Having just recently been suckered into getting more orchids (Cattleya's and
Dendobiums) at Wal Mart......... I have noticed these from Wal mart are
usaually in a 3 inch square pot Volcanic rock and newspaper. Are there any
advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and plentifull in Hwaii.

My reading research shows it holds water well. Will it wick water? The
thought of using it like Prime agra for hydroponic has crossed my mind

I generally use lava rock just to add weight to the pot so I don't elbow it
off the bench. YMMV.

K Barrett

"BruceM" wrote in message
news
Having just recently been suckered into getting more orchids (Cattleya's
and Dendobiums) at Wal Mart......... I have noticed these from Wal mart
are usaually in a 3 inch square pot Volcanic rock and newspaper. Are
there any advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and
plentifull in Hwaii.

My reading research shows it holds water well. Will it wick water? The
thought of using it like Prime agra for hydroponic has crossed my mind

You will find that the lava rock won't wick well, and will hold onto salts
and not flush well.

Other than that, it's OK/

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"BruceM" wrote in message
news
Having just recently been suckered into getting more orchids (Cattleya's
and Dendobiums) at Wal Mart......... I have noticed these from Wal mart
are usaually in a 3 inch square pot Volcanic rock and newspaper. Are
there any advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and
plentifull in Hwaii.

My reading research shows it holds water well. Will it wick water? The
thought of using it like Prime agra for hydroponic has crossed my mind

My experience exactly. I killed way too many plants in this stuff as a less
experienced grower.

David

"Ray B" wrote in message
news:uf60j.9514$xt5.6420@trnddc07...
You will find that the lava rock won't wick well, and will hold onto salts
and not flush well.

Other than that, it's OK/

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!

i've got two dens in the stuff, and they're taking over the kitchen.
i probably wouldn't try anything else in it though (too dry in my
house).

--j_a

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 07:10:34 -0800 (PST), wrote:

i've got two dens in the stuff, and they're taking over the kitchen.
i probably wouldn't try anything else in it though (too dry in my
house).

--j_a

Some of it breaks with sharp glass like fractures. Some of it just
powders away. But the biggest problem is the salt build up.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

We use a lot of lava rock. It doesn't break down, which means less frequent
repotting and, unless we're dividing the plant, easier repotting as well.
We use RO water and have no salt buildup problem. Kenni

"BruceM" wrote in message
news
Having just recently been suckered into getting more orchids (Cattleya's
and Dendobiums) at Wal Mart......... I have noticed these from Wal mart
are usaually in a 3 inch square pot Volcanic rock and newspaper. Are
there any advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and
plentifull in Hwaii.

My reading research shows it holds water well. Will it wick water? The
thought of using it like Prime agra for hydroponic has crossed my mind

The hydro pellets are superior in almost everyway. Unfortunantly they are
relativly expensive. Something else that no one mentioned is that volcanic
rock is often high in flourine.


"BruceM" wrote in message
news
. Are there any advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and
plentifull in Hwaii.

"Expensive" depends on your horizon.

Scenario 1: Buy bark & charcoal & perlite for each pot. Replace annually.

Scenario 2: But LECA once. As you move up to bigger pots, merely fill in
the extra space.

Yeah, that initial potting up is less expensive in scenario 1, but in short
order you will find that scenario 2 is far less expensive.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"Duncan" wrote in message
news:uUZ2j.58789$PE.45178@pd7urf1no...
The hydro pellets are superior in almost everyway. Unfortunantly they are
relativly expensive. Something else that no one mentioned is that
volcanic rock is often high in flourine.


"BruceM" wrote in message
news
. Are there any advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and
plentifull in Hwaii.

On Nov 27, 2:06 pm, "Duncan" wrote:


Something else that no one mentioned is that volcanic
rock is often high in flourine.


hmm, could that be what's causing the icky black spots on the back
canes of one of my dens? (the plant is otherwise growing like a bamboo
and produced four flower spikes last summer, so they're apparently not
harming it, just ooky-looking.)

But the biggest problem is the salt build up.
SuE

they get fertilized every other week or less; in between, the pots get
flooded with plain water. (and when they get ants, the plants get
stuck in the sink with the faucet running on them full force for about
ten minutes every few days.

--j_a

"Duncan" wrote in message
news:uUZ2j.58789$PE.45178@pd7urf1no...
The hydro pellets are superior in almost everyway. Unfortunantly they are
relativly expensive. Something else that no one mentioned is that
volcanic rock is often high in flourine.




My collection got upended by a tree falling on my shade house this spring
and scattering my precious LECA medium all over the yard. Some of the plants
I repotted I put in river gravel - it was about the same size as the LECA -
just to see how they would do. I know it won't wick but I sure can't over
water them! Everything thrived through the summer, maybe because our yearly
rainfall was double what we normally have here in Oklahoma. When I brought
the plants in for the winter almost all the plants in bark medium had to be
repotted due to the deterioration of the medium. Excess rain again? So I'm
trying to get away from bark medium. I like the gravel but it makes the pots
heavy. I've thought of adding sponge rock to lighten them up a little. I've
seen orchids in volcanic rock but all I have found around here is the
landscape variety that is way to large and I don't think I can break them up
into smaller pieces easily.

