within the same media, I will always recommend to do anything with an orchid of that nature when new roots grow. So, that would mean you may not be able to do it all at once. I have a masterclass video in the works which will deal with all of this specifically coming up, but I am waiting for the orchid to bloom, so that we can actually see HER blooms as I talk about it. However, I really hope that this reply helps with your planning until such a time that the video airs. I would LOVE to have more of a conversational style of delivery in my videos, however, the YT algorithm has not discovered my channel and I need to make sure that my videos are within x amount of time and I am trying to be as thorough with the information provided in every video. It would be a luxury for me to chill and talk calmly... until my channel has not been picked up by the algorithm and YT starts to promote me, to help me grow, I am forced to deliver the way I am, unfortunately. BUT, it is true what Sharon said... if you go to the settings of the video, ⚙️
Informative. Good note as careful and the fertilizer it will hold. Too flush and clean them I heard boil for 20 min? Is that hot enough to make them pop? I was told be careful with how much heat I know it's not fire hot but any chance for them to pop off my pot on the stove?
Thank you for your feedback 👍🏼 I boil my lava rock for 20 minutes and if the batch is bigger, then 30 minutes. They do not pop, there is no risk with having the pot on the stove to boil. They do not jump out of the pot. No matter their size. I have boiled large to small pieces including the shards that break off... never had a problem. You can boil and walk away without having to worry about anything 👍🏼👍🏼
Loved the lava rock talk. I use it with some. I will use it for more now. I love it. I also use small smooth pebbles. I tried gravel-I don’t recommend it. Thank you so much. Do you have a video about dendrobiums-black hair type? I’ve heard they can be incredibly hard. Thanks.
HI Shari 😍💐 thank you for your feedback and for watching 🤗 for a climate that provides high humidity (including indoor set ups and greenhouses) pebbles are a great media, for sure 👍🏼 I do not have a video on the black hair dens, I don't have any because they want to have 'low' temps preferably all year round. So that would equate to 50ºF to 60º F nights, maximum 85º F during the days. And then watering and fertilizing only when in active growth and a brief rest when they have matured. They also need to be kept barely moist until new growth start up again. Seeing as I go by worse case scenario (most of the time) when I see temperature preference for an orchid, the consistent low temps requirements makes me shy away from adding any to my collection. If they had a night temperature requirement that differs from winter to summer, I may consider them more temperature tolerant, but this appears not to be the case with the black hair types. If you are planning to get some, think cool to intermediate and to be on the safe side, keep the day temperature as cool as possible as well. The 85ºF during the day... I would not let them go above 80ºF just to make sure that there is not dropping of leaves, in the first year of having it. Also, consider the time of year that these orchids are shipped. The temperature in those boxes can go very high very quickly and even though your environment may be perfect, they have been exposed to heat while on their way in the mail. The stress and damage will then show approx 3-4 months in, and you may think it was something you did... which clearly you did not. With these pointers, I hope that I could help out a little? Sorry that I could not pull up a video. Let me know if you have any other questions 🤗 have a fabulous day ❤️🌸
Wow, I just learned so much. I grow outside, but don’t have a lot of trees to mount on, and have very little shade in my growing area so lots of mounts are out of the questions (until I build or create some shade places) so I pot most of my cattleyas. I just use the lava rock to stabilize the plants in the pot, but I don’t “fully pot” them. I think I’m just a chicken to grow the plants totally bare root and feel the lava rock will give the plant something to hold on to. My climate is warm and humid basically 12 months a year (we do have a winter but we only go down to about 60 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of days over a couple of months). When the plants outgrow their pot, I was just planning on cracking the pot and putting the whole lot into a larger pot. (Both would be terracotta). Do you think that would work? Thanks Nina!
HI Ila 🥰💐 your climate sounds amazing for just lava rock, Ila! Humid and warm all year round? That is a grower's dream!! The 60º low.... oh! It just sounds like paradise! 🥹😍 what you suggest would work perfectly fine IF you soak your terracotta pot first, because there will be roots attached to the older pot that you want to crack. If you can get a little peak into the pot before cracking it and seeing if you can dislodge any attached roots from the side of the older pot, then give that a go before going all in. However, IF you have new roots already growing, then you can rest assured that any damage to the older roots, if they break or crack, will be of no issue to the orchid at all, seeing as the new root system is already on the way. I would always proceed with such a repot, terracotta etc, with new roots just starting and then, crack away! As unfortunate as it may be to break a viable root, a branching root system will quickly deal with that as well. I just love the sound of your climate and, am envious 😅 thank you so much for watching, Ila! I appreciate your support and your feedback 🙏🏼🌸
I love the idea of not having to re-pot and change medium every 2 years or sooner, that is why I have started converting my cattleyas to leca. My concern is my environment is very arid, 30% on a good day, sometimes 16%. If I understand correctly the lava rock will not absorb like leca does in semi-hydro? I would like to try lava rock with one of my tolumnias since you don't have the cooling from evaporation. Would my best option be using lava rock with a wick?
Hi Janina 😍💐 it's good to see you again 🤗 thank you for being here and for watching! My climate and humidity levels are similar to your's and my lava rock and semi hydro set up is not struggling at all. I do not use a wick because I use medium to small lava rock at where the root system finds itsself. As is the case with one of the examples of this video ruclips.net/video/I1eZtd_IZbg/видео.html seeing as the tolumnia was in a harsh wet dry cycle in a basket, I opted to put it into lava rock semi hydro, because that is what the roots were used to previously, in a reasonably sized pot. Seeing as lava rock is so water retentive, there is no need for a wick and in a dry climate, the evaporation from the surface down will be relatively quick. However, once the roots are accustomed to the more water retentive environment they will want it to stay that way. The most important thing with tolumnias in this set up is to protect the base of the orchid from getting wet. Something I explain in the linked video, because I lost some tolumnias when using leca, thinking that my dry climate will take care of a dry surface / base. That was not the case. Let me know if this was helpful. I hope I managed to explain myself adequately! 🤞🏼🌸
HI 😍💐 yes they would! I have several in lava rock and many in leca. I have almost lost some to leca though, but am reviving them by using lava rock for those now. If you want to test the concept out, I would start with lava rock to get a feel for how the roots behave under a more water retentive media. 👍🏼 thank you so much for watching! Truly appreciate the support 🫶🏼❤️🌸
@@NinjaOrchids thankyou so much for responding I just removed her from her media and had to clip off 2 leaves it had some blackening spots appearing but she was in a terra Cotta pot and my God did she have so many roots!! I feel sad she hasn't bloomed the last two years for me so I wanted to change her entire media and pot! I just booked my lava rock and I'm going to put her in should I put any perlite in with her or just go all lava this is an experiment for this lady! Thankyou ohh so much🤗🤗☺️
No need for perlite! Make sure, though that you rinse your lava rock well, and give it a full 20 minutes on boil to sterilize. Use the cleanest, lowest ppm water that you have. Lava rock will continue to release dust even after all that, but just rinsing it straight from the bag is not good enough to get the first good clean. After years of reusing my lava rock, it still releases some dust, but not as much. I highly recommend you do not rely on what you feel is a much better visual result after just rinsing out of the bag 👍🏼🤗
Hello, I'm taking my semi hydro set up orchids outside for the first time this summer. If I have them without overhead cover, and they flower, will the flowers fall off, fall off earlier, or take a hit in some way? Mine are phalaenopsis and cattleya types.
