The plants are bottom watered for the first six weeks, after which time the wrap is removed and the plants treated normally. Mature plants are best repotted when new growth has just started. Plants are set a little deeper than with other media and pea gravel is used to hold the plant firmly in place as well as to decrease evaporation. Repotting is only required when space for new growth is needed. There is no plant setback when repotting from perlite to perlite.
Overflow solution is collected for recycling.
One cannot overwater with the perlite system. Charles Island Gardens has experienced no disease in 5 years and the system offers the potential for simple and inexpensive automation. A complete hydroponic fertilizer suitable for most orchids is shown in Table 2. For most orchids, the final diluted fertilizer solutions should have a pH of 5.8 to 6.4. Ltd. Registered trademark of Dyna-Gro Corporation Photos Odm.