Anybody use gravel? Are there long range problems with it?



"BruceM" wrote in message
news
. Are there any advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and
plentifull in Hwaii.

Cheap and plentiful - that's the ticket! Leaves more money to buy plants.

Mark

Mark_OK wrote:

"Duncan" wrote in message
news:uUZ2j.58789$PE.45178@pd7urf1no...

....................................

My collection got upended by a tree falling on my shade house this
spring and scattering my precious LECA medium all over the yard. Some of
the plants I repotted I put in river gravel - it was about the same size
as the LECA - just to see how they would do. I know it won't wick but I
sure can't over water them! Everything thrived through the summer, maybe
because our yearly rainfall was double what we normally have here in
Oklahoma. .......................................

Anybody use gravel? Are there long range problems with it?

In the mid 70s, when I bought my first orchid, I looked at it every day
and it never did anything. I was young and impatient. I read the one
page culture sheet handed to me with the plant and it told what could be
used to pot orchids. One of the choices was gravel.
Needing some sort of interaction with my new plant, I dumped it out of
the pot it was perfectly happy in. I borrowed some natural pea gravel
from an aquarium that we weren't using at the time. I potted that little
Phalaenopsis in what, I learned later, was an over sized pot for the
size of the plant. It grew up, bloomed, and lived happily in that same
gravel and same pot for over 25 years. Of course, every few years, I had
to dump it out, break off the dead bottom with dead roots and pot it
deeper again. It finally died last year due to the Phal disease that
killed all of my other Phals too.

The point is, an orchid can do very well for decades potted only in gravel.

Steve

You've already identified the problem with gravel - it doesn't hold water.
If you can keep up with the watering schedule, it should be fine.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"Mark_OK" wrote in message
.. .
"Duncan" wrote in message
news:uUZ2j.58789$PE.45178@pd7urf1no...
The hydro pellets are superior in almost everyway. Unfortunantly they
are relativly expensive. Something else that no one mentioned is that
volcanic rock is often high in flourine.




My collection got upended by a tree falling on my shade house this spring
and scattering my precious LECA medium all over the yard. Some of the
plants I repotted I put in river gravel - it was about the same size as
the LECA - just to see how they would do. I know it won't wick but I sure
can't over water them! Everything thrived through the summer, maybe
because our yearly rainfall was double what we normally have here in
Oklahoma. When I brought the plants in for the winter almost all the
plants in bark medium had to be repotted due to the deterioration of the
medium. Excess rain again? So I'm trying to get away from bark medium. I
like the gravel but it makes the pots heavy. I've thought of adding sponge
rock to lighten them up a little. I've seen orchids in volcanic rock but
all I have found around here is the landscape variety that is way to large
and I don't think I can break them up into smaller pieces easily.

Anybody use gravel? Are there long range problems with it?



"BruceM" wrote in message
news
. Are there any advantages to Volcanic rock, other than it is cheap and
plentifull in Hwaii.

Cheap and plentiful - that's the ticket! Leaves more money to buy plants.

Mark

In the mid 70s, when I bought my first orchid, I looked at it every day
and it never did anything. I was young and impatient. I read the one page
culture sheet handed to me with the plant and it told what could be used
to pot orchids. One of the choices was gravel.
Needing some sort of interaction with my new plant, I dumped it out of the
pot it was perfectly happy in. I borrowed some natural pea gravel from an
aquarium that we weren't using at the time. I potted that little
Phalaenopsis in what, I learned later, was an over sized pot for the size
of the plant. It grew up, bloomed, and lived happily in that same gravel
and same pot for over 25 years. Of course, every few years, I had to dump
it out, break off the dead bottom with dead roots and pot it deeper again.
It finally died last year due to the Phal disease that killed all of my
other Phals too.

The point is, an orchid can do very well for decades potted only in
gravel.

Steve

How sad to loose a plant you've nurtured for so long.

Thanks for the response.

"Ray B" wrote in message
news:Va24j.882$xB.22@trndny06...
You've already identified the problem with gravel - it doesn't hold water.
If you can keep up with the watering schedule, it should be fine.


Do you think adding some sponge rock would help?

I got my LECA and s/h pots from your store. What pots I couldn't retrieve
the spilled LECA to fill, I used gravel. I also am trying clay pots that I
sealed the drainage hole and drilled holes imitating the s/h pots. Some of
the terra cotta pots I painted to help retain water.

I'm starting to wonder if I will ever find a solution that satisfies me and
the plants. I should have started this hobby when I was younger :