HI 😍💐 there is always a risk of blooms or buds coming off prematurely. A strong wind can knock pots over, maybe in interested outdoor dweller takes interest in the bud, (I don't know if you have squirrels etc. while they don't normally go for orchid buds / blooms, they can be doing their thing and knock something off unexpectedly) also, pollinators will be interested in the blooms, maybe pollinate one and that will cause it to collapse prematurely. As I do not know where you are putting your orchids when you say outside, also, be mindful of sun exposure. They should not be exposed to direct sun if they have not been outdoors before. Burning the leaves can be risky. Let me know if you have any further questions / doubts, because it would be a shame if you can put your orchids outside, but everything I just mentioned puts you off. Some protection from the elements is also advised, because if it rains a lot, it could cause the blooms to fade quicker, or if the wind is too hot and dry, same thing. I don't want to be a Debby downer, just pointing out a few things to be mindful of! Thank you so much for watching 🫶🏼 hope your day is going great ❤️🌸
@@NinjaOrchids thank you for this info! I do know the light requirements for my phals and cattleya types, so I can put them out on my uncovered deck in the correct light settings for them. I have them on a covered deck right now, because even though high winds and squirrels etc can get to them, super heavy rains can not when they are on that deck. However, that particular deck is super shady and my cattleya types and vandas could use more light than this covered deck can provide. They will of course be fine on that covered deck (one of my vandas bloomed just fine last year hanging on the covered deck(by hanging, they get more light.) But... The squirrels/racoons knock pots off of the railing on that covered deck, so I have to set those pots down off of the railing where they get less light. So I was thinking about putting those cattleya pots out on my uncovered deck which has lots of different light types to offer as it is an enormous deck that is partially under trees for half of it. I feel very confident that I can meet their specific light needs out there. They will be no more or less exposed to pollinators/squirels/and racoons. They would just have better light, but would be exposed to more wind and occasionally very heavy summer storm rains. I am worried that the rain will cause the flowers to fall off. I can set things up to protect them from the wind knocking pots over, but the rain worries me. So I'm torn, keep them in slightly less light than they may like, yet protected from strong winds and rain, or put them in their best light needs, but they will be exposed to winds and rain. What do you think, or what would you do?
Sounds like you have a wonderful deck, and if I were in that position, I would put them out to enjoy the conditions, especially those thunderstorms you speak of. But, if I were to see spikes or buds forming, I would take those pots and bring them to where they are more protected under cover for the buds and blooms to form and to be able to enjoy them. Out of the rain, but not at risk 👍🏼👍🏼
In the summer, yes. In the winter, the weather determines watering needs or the lack thereof. Those that are Indoors during the winter months, watering depends on the orchid in question and it's watering needs. That is when less is more, especially in my conditions 👍🏼
Ciao Nina, favoloso anche questo video. Li devo rivedere quasi tutti per poter memorizzare le cose più importanti per me. Comunque volevo dirti che stamane ho provveduto a cambiare dopo 3 anni il substrato alla mia phalaenopsis con qualche problema post colpo di freddo e piena di radici attive. Era in bark e poco muschio. Solo 3 vecchie radici morte. Chi dice che è più facile cambiare il bark rispetto alla lava? Ho impiegato ben 2 ore per farlo anche perchè all'inizio ho tentato di salvare 6 radici che erano uscite dai buchi del vaso cercando di tagliare il vaso; non ci sono riuscita!!! Vaso troppo duro! E così le 6 radici hanno perso la loro punta. Ne sono rimaste una decina in ottima forma e altre 7 ancora piccole (3-4cm). Per togliere tutto il bark rimasto attaccato alle radici sono stata più di mezz'ora sotto l'acqua tiepida nel tentativo, alla fine riuscito, di ammorbidirlo e poi pensavo di rinvasarla in un vasetto da 13cm. Ho sbagliato. Ho dovuto usare un vaso da 17 cm considerata la quantità e la lunghezza delle radici. Comunque c'è l'ho fatta con qualche difficoltà, ma ho voluto usare mezzo bark e mezza lava per abituarla un pò alla volta come ho fatto con altre (non sono coraggiosa come puoi capire....). Poi, poichè ha quelle macchie circolari e trasparenti anche su un'altra foglia, uso un bastoncino per le orecchie imbevuto di alcool all'aglio e lo appoggio proprio sopra alla macchia e poi pochissima cannella. Non idraterò per 1 settimana e la terrò lontanadalle altre. Ti ringrazio infinitamente per tutti i consigli che ci dai e a risentirci.
Ciao Luciana 😍💐 Grazie mille per il tuo feedback positivo sulle informazioni contenute in questo video e grazie mille per la visione! Il salvataggio degli apici delle radici è sempre la parte che richiede più tempo durante un rinvaso. Per quanto i vasi con i fori siano eccellenti per il flusso d'aria nel vaso, le radici delle orchidee le troveranno sempre ed è un peccato quando perdiamo le punte perché avevamo un vaso che chiaramente stava facendo un ottimo lavoro! Ma lo dici già tu stesso, le altre radici stanno crescendo attivamente e questa è sempre una buona cosa che accada. In questo modo possiamo stare tranquilli che andrà tutto bene. È anche possibile che le radici che hanno perso gli apici radicali inizino a ramificarsi. Quindi, vinci, vinci 😃 Apprezzo che tu mi abbia fatto sapere come è andato il rinvaso e ora... buona crescita! 💪🏼🫶🏼 Spero anch'io che tu abbia trascorso una bella giornata e ti auguro una serata rilassante ❤️🌸
Hi! 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so first of all, a warm warm welcome and secondly, thank you so much for watching and leaving a comment with your feedback. I appreciate it. As I am not sure how you have your settings, it is possible to remove the close captioning feature in the settings underneath the video that shows 'CC'. I do apologize if I am stating something you already know, but I do not want to assume that this is something you have already tried to turn the 'CC' off. When I watch videos, I turn that feature off and recently I had to do it again, maybe because of yet another update on the app and they set it to ON as a default. Just like 'Autoplay' switches on randomly as well, even though I turn that function off every time. Not sure if I could be of any help at all. I am sorry that the size is large 😓 hopefully, it is a simple matter of switching the feature off and then it won't appear again, unless you need it in the future. Let me know if I can try and help to improve the viewing experience on my channel, at my end... YT does things that I have no influence over, but if I can be of any further help, please let me know! Wishing you a wonderful start to the new week and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
HI Lord Nemesis 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and thank you so much for the feedback, for watching and being here 🫶🏼
Hi Antony 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a massive thank you for being here, I so appreciate it! Your feedback is also very appreciated, thank you, as is your time watching the video 🙏🏼 hope you are having a fabulous day and once again, welcome 🫶🏼🌸
Yes! I sometimes do that in my super dry climate, especially if the breeze is hot and the surface of the lava rock warms up too much. In some pots, I have moss now growing all by itself on the surface. Only in the winter do I remove it from the base of the rhizome, just to make sure that there isn't too much of a wet environment during the cold months of the year. 👍🏼
👉🏼ruclips.net/video/TaBwzFaC-7Y/видео.html 👈🏼NEED HELP with an ORCHID or GENUS? 👉🏼 cutt.ly/3XbDtKg 👈🏼
Thank you SO much for sharing your knowledge. I will be repotting my cymbidiums, Stanhopeas, phalanopsis and dendrobiums in lava rock. I live in Sydney Australia. 🇦🇺 🇦🇺🌏🌏🫶🫶
Hi Louise 😍💐 thank YOU so much for watching this video and letting me know that it was helpful! You are heading into spring, lovely lady and I am soooo envious 😅 I wish I could just be a hedgehog and hibernate the coming 6 months, and wake up to warmer temps, but... alas... tough conditions ahead. I sincerely hope that you are enjoying the warmer conditions and seeing your orchids responding accordingly. Happy Happy repotting season ahead 🥰 have a beautiful and relaxing evening. I appreciate your support all these years, thank you 🫶🏼 ❤️🌸
I changed to growing in lava rock after watching Rick L and my phals and dendrobiums are doing really well. I am amazed at how thick the roots are. Really appreciate you passing your vast knowledge on. We are so lucky to benefit from it.
Eileen, hi 😍💐 Welcome! I have not seen you here before, so first of all, a warm warm welcome and a huge thank you for being here, for watching and your kind feedback! I truly appreciate YOU 🫶🏼 I am so glad that you were inspired to try lava rock after watching Rick L! It is the bees knees for orchids and if I have not figured out how to get an orchid to grow well in leca, where I am at, then into lava rock it goes. Then, I just hope that I did not weaken the orchid too much and it has a chance to recover 🤞🏼🙂 wet / dry cycle, lava rock ticks the box, semi hydroponics even if there are limitations, it ticks the box as well, saving on purchasing media all the time, tick and so many other reasons it proves to be a wonderful substrate, tick tick tick 😃 wishing you a wonderful day, Eileen, once again, welcome!! 🫶🏼❤️🌸
I grow my neofinetia in granite pebbles. I just repotted it after two years and there are zero dead roots.
Sattori, hi 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so, a warm warm welcome and thank you so much for being here, I really appreciate it! 🤗 granite pebbles are awesome for the vanda orchids and I am glad that your neo is loving it! I have mine in seramis and semi hydro, because my humidity is so low here, I need the added humidity that the set up brings along with a more water retentive media. Bet it looks beautiful in those pebbles! Thank you so very much for watching, and, once again, welcome! 🙌🏼🌸
This video was well timed and informative as I'm about to transition from bark to lava rock for my new Catts and Dens. Thanks.
