i am reaching the 100 mark on paphs and i have them on a stand that is 5'x18". there is 2 layers of plastic on the shelf then gravel then the paphs sit on top of the gravel(i will get pics later) i am having trouble watering thouroghly weekly it is hard to get the sprayer head in between the foliage. my question is has anyone use an automatic water system with a pump and tubing going to all the pots?? anyone have any sugestions on easy watering tips? I have lost 2 plants from drying out that were hidden :cry: and dont want to loose anymore.

Stan, all my plants are stting in large plastic trays and I water them right in the trays. The trays catch and hold excessive water and at the same time they also help keep the humidity level. You can get the large plastic trays from any Home Depot in the washer and dryer dept. You can punch out or drill holes in the trays to drain the water out. Hope this helps!

i used to use large wallpaper trays but they took up tp much room so i graveled the bottom and thats where they sit. i guess i am just being lazy :embarass: and should move all the plants when i water.

Stan,
What about trays w/ grids that sit on top (like the ones in Susan's recent growing space photos? I can go two waterings before dumping/cleaning them, so once a week I still have to do that and once a month or so I flush w/ tap - but, it does cut down some on the hassle.

Let's see what we can help figure out for you!
Stephen might have some ideas, since he came up w/ that sweet system for his parents to use while he's at school! Hopefully he'll weigh in...

here is what i did today. it took 5 hours :shock: but look at the room i made :D so i am buying a new bench and getting 100 more
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/nikkiandstan/Picture049.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/nikkiandstan/Picture050.jpg

here is what i did today. it took 5 hours :shock: but look at the room i made :D so i am buying a new bench and getting 100 more


:lol: YAY!!! Wait, where did the frogs go?

marcus dont worry there still there
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/nikkiandstan/Picture051.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/nikkiandstan/Picture052.jpg

Marcus, Ur my hero - You inspire me!! :-dance:
How many lights do you plan to set up there?
Where are the frogs and Finally --- Is that a jewel Orchid on the second level pic 1?


Gloria :Party:


PS, its nice to have the forum back up, Wooooooo! :D :D

Opps! Its not marcus with all the Orchids & Lights - Altho' i'm still inspired which is a good thing and yet a bad thing - That meen more orchids to get. Oh welly guess i ya just gotta deal :Grin:
Nice photo's btw :clap:



Gloria :Party:

gloria
the 4' shop lights are hitting the dumpster as soon as my 400 watt metal halide comes in from ups. as for the frogs they hide untill i feed them :D and yes that is a jewel orchid in the shot(ludisa discolor)

Dang Stan. The place looks so neat. Did Heather come over there to organize on her vacation? :poke:

Dang Stan. The place looks so neat. Did Heather come over there to organize on her vacation? :poke:

it looks neat because i just spent 4-5 hours in there you couldnt see the carpet because i did some repotting so there was bark all over the floor. the vacum didnt work so well :embarass: my wife said i broke it :roll:

I can certainly understand why you would want the better lighting - But are you saying these shop lights are well, Cr@ppy?? It looks like you got ur orchids to bloom.
Ive got a few jewels myself. I'm wondering what kinda media you have them potted up in?
Mine are in a finer bark mix with some peatmoss, Growing well.



Gloria :Party:

I don't remember which forum it was on but I saw a system that used large flat storage bins with the gravel on the bottom but the drilled out a hole and glued in some tubing for the water to drain you could use slicone to keep it in place and insure against leaks. and they used a small plastic cage like the ones some use in potting around the drain hole so no gravel gets down into the tubes.seemed like a good system let it all drain into a container then just dump it out. I still like to do it the hard way by hand and I have over Three hundred plants.Takes me days but I feel like if I don't inspect each one all the time somthing will go wrong and then you lose some. besides with three hundred I have them in close together so itr's difficult to water properly with a sprayer. If I took the time and investment to try drip that might be an idea. Ray

[quote="Lagoon"]I can certainly understand why you would want the better lighting - But are you saying these shop lights are well, Cr@ppy?? It looks like you got ur orchids to bloom.
Ive got a few jewels myself. I'm wondering what kinda media you have them potted up in?
Mine are in a finer bark mix with some peatmoss, Growing well.

gloria the lights arent bad and yes i have bloomed many plants but i need the best for my plants :D my jewel orchids are in dirt but i use cuttings in my vivariums. they do best mounted for me

The system for watering my plants I've developed for myself has been great. The setup is essentially the same as most others I've seen but instead of individual pots sitting on tray or on the shelves, I put bunches of pots in some open, wire baskets that were made for closet systems or greenhouse flats that hold the small pots firmly. I pull out a tray or flat and place it on an oven rack resting on the top of my laundry sink which is conveniently located right next to my shelves. The plants are out where I can see them and inspect for disease or pests, the lighting is good, water just goes down the drain, and I can get to each pot and water it carefully--pot watering only, never on the crowns. The system is kind of a lazy man's way of taking each pot to the sink like they show in beginner's orchid books as I'm moving back and forth anywhere from ten to twenty plants at a time. When spring comes I just put the baskets and flats out on the shelf outside. It only takes four or five trips to move about a hundred plants. 8)

Just looked up the baskets I get at Home Depot. They're for the Closetmaid system.

sounds good and works good going.

Back when I grew exclusively under lights, I silicone-glued tygon tubing into trays, redisrecting the overflow into 5-gallon buckets for dumping. here's a couple of rough schematics.

This one was on mesh benches, so the hose could go straight down
http://www.firstrays.com/Pictures/Traydrain.gif

This design was used on flat tabletops.
http://www.firstrays.com/Pictures/Traydrain2.gif

In both cases, the trays were filled with coarse gravel for humidification - which in that case worked, as it was a closed room with dozens of nursery trays.

thats a great idea!!

This is from an old thread I started on another forum. I used to use lunch trays with gravel to water... Look at how few plants I had :) What happened? Fred is this the pictures you were talking baout?


Here is a great idea that I got off of firstrays.com free info section. my biggest problem with my current setup is watering my plants. I have to haul all of my plants outdoors to use my pump sprayer. My previous humidity trays(old cafeteria trays) just couldn't hold enought water to allow for that. My grow setup is also in the office of our house and has hardwoood floors. Ray has designed a tray with a drain that is easily made. I spent a whole $13 on the 2 setups I created. I did modify his setup a little using 2" net cups to keep rocks out of my tubes. See the photos below. http://forum.theorchidsource.com/attachments/net%20basket%20draina.jpg http://forum.theorchidsource.com/attachments/opposite%20view%20of%20net%20basketa.jpg http://forum.theorchidsource.com/attachments/filling%20in%20draina.jpg http://forum.theorchidsource.com/attachments/set%20up%20on%20my%20standa.jpg http://forum.theorchidsource.com/attachments/new%20drain%20trays%20in%20usea.jpg