Friday 8 June 2007

Progress so far

So after a month the new system seems to be settling down and some promising signs that the phals at least are happy with their new conditions. Healthy root growth, new leaves and flower spikes are showing. The systems – shading, heating, feed etc. are set up for phals - so I would be disappointed if this was not the case. Other genera are taking their chances!
I knocked over a paph which gave me the opportunity to observe the roots. Old roots were trimmed back on transplant into the hydroleca pellets. Healthy new ones are now developing. One or two of the dendrobiums are showing signs of not liking their new conditions and expect to lose them. One or two others seem to be thriving at present.
A sederia japonica young plant is doing well as are oncidiums and others.
I have deflasked four sets of seedlings and transferred them to four different types of hydroponic media to see which suits early growth best. Only problem so far seems to be algae growth on two types. This is also occurring in the main trays in the same media types. I will be taking steps to counteract this.
A big learning curve is taking place in basic chemistry. Balancing all the components with one another has taken some experimentation with tanks of different sizes.




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