Emilio, hi 😍💐 I appreciate you for letting me know that this video was not only well timed but also informative in such a way that it will serve it's purpose for the move to lava rock! Thank YOU 👍🏼 If you have any questions as you are in the process of transitioning, anything you want to run by me, you know the drill... do not hesitate to ask 🫶🏼 thank you so much for watching and for your support here on the channel. Have yourself a fabYOUlous day ❤️🌸
This is informative, thank you!
Hi Jones Jones 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching 🫶🏼 I appreciate your feedback on the video, thank you for letting me know. Wishing you a fabulous weekend and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Hi Ninja, could you please tell me the name of the video where you were talking about fertilizing and you had 6 cards ,I want to write it down and would love to watch it again, Thanks 😊 ❤
HI Barb 😍💐 I hope that I am providing the correct link. This is the video in which I created recipe cards for orientation purposes and helping out if someone doesn't know where to start with what and how much. ruclips.net/video/2D2COL1xNJ0/видео.html You are welcome to take screenshots because the cards are designed in such a way that you can add occasional notes to your screenshots. Please let me know if this is the video you are looking for 🫶🏼 thank you so much for watching this video, as well! I truly appreciate your support and hope you are having a wonderful rest of your day ❤️🌸
Thank you for posting this, very informative. Happy growing 🙂
Hi Deann 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and for your kind positive feedback! I truly appreciate it 🫶🏼 Happy Growing, right back at you and I hope you are already having a fabulous day ❤️🌸
Such a helpful video! So much info I watched it a few times! From what I'm understanding, its okay to basically keep them wet all the time? I try to do wet/dry with lava, but the very center doesn't dry out all the way before the orchid is ready for more water (leaves going limp a bit) most of the roots dry.
My main issue is I tend to water too much, so i switched to lava rock for phals and denphal, with bark or moss, I'd always have root rot. So if i watered this setup often, it shouldn't matter because of how much air the roots have, right? I know you cant give gaurantees or anything, I have just struggled with watering since I started with orchids, a few years now, and only now I'm starting to make them happy. Thanks so much for all your help!
😍Hi Jess 💐 It is ok to have roots wet all the time, especially if the pot is somewhat larger and the middle does not dry out. The lava rock has ample crevices and pores to allow for gas exchange. You are right to go with what you see your leaves are doing. Not all phals need the same amount of water, and you will notice that some candidates just need more water, despite the fact that the centre could still be damp. Follow what you see on the structures to determine if you need to water more, and don't worry about having a strict wet / dry cycle. You will notice that other phals will skip a watering because they appear to be happy with their lot, for longer. Den Phals will only get root rot if they the ambient temperatures drop below 20ºC / 68ºF. Den Phals are warm to hot growers. If they get a slight dip in their temperatures, the first thing to go is the roots. I have tried to grow Den Phals, here in Spain, and it sounds silly that I cannot grow them because I am in S'ern Spain, but, I never kept my grow space above 20ºC / 68ºF because I did not want the excess cost back then either, just for 4 orchids when all the others can handle the lows. Well, the 4 months of temperatures no higher than 18ºC / 64ºF and the Den Phals had a problem with that. I don't have specific videos on Den Phals, because I don't have any footage of them to make a video out of them, but I have had many years with them in the past, and the media usually is not the problem, the low temperatures are. Making them real divas. So, make sure that your Den Phals are always nice and warm, maybe uncomfortably warm for you, but they will love it, and they won't dump their roots. 👍🏼 If you are ever struggling with a specific candidate that you see in lava rock and are doubting the media, run the situation by me and we can troubleshoot what is going on. Lava rock is usually not the culprit. It is one of the safest media to grow orchids with a very low margin for error 👍🏼 thank YOU so much for watching, Jess! Have yourself a wonderful Friday 🫶🏼❤️🌸
When I smash my labs rock I use a half inch screen top separate it. Then I use a 1/4 inch screen to separate it more. It gives me 3 grades
Hi Joe 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so first of all, a warm warm welcome and secondly, thank you so much for being here, for watching and your inspired comment. Using a screen to separate the lava rock is certainly much more time effective 👍🏼 I shall take that into consideration if I ever have to separate a new bag of lava rock.... that can take a day doing it by hand and eye only 😅 wishing you a wonderful day, and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
@@NinjaOrchids I'm a hoya ho mainly, but I got my start with orchids!
Hoya ho 😂 that is funny! I have never heard that before 😅
the more I am watching these, the more I am liking this series. I have been considering lava rock. hummmmm. have a wonderful day
🌸🥷🏼Julie San 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐so sweet of you to watch another video 😘 thank you! Lava rock is amazing when not concerned with repotting every 2 or 3 years. I am always confident for an orchid to go into lava rock. If it doesn't make it, then it was not the media that was the problem, it was me ... as per usual 🤨😅 ❤️
🤗🤗Jambo, Hi, Habari Nina, I have started using red lava rock only for my Vandaceous orchids including Rhynchostylis they are all putting out new roots, growths, although I experience algae in the pots a lot. I plan to pot my Neos, Sarccos, and other mini orchids into lava soon. It really does help with reducing watering from every day to two or three times a week with a flush every fourth. My Vandaceous orchids have never looked better! Even my Renanthera Imshootiana is growing new leaves and roots after languishing for a year. Stay well Rafiki🌸🌺🌼💕🥰😘sending you some mvua🌧🌦⛈
Sue 😍❤️hi! 💐 memsab!! 😘😘 I am so happy to hear that the lava rock is working so well for your orchids, Sue!! That is awesome 🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥳 I just had some mvua 🤣 I rushed out and left my 3 empty buckets out and well, if I got an inch of mvua, then I am lucky, but I am leaving them outside in case it rains again a little! But yeah, thank YOUUUUU!! I apprecite your kindness in sharing some of dem drops 😘 really appreciate you watching, rafiki yangu!! Thou art truly special to me and it is SO good to see you 😘 stay safe!! Much love ❤️🌸
I love this, I always learn from watching your video uploads.
Hi Johanna 🤩💐 welcome!! I have not seen you in the comments before, so... thank you very much for watching the uploads in the past, and I really appreciate you commenting so that I can welcome you 'personally' 🤗 and express my appreciation for your support here on the channel, thank you! Your feedback is very encouraging 🙌🏼 hope you are having a great day, Johanna 🤗🌸
👏👏👏👏Yes totally agree, the last 12 years I use lava rock....never 👎 turn back to organic medium.
Orchids love it, no stress for them or for me, without disturb the roots year after year the grow stronger...If they need uppotting
I can put the smaller pot to a bigger...That's it. Great masterclass again Nina!
HI Elen 😍💐 no stress indeed! I like that you can just uppot! I would love to have the space and strength to be able to do that, because truly, it is the best thing ever! You have it perfectly dialled in. The hobby takes on a totally different vibe when you can uppot and hakuna matata... as do the orchids 👍🏼👍🏼 amazing! Thank you so very much for watching, Elen, and for leaving your experience with lava rock in the comments for anyone who is looking for more information to read 🤗 I really appreciate that 👍🏼 hope you had a fabulous day 🌸
Thank you for this video! I often see dancing ladies in lava rocks. I’m going to test out lava rock sometime soon!
Ian update, me my roommates and our birds are safe. The rain hasn’t caused flooding in our area. The wind wind is picking up but my bare roots are secure. The storm is going to simmer down before it gets too close, regardless we are safe and prepared. My vanda ‘sweet pea’ sent out her very first spike a couple days ago, it wasn’t until I lowered her down that I noticed😱! There is a silver lining to every cloud! Hope you are doing well! Once again I’ve been loving this series! I’ll update you when the storm has passed! 🌸💖
&yLand 🤗🙏🏼🙌🏼😍💐hi!! I am so happy to hear that you are all fine! Thank you so so much for going to the trouble of watching the video and leaving me an update comment! You have no idea how much I appreciate it, because I cannot put it into words 🥹🥹 I had the live stream on for the most part last night and again this morning and was so concerned! I consider you family, even though we aren't but .... yeah! Thank you so much for getting in touch 🙏🏼 and you have a spike coming!! Oh!! EXCITE! 🥳🙌🏼 I had a super windy day on the patio today, but I don't even want to talk about it, because it is nothing compared to what I saw happening ... so 🤫😘 hope that you and everyone near and dear to you, are going to be ok, even after all these hours! ❤️🌸
I switched to lava rock about three years ago. I live in Western Washington, during summer my Dendrobiums and Cattleya orchids live outside and have thrived. Thanks for mentioning fertilizer in ppm, I have been watering with 150 ppm of 20-20-20 as it is injected in my drip watering system. I follow your thinking about salt build up and switch to plain well water when I see white residue. The big plus for me is they never blow over and never over watered and I haven’t had to repot. Makes life easy! Thanks, Mike t.
