Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Semi-Hydroponics Revisited, 1 by plantladylin

plantladylin wrote:
I tried the semi hydro a couple of times but had no luck, but they were out on the deck and there's so much humidity out there I just assumed it was way too much moisture.

I got H. magnifica in the DL co-op last year. I tried the moist perlite in the plastic bag method, then semi hydro and just couldn't make up my mind so I finally planted it in my regular mix. Once I made the decision to leave it alone, it rooted, has been a bit slow but began to put on a lot more growth this summer. I have a couple of others from the 2008 order that just haven't wanted to grow much at all. They rooted okay but just sit there doing nothing. All of a sudden this year they have begun to show signs of growth. I was attributing it to possibly the beer formula fertilizer that I had never tried until May of this year, but am now thinking it had nothing to do with that stuff ... I think some plants are just reluctant to acclimate to their new surroundings and take their own time. Of course I am not a help when I waffle back and forth from day to day about how I want to root them ... with the abuse they get from me I'm surprised they survived at all.

This is magnifica that I'm hoping will really grow next summer and possibly grace me a bloom or two.