Mike, hi 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a thank you for being here is the first thing on the docket 😊 I appreciate you watching the video and leaving me a comment, thank you! I love lava rock with my orchids, and am using it a lot with orchids that can stay outside during my 'mild' *cough winters. I say it like that because while the orchids outside can tolerate the lower temperatures, I am not able to 😅 they are the troopers of the patio! 😅 I like your conservative ppm, I am a fan of less is more and it resonates with me what you are writing 👍🏼 and yes... pots do not blow over which, in my windy climate can sometimes happen with the pots I have in leca. (back in the day, I have gotten better at weighing the pots down now and some orchids are finally heavy enough to handle the wind without falling over) IF, I did not have to repot so frequently because I am limited on space indoors for the orchids that cannot tolerate the winter months outside, I would have more of my larger orchids in lava rock. The fact that lava rock is so unforgiving on the roots when it comes time to repot, I use it for orchids that I have no intention of repotting for 'ever'! Hope you had yourself a fabulous day, and once again... welcome! 🤗🌸
Will it stop gnats?
Hi 😍💐 I believe this is your first time commenting, at least, if my memory doesn't fail me, this is the first time I am seeing your name here, sooooo either way, welcome! Thank you so much for watching and for being here. I truly appreciate the support 🫶🏼 yes, definitely! There may be the odd one trying to stake a claim in the pot, but they are far and few in between. In all the years that I have had my orchids in inorganic media, I have counted 4 fungus gnats. I think they came from other pots that my neighbors have outside close to my patio. They do not last and definitely do not find a footing to establish themselves. 👍🏼 hope this is helpful in what you are planning to do! Wishing you a wonderful day, and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Very interesting, how often do you have to water in lava rock
HI Barb 😍💐 If you are accustomed to growing in bark, then it pretty much behaves the same way, with a single exception that, there is a tiny bit more water held within the crevices of lava rock as opposed to straight up bark. The wet dry cycle can be replicated very easily. So, the smaller lava rock will behave like sphagnum moss or seedling bark, the medium sized bark will pretty much behave like bark mixed with sphagnum moss, and the large lava rock will behave like chunky bark. Depending on the water requirements / thirst of your orchid, you can stick with the same watering schedule when using lava rock only, as you would be doing with bark. I am assuming that you are in a bark and other organic media mix. If not, please let me know and also, let me know if I was able to answer your question without leaving any doubts. Thank you! Also, thank you so much for watching, lovely lady! I wish you a wonderful Sunday 🫶🏼❤️🌸
@NinjaOrchids
Thanks very much Ninja for the information you explained it very well for me. I'm new at orchids and trying to fine a way that is best for me to grow orchids in. Since I'm in my 80s I better get all I can to learn about orchids, love cattleya.
@@barblucas2539 I am here to help you do that 🫶🏼 if you would like an easy assessment guide as to what you are dealing with by way of thirsty orchids, that like a lot of water and how to make it happen for those orchids without needing to guess, here is a video link that helps make the judgment as per size of media, no matter if it is bark or lava rock, based on root size ruclips.net/video/TNx-ouyqL_g/видео.html this helps out in case there is some uncertainty at the beginning, as to what is best for the orchid as well as, what is feasible as per way of watering schedule...as in, no need to water every day when the orchids in question are in active growth 🫶🏼 never hesitate or be shy about asking, Barb! No matter the video no matter the question 👍🏼
Hi Nina, im experimenting with lava with few of my phals and catts in this media as I do not want to repot them too ofter. Still can’t decide if clay and lava would be better than plastic pot.
Heeey!!!! 🦊😍💐 it is so good to see you! I hope you are doing well 🫶🏼 if your humidity is consistently high as in above 75% then clay pots will not dry out as quickly. However, if you are going to be busy and cannot water your orchids as much as they might need, if they were in clay pots, then plastic pots will help retain the moisture in the crevices of the lava rock. Clay will help with faster evaporation, so, basically... plastic is more forgiving when it comes to having to water as opposed to clay. Let me know if this was helpful or if I made things sound more confusing 🫣 hope you are having a wonderful day already 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Hi Nina, great video. Your orchids look happy growing in lava rock. I haven’t used it, but I like the idea of it. Thanks 🥰👏❤️
Shirley 😍 hi! 💐 it has it's advantages which I am happy to exploit 😅 thank YOU so much for watching, even though you are not actually using it! I so appreciate the support, Shirley! Hope your day was beautiful and that you had some wonderful surprises within your orchid collection to feel amazed by ❤️🌸
🦒🙋♀🙌💖 Very useful information as you've covered all angles including how to prepare the lava rock. I loved the detail of going away from any windows "depending on how hard your blow is" 🤣🤣 The concept of not having to disturb the roots is just wonderful. The idea of using lava rock as bark substitute is fantastic and the equivalent to a mount in a pot, without the nuisance of algae moss. I have been using it as well as other inert materials a lot more this year, not only in pots but also in my tower-like mounts. Not only Orchiata bark is super expensive but it also deteriorates fast. I still have a little bit of it but I had already decided not to buy more and in my latest repots I have used coco chips or coco fibers instead although in a very small amounts. Thanks for another wonderful masterclass and enjoy your day 🥰🥰😍😘
FFF 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐 good morning, meine liebe Freundin! Thank you for your feedback on the video and it's content, and thank you so much for, once again, watching 😍🙏🏼 I am glad that I did not have to resort to using a hammer with the lava rock that I could get here. But, the bag I brought home from Italy decades ago, which is now mixed in the with the lava rock I got locally, was so much dirtier ... the original mud or clay or what ever, was caked around the individual rocks. It was like unearthing monetzuma all over again😂 imagine back in the early 90s, I went to Italy and came back with lava rock for orchids, seeing as I could not get it locally 🤣 my treasured souvenir! And then, I did not use it until 2020, or thereabouts. 20 years of moving homes with this single bag of lava rock, in between collection 2 & 3, unused.... goes to show how precious that bag was to me and, even though I did not know it back then, I kept it and it is now used up. Incredible 😅 meanwhile, Spain now has lava rock in garden centres. Love the stuff! Thank you so much for your time watching and... I hope that your day is already beautiful 😘❤️🌸
Thanks for your masterclass tutorial. I have to pot some catts today and I am going to use lava rock and crush them with a hammer. Lol. Before I was using pebbles I am going to change now. Do you use lava rock for phalenopsis too? Thanks agin for you video.. You are the best.
HI Genizi 😍💐 welcome!! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome, thank you so much for being here, for watching and for your positive feedback on the video. I truly appreciate all of the above and the support 🫶🏼 thank YOU!! USE safety glasses!! 🙏🏼🫣 but that is one very effective way to get lava rock to size! I love the stuff, if only it weren't so harsh on the root system when it comes time to repot. But, I have used a lot of lava rock this season to hopefully rescue some orchids that I just could not get right in leca. Before loosing the orchid, enter lava rock. That includes a phal, yes. She was doing great in lava rock for YEARS!! Then I thought I knew better and switched her to leca, well.... nope, she was not having any of it, so now she is back in lava rock. Highly recommend 👍🏼👍🏼 thank YOU, once again for watching and for your kind comment. I hope your Sunday is going beautifully for you and welcome! 🫶🏼❤️🌸
I love this masterclass and got some great ideas from it. Thank you. I seem to rot cattleya roots on organic media no matter what I do. I transitioned all my cattleyas to either mounts or lava rock in pots about 3 years ago. Both ways have worked so much better-not losing cattleyas now. But I was surprised to find that lava rock retains more moisure than I expected at first-so I don’t water the pots more than 2 times a week all year round. But what I learned and now want to experiment with, is oncidiums will also do well transtioned to lava rock. Thank you-I’m going to try it. 😊
HI Mary 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, I appreciate it 🤗 woohoo!! No more cattleya losses 🥳👍🏼 awesome and thank you for sharing your experience with this fabulous media. Lava rock is awesome when it comes to media retention... that is why it works for self watering, even though it doesn't have any wicking properties. It is amazing. I would love to use it more, as it is also cheaper than leca, but... I cannot justify the weight on my shelves when my orchids have to come inside for the winter. Seeing as I would use larger pots to allow for many more years of growth without repotting on a 2 / 3 year basis. Thank YOU for the feedback, for watching and for taking the time to share your experience 👍🏼 I hope you have yourself a wonderful rest of your day 🤗🌸
Hello Nina.. 👋🏻 Well when I said keep on rocking it, I didn't think you'd take me seriously!! 😆
But lava rock is great for so many orchids, around here in some places you can collect it, but I always advise tumbling it to dull some of the rough/sharp edges. Lots of pumice around here to and it works well .... Just tumble, rinse and use. 😁 I have a few large pieces of pumice that I carved out and use as planters. 😉 Still have more contacts to make before I can get all my insurance paperwork done, and some how I managed to pull my back out yesterday, and all it wants to do now is spasm so been staying still today, I see my pain management Dr tomorrow, so hopefully he'll be able to help with that issue. This video is so very helpful in many respects.. I will be sharing it later with a friend..... 👍🏻 Well hurricane IAN certainly did a number on Florida, checked on several friends there to see how they faired. A couple went to hotels just to be safe... Half the state has no power right now too... And in some areas 7 foot tidal surges!! 😱. Reminds of God asking Noah, "How Long Can You Tread Water" 🤣 Have an awesome evening Nina.. catch you on the next vid!! 😎
Hi Robert 😍💐 I had a little chuckle last night because I knew what was coming next... 😬😆 I have so much to film to get this series into perspective, but the orchids are not going in the right order... eventually the playlist will make sense, but I have to film in accordance to what the orchids are allowing me to do. It is not from A - Z, we are kinda jumping around the alphabet and hopefully eventually it will all make sense. The to film list is long, the days are getting shorter and I have stupid strong winds on the patio as from 14:00, so things are just a little discombobulated with my schedule atm, .... I need to get to the orchids / practical before I can sit down and focus on the 'theory'. So, thank you so much for remembering your comment, and tadaaaa!! 😅 love the idea of carved out pumice planters. Awesome!! I hope that you get that dratted back back! I am so sorry to hear that you are dealing with this just when you have the other things to deal with as well. Gah!! I am so sorry! Ian was being a d...k... with a capital D, for sure! Yesterday I had the live feed on a screen next to me, and saw the whole thing unfold and ... it is never a pretty sight, even though I have watched many hurricanes from a distance! I really started to get nervous for our orchid friends. I don't know where everyone is exactly, but that thing was so big, it did not matter where our buddies were, they were being hammered hard! This is something that had me freaked out while living in Dallas. Not that I experienced a hurricane, thank goodness, but the bad weather was BAD!! It wasn't just bad weather, it was aggressive, violent and just terrifying... ALL the time! I hated it! We can get some bad weather here, but what I experienced in the states, no way! Just terrifying! 🫣🫥 I have heard from some of our buddies and they came through. Without power, but they came through as did their fur babies 🥹🥹❤️ thank you so much for everything, Wingman! Take it easy, although you are already doing that, but ya know.... I got to get my 2 cents in 😘 have a relaxing rest of your day and I hope sans spasms!! ❤️🌸
Good information. I am slowly transitioning my orchids to lava rock for many reasons. I appreciate that you took the time to share your ideas on the use of this medium.
Hi Pat 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and your feedback 🫶🏼 I appreciate YOUR time, thank YOU! I hope that you are having a great day and know that, if you are in any doubt as you transition your orchids, any questions or you just need a confirmation on something you already know but a second set of 'ears' would be helpful, always feel free to ask. 🫶🏼❤️🌸
@@NinjaOrchids Thank you for such a kind welcome.
Hi Nina. All the Dendrobiums I got at the show - they are all potted in a combo of lava rock and bark. That seems to be the very common growing media choice here for these such natives.
I’ve never used lava rock on my other orchids but I do have plenty, so anything that’s considered to be a lithothyte, I’ll definitely throw some lava rock in the mix.
That was really awesome and had a lot of info I didn’t know. I’ve used lava rock as well for other epiphytic house plants, I.e. my aroids - and they love it!
As a suggestion, I’d really love to know what needs to be considered when combining lava rock with other organic media, like bark, since it’s such a common thing to see.
Really great video 💚🌿🌸
🌸🥷🏼Sharon San 😍🙌🏼🤸🏼♀️🥰💐hi 😍😍 you have been busy and I so appreciate the time you spent watching the videos, thank you so much 🙏🏼 in a nutshell, combining lava rock with spahgnum moss is not advisable, because the weight of the lava rock will crush the moss and it will degrade much faster, then it blocks the airy climate in between the nooks and crannies of the lava rock itself, just not advisable at all. Plenty of water retention in the lava rock all by it's lone some! But, people mix lava rock into bark, to stretch the bark seeing as that is the more pricey media and lava rock is the cheapest of the 2. So, nurseries will use the lava rock to save on the bark. The added bark makes the climate of the pot drier than if the pot had lava rock only. The bark will dry. out faster, and take absorb any moisture in the lava rock, which will then also dry out faster. As far as a potting mix it works well, saves on bark, and a wet dry cycle can be maintained just the same as if bark were mixed with sphagnum moss, with the exception that, the lava rock acts like the more water retentive media, if that makes sense. Funny though, that the 'saving' of the good media, being bark, by adding the cheapo media, being lava rock... may in turn convert people to go for the cheapo media as the main media in their pots, because this organic media growing can get very expensive, if not ... IS already very expensive. So, I hope that answered your question, your suggestion? Lemme know 😘 Thank you so much for your support, 🌸🥷🏼❤️
Very interesting video again from you Nina you always have some surprise for all of us every single day yes it’s hard for you to decide what you want to talk about on your videos but you always come up with something my plan that I was on about wasn’t doing so well well I’ve taken it out it’s pots the roots are lovely and green Put it in some water to make sure they were green and took all the other bits off but put it back in the pot and it’s not doing very well again so what do I do leave it in some water and just take it out in and out all just leave it in the pot or put it in some other material what do you think please help me don’t want to lose it it’s such a pretty plant when it’s in flower I even cut the flowers off because it wasn’t doing very well and put them in water I’m just about to throw them away I know it only cost me £8 from the garden centre but it was a present for my birthday
HI Andrea 😍💐 please send me your information in more detail by filling out this form! 👉🏼 cutt.ly/3XbDtKg 👈🏼 based on what you are asking, I need to know more, and possibly also some fotos. I don't want to give advice under these circumstances, because I need many many more details about your temperatures and light etc. So, if you don't mind to fill out the form, then I will get back to you via email, Andrea!! I will be looking out for the submission! Thank you so much and I hope that you had a great day 😘 really appreciate you watching the video ❤️🌸
Hi again Nina, I can’t believe you've done it again 😊 I keep saying that you are bringing out videos just as I need them. I am having terrible trouble finding good quality bark, having to throw lots away as it's rubbish. I heard you mention a little while ago that lava rock is a good substitute, holding water and keeping roots warmer in winter so I ordered some and it arrived yesterday. I didn't realise it needed sterilising if it was new so I will do that after washing now. Also my humidity can vary from 70% but go down to about 40% on occasion so will watch the surface carefully. Again thanks for the advice, I hadn't thought about bigger pot size either.
HI Carole 😍💐 ooops! I did it again!! 🫢 and I'm lovin' it! 😅 thank you so much for putting a smile on my face... I LOVE it when this happens! 😅 you are going to be soooo happy with the switch! I am not doubting that for a minute and wow, yes... so glad that you are prepped to clean and boil and get the best start for your orchids in lava rock! I am grinning from ear to ear 🙌🏼 On Saturday, a video about layering with lava rock will air, so... that could be something that could be of interest to you as well. I am hustling to get some videos out, but I am running out of daylight and the wind has been so bad on the patio lately, I have had to really try and watch the orchids outside. So, if you have any questions in the meantime, please always feel free to ask and not wait for a video 👍🏼👍🏼 thank you so much for your support and your encouraging comments ❤️🌸
So far unsuccessful in finding a Lava rock supplier in Australia.
Sylvia, hi 😍💐 welcome!! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and leaving a comment. I truly appreciate the support 🫶🏼 I am linking a web page of an Australian rock supplier that claims to supply other Australian suppliers, so maybe if you contact them, they can point you in the right direction? australian-rockstar.com/products/red-lava-rock-sunset I hope this helps. 🤞🏼🤞🏼 it is a great way of growing orchids no matter the environment. I wish you a wonderful Friday and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Ever so slowly, I continue to work my way through the backlog of videos and this is an obligatory comment for the algorithm.
Don Miguel 🥰💐 hola jefe!! Wow... ever so slowly YT is showing me comments! I did not see this one earlier 🙄 and I am here to say thank you so so much for watching, for not ignoring me... the algorithm ... pfft... doesn't know I exist, but I am glad that you are here and that makes it a hit, not a miss! 🤗🥰 thank you for your support ❤️ always! 🌸
I love your little black puppy
🥰🥰 His name is King 😃
I have orchids and the best thing I have found was lava rock. It holds moisture and is very airy. I have used it 100% as medium but use it throughout or in the reservoir to hold moisture and humidity. We are either too dry or too humid so I used it to my advantage.
Hi Samantha 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you in the comments before, so first of all... a warm warm welcome and a massive thank you for being here, for watching and for your input! So very much appreciated 🫶🏼 I love lava rock! I wish I could use it in all my pots, but there are limitations in my climate and with mobility issues, I have to watch out for the weight of the pots. It really is super versatile and I am glad that you are having great success with it as well 👍🏼🌸
Ty! For sharing your lava rock information, I grow different types Dendrobiums etc. in lava rocks with a few pebbles for some, even phals. This helped me so much per I tend to over water my orchids here in Texas its so hot! my orchids are not in full sun, some are indoors and outside under patio filtered shade, and yes I hammer my lava to break it up😊 so I can get lots of different sizes, thanks again for sharing.
HI Anita 😍🌸 it is good to see you again! I hope that you are doing well 👍🏼 thank you for sharing your experience with lava rock. I love it, and if I did not have to be so concerned with shuffling orchids around depending on the time of year, more would be in lava rock... simply because I just don't have to repot as often as I do orchids in leca. I used to work in Dallas, so, I am familiar with the climate up there. It used to get nasty there in the winters though, which I absolutely hated. When I get ahead of myself and complain about the winter here in Spain, I always go back to the winters in Dallas, and then I am grateful to be home again 😬 thank you so much for watching and for supporting the channel, I really appreciate it! Hope you have yourself a great FriYAY ❤️
Nina, Thanks for another great masterclass. I was just looking at some lava rock on EBAY and wondered what the difference is between red and black/grey. They are about same price per kg but I can’t visualise the volume of 1kg, in other words how heavy it is in general. At this stage I’m still trying to get used to growing in leca and as I bought a 15kg bag I’m kind of stuck with it. (don’t like to waste it) I can see the logic in everything you say in this video and would very much like to give it a try but leca it will have to be for now. On another topic…Den Berry Oda keikis are now ready for me to pick up at the orchid show in a week’s time, I’m so thrilled, I’ve actually asked for 2 or 3 keikis just to “hedge my bets” I thought I would start them off in moss the way you did with the reed stem epi you showed recently.
Renate, hi 😍💐 1 kg of lava rock is not much, and if you are wanting to try one or 2 orchids, that is what you can consider the quantity.. of course, the size of your pot will factor in, but it is not a large quantity. Lava rock is heavier than leca by about 10x when you take one leca bead and have a piece of lava rock next to it of similar size. The difference in color is due to the mineral composition. Black / grey lava rock is called Basalt ... but even black / grey lava rock will eventually turn rust red due to oxifidation of it's iron rich minerals. But, eventually being the key word here. It may not happen in our life time. The rust rest lava rock as in this video, is older and for that reason considered weathered etc etc. If you go down the rabbit hole you will also find Basalt stone, which is a generic term in the construction industry for any volcanic stone, so... the same but not for the purposes of growing orchids, more for decoration / tiles etc. I am so excited to read that you are finally going to get yourself the Berry Oda keikis! As you are heading into warmer temperatures, you are good with the sphagnum moss option, but you may be surprised to find that your keikis already come with roots, which would be even better 🤞🏼😃 thank you so much for watching, lovely lady! I so appreciate your support ❤️ have a beautiful Friday 🌸
I enjoyed this many helpful tips in this video!
Quite. Few years ago I converted bi-foliate cattleyas to lava rock since they don’t like being disturbed. They seem much happier and I am happy not to bother them. I’m working on converting the other cattleyas as well.
Lava rock is easily accessible here and works much better than lecca. I plan to take your advice and convert some other orchids as well. As an over-waterer🙄🙄 I think this will work out nicely!
Hi Judy 🤩💐 Welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and thank you so much for being here, I so appreciate it 🤗 I absolutely love lava rock and clearly, so do orchids! The only issue I have with it, is, how unforgiving it is when it comes to repotting orchids... it does a lot of damage. But, I am certainly potting up a few orchids into lava rock again this season, to hopefully save them and bring them back from what I consider a disaster effort while trying to grow them in leca. I think that lava rock will give those orchids a chance 👍🏼🤞🏼 your feedback on this video is appreciated, Judy, thank you! And thank you for watching. I hope that your Sunday is fabulous and once again, welcome 🤗🌸
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
Hi dj 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and thank YOU so very much for being here, for watching this video, I appreciate your time 👍🏼 I hope that you will find more useful videos and if you ever have any questions, never hesitate to ask! Have a fabulous day and once again, welcome 🤗🌸
I live in New Hampshire United States. Can I use lava rock and bark or lava rock by itself? I also have cold winter's.
HI Lisa 😍💐 welcome!! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a big thank you for being here, for watching and the support that comes along with the it. I appreciate your time, thank you! 🫶🏼 If you have a preference toward bark and do not want to go completely inorganic, you can definitely add bark into the lava rock mix you put into your pots, without having to worry about bark breaking down and repotting as frequently as you would if you were to use bark only. However, you can absolutely use lava rock only. I assume that you are bringing your orchids indoors during the winter months, possibly have them outside for the summer? Or do you not take your orchids outside weather permitting, growing them strictly indoors? Lava rock is a fantastic substrate no matter the temperatures because it does not have the evaporative cooling characteristics that leca has, so... it is safe when it comes to that aspect, growing in a wet dry cycle culture as well as, in a semi hydroponic set up (with limitations, but until I don't know how you grow your orchids, I won't go into that too much and stick with just answering your question). I have a habit of going off on tangents with information that may be of interest as well 😬 let me know if my reply has prompted further questions! In the meantime, I wish you a fantastic Saturday and look forward to hearing from you / seeing you more often! Thank you 🫶🏼❤️🌸
@NinjaOrchids I live in an apartment, so I grow my orchids inside.
You can go full lava rock then! You can grow your orchids in a wet dry cycle, just like you would if you were to use bark, the only differences being, your wallet will thank you and your media won't break down, you can use it over and over again!! I cannot tell you the relief I felt in 2020, when the pandemic hit, that I was able to repot all the orchids that needed it without having to worry about not being able to afford all the bark. Apart from the fact that I wanted to have this 3rd collection inorganic, the amazing side effect was.... recycle! No worries about having to spend money! It was awesome 🙌🏼
Thank you so much Nina for the master class on lava rock. This video will act as a reference material for selection of orchid media in future. Thanks Ninja orchids video on ph, my daughter ordered a ph meter for me.
Hi Jose 🥰💐 I appreciate your kind feedback and your time also watching this video, thank you so very very much 🙏🏼 I am so happy to hear that your daughter ordered you a pH meter! What a wonderful supportive lady she is 🥰 speaking of daughter... I hope that your granddaughter is doing well. Please give her my ❤️ and tell her hi from me 🤗 hope your day was awesome and I wish you a great Thursday, amigo 🌸
I've been curious about using chunks of Coco husk with Lava rock
My purpose to hold a bit more moisture in the clay pots I started to use. Especially for Catteleya.
HI Richard 😍💐 that would work without any issues. Also, an added advantage because the chances of the roots going through the coco husk, or grow along it, will make it easier when it is time to repot. A lot of the roots won't stick to the lava rock, exclusively. That to me is a bonus if you added coco husk chunks 👍🏼 thank you for watching, I appreciate your support 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Hi: a question:
I have over 100 various orchids in pots, baskets and mounts on trellises on my patio. After watching a few of your vlogs, I am wondering if I could mount all on mounts? I know it is going to be tedious and mb I will have a few deaths, but I am thinking of how they grow in the wild and less repotting for me each two years or so. How wd I go about this?
I know I wd have to water more frequently esp during summer, but I am retired and have the time.
Also, I love your blogs, but I have to hang on tight to follow your discourse as you go so fast. Pretend you are having a conversation with me, not at me, face to face and speak slower. Just a thought . I watch all of your blogs and find them informative and quite sensible as you are detailed and meticulous.
Thanks for reading and keep up the good work.
One thing I know that can help with cadence issues, is playing the video at 0.5 speed. It’s hard as a content creator because making a video tutorial isnt - and can’t be - the same as having a conversation face to face. You can’t replicate that. But I do know that slowing down the video playback speed does indeed help some people with achieving the cadence they need that is optimal for them.
Just a suggestion that might help. 🌿🌸
HI Girlygirl 😍💐 good to see you again, thank you so much for being here 🤗 if you are contemplating mounting your orchids, please consider how much humidity you have to help you out on the days when you may be otherwise not around. I am currently not employed, have 'all the time in the world' and still have a tough time keeping up with my orchids that are mounted when it gets warm and there is a constant breeze going, drying them out within an hour. I do not have humidity to help me out, so... I just want to bring that to your attention. If you have humidity, your watering will be supported by that and your mounts won't dry out so fast. You can support the freshly mounted orchids with sphagnum moss, or some form of media that helps with water retention. Know that, sphagnum moss will degrade, so you can either add to it as it degrades, or remove what is left on the mount and refresh as necessary. I would always wait for new roots to grow to change ANY set up or ANY media... even if repotting within the same media, I will always recommend to do anything with an orchid of that nature when new roots grow. So, that would mean you may not be able to do it all at once. I have a masterclass video in the works which will deal with all of this specifically coming up, but I am waiting for the orchid to bloom, so that we can actually see HER blooms as I talk about it. However, I really hope that this reply helps with your planning until such a time that the video airs. I would LOVE to have more of a conversational style of delivery in my videos, however, the YT algorithm has not discovered my channel and I need to make sure that my videos are within x amount of time and I am trying to be as thorough with the information provided in every video. It would be a luxury for me to chill and talk calmly... until my channel has not been picked up by the algorithm and YT starts to promote me, to help me grow, I am forced to deliver the way I am, unfortunately. BUT, it is true what Sharon said... if you go to the settings of the video, ⚙️
Thank you, 🌸🥷🏼Sharon San, for stepping in in such a timely manner when I was not around! That is so appreciated and helps from all angles ❤️
Informative. Good note as careful and the fertilizer it will hold. Too flush and clean them I heard boil for 20 min? Is that hot enough to make them pop? I was told be careful with how much heat I know it's not fire hot but any chance for them to pop off my pot on the stove?
Thank you for your feedback 👍🏼 I boil my lava rock for 20 minutes and if the batch is bigger, then 30 minutes. They do not pop, there is no risk with having the pot on the stove to boil. They do not jump out of the pot. No matter their size. I have boiled large to small pieces including the shards that break off... never had a problem. You can boil and walk away without having to worry about anything 👍🏼👍🏼
Loved the lava rock talk. I use it with some. I will use it for more now. I love it. I also use small smooth pebbles. I tried gravel-I don’t recommend it. Thank you so much. Do you have a video about dendrobiums-black hair type? I’ve heard they can be incredibly hard. Thanks.
HI Shari 😍💐 thank you for your feedback and for watching 🤗 for a climate that provides high humidity (including indoor set ups and greenhouses) pebbles are a great media, for sure 👍🏼 I do not have a video on the black hair dens, I don't have any because they want to have 'low' temps preferably all year round. So that would equate to 50ºF to 60º F nights, maximum 85º F during the days. And then watering and fertilizing only when in active growth and a brief rest when they have matured. They also need to be kept barely moist until new growth start up again. Seeing as I go by worse case scenario (most of the time) when I see temperature preference for an orchid, the consistent low temps requirements makes me shy away from adding any to my collection. If they had a night temperature requirement that differs from winter to summer, I may consider them more temperature tolerant, but this appears not to be the case with the black hair types. If you are planning to get some, think cool to intermediate and to be on the safe side, keep the day temperature as cool as possible as well. The 85ºF during the day... I would not let them go above 80ºF just to make sure that there is not dropping of leaves, in the first year of having it. Also, consider the time of year that these orchids are shipped. The temperature in those boxes can go very high very quickly and even though your environment may be perfect, they have been exposed to heat while on their way in the mail. The stress and damage will then show approx 3-4 months in, and you may think it was something you did... which clearly you did not. With these pointers, I hope that I could help out a little? Sorry that I could not pull up a video. Let me know if you have any other questions 🤗 have a fabulous day ❤️🌸
Wow, I just learned so much. I grow outside, but don’t have a lot of trees to mount on, and have very little shade in my growing area so lots of mounts are out of the questions (until I build or create some shade places) so I pot most of my cattleyas. I just use the lava rock to stabilize the plants in the pot, but I don’t “fully pot” them. I think I’m just a chicken to grow the plants totally bare root and feel the lava rock will give the plant something to hold on to. My climate is warm and humid basically 12 months a year (we do have a winter but we only go down to about 60 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of days over a couple of months). When the plants outgrow their pot, I was just planning on cracking the pot and putting the whole lot into a larger pot. (Both would be terracotta). Do you think that would work? Thanks Nina!
HI Ila 🥰💐 your climate sounds amazing for just lava rock, Ila! Humid and warm all year round? That is a grower's dream!! The 60º low.... oh! It just sounds like paradise! 🥹😍 what you suggest would work perfectly fine IF you soak your terracotta pot first, because there will be roots attached to the older pot that you want to crack. If you can get a little peak into the pot before cracking it and seeing if you can dislodge any attached roots from the side of the older pot, then give that a go before going all in. However, IF you have new roots already growing, then you can rest assured that any damage to the older roots, if they break or crack, will be of no issue to the orchid at all, seeing as the new root system is already on the way. I would always proceed with such a repot, terracotta etc, with new roots just starting and then, crack away! As unfortunate as it may be to break a viable root, a branching root system will quickly deal with that as well. I just love the sound of your climate and, am envious 😅 thank you so much for watching, Ila! I appreciate your support and your feedback 🙏🏼🌸
I love the idea of not having to re-pot and change medium every 2 years or sooner, that is why I have started converting my cattleyas to leca. My concern is my environment is very arid, 30% on a good day, sometimes 16%. If I understand correctly the lava rock will not absorb like leca does in semi-hydro? I would like to try lava rock with one of my tolumnias since you don't have the cooling from evaporation. Would my best option be using lava rock with a wick?
Hi Janina 😍💐 it's good to see you again 🤗 thank you for being here and for watching! My climate and humidity levels are similar to your's and my lava rock and semi hydro set up is not struggling at all. I do not use a wick because I use medium to small lava rock at where the root system finds itsself. As is the case with one of the examples of this video ruclips.net/video/I1eZtd_IZbg/видео.html seeing as the tolumnia was in a harsh wet dry cycle in a basket, I opted to put it into lava rock semi hydro, because that is what the roots were used to previously, in a reasonably sized pot. Seeing as lava rock is so water retentive, there is no need for a wick and in a dry climate, the evaporation from the surface down will be relatively quick. However, once the roots are accustomed to the more water retentive environment they will want it to stay that way. The most important thing with tolumnias in this set up is to protect the base of the orchid from getting wet. Something I explain in the linked video, because I lost some tolumnias when using leca, thinking that my dry climate will take care of a dry surface / base. That was not the case. Let me know if this was helpful. I hope I managed to explain myself adequately! 🤞🏼🌸
Okay I have 2 cattlayas and wanted to know if they would do good in a semi hydro media like the lava rock or leca??
HI 😍💐 yes they would! I have several in lava rock and many in leca. I have almost lost some to leca though, but am reviving them by using lava rock for those now. If you want to test the concept out, I would start with lava rock to get a feel for how the roots behave under a more water retentive media. 👍🏼 thank you so much for watching! Truly appreciate the support 🫶🏼❤️🌸
@@NinjaOrchids thankyou so much for responding I just removed her from her media and had to clip off 2 leaves it had some blackening spots appearing but she was in a terra Cotta pot and my God did she have so many roots!! I feel sad she hasn't bloomed the last two years for me so I wanted to change her entire media and pot! I just booked my lava rock and I'm going to put her in should I put any perlite in with her or just go all lava this is an experiment for this lady! Thankyou ohh so much🤗🤗☺️
No need for perlite! Make sure, though that you rinse your lava rock well, and give it a full 20 minutes on boil to sterilize. Use the cleanest, lowest ppm water that you have. Lava rock will continue to release dust even after all that, but just rinsing it straight from the bag is not good enough to get the first good clean. After years of reusing my lava rock, it still releases some dust, but not as much. I highly recommend you do not rely on what you feel is a much better visual result after just rinsing out of the bag 👍🏼🤗
@@NinjaOrchids okay thankyou so very much
Hello, I'm taking my semi hydro set up orchids outside for the first time this summer. If I have them without overhead cover, and they flower, will the flowers fall off, fall off earlier, or take a hit in some way? Mine are phalaenopsis and cattleya types.
HI 😍💐 there is always a risk of blooms or buds coming off prematurely. A strong wind can knock pots over, maybe in interested outdoor dweller takes interest in the bud, (I don't know if you have squirrels etc. while they don't normally go for orchid buds / blooms, they can be doing their thing and knock something off unexpectedly) also, pollinators will be interested in the blooms, maybe pollinate one and that will cause it to collapse prematurely. As I do not know where you are putting your orchids when you say outside, also, be mindful of sun exposure. They should not be exposed to direct sun if they have not been outdoors before. Burning the leaves can be risky. Let me know if you have any further questions / doubts, because it would be a shame if you can put your orchids outside, but everything I just mentioned puts you off. Some protection from the elements is also advised, because if it rains a lot, it could cause the blooms to fade quicker, or if the wind is too hot and dry, same thing. I don't want to be a Debby downer, just pointing out a few things to be mindful of! Thank you so much for watching 🫶🏼 hope your day is going great ❤️🌸
@@NinjaOrchids thank you for this info! I do know the light requirements for my phals and cattleya types, so I can put them out on my uncovered deck in the correct light settings for them.
I have them on a covered deck right now, because even though high winds and squirrels etc can get to them, super heavy rains can not when they are on that deck. However, that particular deck is super shady and my cattleya types and vandas could use more light than this covered deck can provide. They will of course be fine on that covered deck (one of my vandas bloomed just fine last year hanging on the covered deck(by hanging, they get more light.) But... The squirrels/racoons knock pots off of the railing on that covered deck, so I have to set those pots down off of the railing where they get less light.
So I was thinking about putting those cattleya pots out on my uncovered deck which has lots of different light types to offer as it is an enormous deck that is partially under trees for half of it. I feel very confident that I can meet their specific light needs out there. They will be no more or less exposed to pollinators/squirels/and racoons. They would just have better light, but would be exposed to more wind and occasionally very heavy summer storm rains. I am worried that the rain will cause the flowers to fall off. I can set things up to protect them from the wind knocking pots over, but the rain worries me. So I'm torn, keep them in slightly less light than they may like, yet protected from strong winds and rain, or put them in their best light needs, but they will be exposed to winds and rain. What do you think, or what would you do?
Sounds like you have a wonderful deck, and if I were in that position, I would put them out to enjoy the conditions, especially those thunderstorms you speak of. But, if I were to see spikes or buds forming, I would take those pots and bring them to where they are more protected under cover for the buds and blooms to form and to be able to enjoy them. Out of the rain, but not at risk 👍🏼👍🏼
Do you water your orchids in lava rock on the same schedule as your orchids in leca in your semi hydro set ups?
In the summer, yes. In the winter, the weather determines watering needs or the lack thereof. Those that are Indoors during the winter months, watering depends on the orchid in question and it's watering needs. That is when less is more, especially in my conditions 👍🏼
Ciao Nina, favoloso anche questo video. Li devo rivedere quasi tutti per poter memorizzare le cose più importanti per me. Comunque volevo dirti che stamane ho provveduto a cambiare dopo 3 anni il substrato alla mia phalaenopsis con qualche problema post colpo di freddo e piena di radici attive. Era in bark e poco muschio. Solo 3 vecchie radici morte. Chi dice che è più facile cambiare il bark rispetto alla lava? Ho impiegato ben 2 ore per farlo anche perchè all'inizio ho tentato di salvare 6 radici che erano uscite dai buchi del vaso cercando di tagliare il vaso; non ci sono riuscita!!! Vaso troppo duro! E così le 6 radici hanno perso la loro punta. Ne sono rimaste una decina in ottima forma e altre 7 ancora piccole (3-4cm). Per togliere tutto il bark rimasto attaccato alle radici sono stata più di mezz'ora sotto l'acqua tiepida nel tentativo, alla fine riuscito, di ammorbidirlo e poi pensavo di rinvasarla in un vasetto da 13cm. Ho sbagliato. Ho dovuto usare un vaso da 17 cm considerata la quantità e la lunghezza delle radici. Comunque c'è l'ho fatta con qualche difficoltà, ma ho voluto usare mezzo bark e mezza lava per abituarla un pò alla volta come ho fatto con altre (non sono coraggiosa come puoi capire....). Poi, poichè ha quelle macchie circolari e trasparenti anche su un'altra foglia, uso un bastoncino per le orecchie imbevuto di alcool all'aglio e lo appoggio proprio sopra alla macchia e poi pochissima cannella. Non idraterò per 1 settimana e la terrò lontanadalle altre. Ti ringrazio infinitamente per tutti i consigli che ci dai e a risentirci.
Ciao Luciana 😍💐 Grazie mille per il tuo feedback positivo sulle informazioni contenute in questo video e grazie mille per la visione! Il salvataggio degli apici delle radici è sempre la parte che richiede più tempo durante un rinvaso. Per quanto i vasi con i fori siano eccellenti per il flusso d'aria nel vaso, le radici delle orchidee le troveranno sempre ed è un peccato quando perdiamo le punte perché avevamo un vaso che chiaramente stava facendo un ottimo lavoro! Ma lo dici già tu stesso, le altre radici stanno crescendo attivamente e questa è sempre una buona cosa che accada. In questo modo possiamo stare tranquilli che andrà tutto bene. È anche possibile che le radici che hanno perso gli apici radicali inizino a ramificarsi. Quindi, vinci, vinci 😃 Apprezzo che tu mi abbia fatto sapere come è andato il rinvaso e ora... buona crescita! 💪🏼🫶🏼 Spero anch'io che tu abbia trascorso una bella giornata e ti auguro una serata rilassante ❤️🌸
The closed captioning is too large and make a good video hard to watch.
Hi! 😍💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so first of all, a warm warm welcome and secondly, thank you so much for watching and leaving a comment with your feedback. I appreciate it. As I am not sure how you have your settings, it is possible to remove the close captioning feature in the settings underneath the video that shows 'CC'. I do apologize if I am stating something you already know, but I do not want to assume that this is something you have already tried to turn the 'CC' off. When I watch videos, I turn that feature off and recently I had to do it again, maybe because of yet another update on the app and they set it to ON as a default. Just like 'Autoplay' switches on randomly as well, even though I turn that function off every time. Not sure if I could be of any help at all. I am sorry that the size is large 😓 hopefully, it is a simple matter of switching the feature off and then it won't appear again, unless you need it in the future. Let me know if I can try and help to improve the viewing experience on my channel, at my end... YT does things that I have no influence over, but if I can be of any further help, please let me know! Wishing you a wonderful start to the new week and once again, welcome 🫶🏼❤️🌸
Thx for the tutorial Mom😂
HI Lord Nemesis 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and thank you so much for the feedback, for watching and being here 🫶🏼
Well said and very very interesting
Hi Antony 🤩💐 welcome! I have not seen you here before, so a warm warm welcome and a massive thank you for being here, I so appreciate it! Your feedback is also very appreciated, thank you, as is your time watching the video 🙏🏼 hope you are having a fabulous day and once again, welcome 🫶🏼🌸
I’m a beginner but would you put live moss on top of orchids with lava rocks to hold in moisture
Yes! I sometimes do that in my super dry climate, especially if the breeze is hot and the surface of the lava rock warms up too much. In some pots, I have moss now growing all by itself on the surface. Only in the winter do I remove it from the base of the rhizome, just to make sure that there isn't too much of a wet environment during the cold months of the year. 👍🏼