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Replacing soil with Orbeez/Water Beads?

  • Thread starter Firemousey
  • Start date
So today, I came across a silly YouTube challenge where Youtubers filled their bathtubs with Orbeez, beads or balls that expand when placed in water. I became curious about what people did with the beads when they were done and found on the Orbeez website that you can use Orbeez to control moisture level in soil because they absorb water and slowly release them while they dehydrate.

I became even more intrigued with the idea of replacing soil completely with Orbeez which you can reuse by constantly adding water OR letting them dry out and revert to their smaller size, then rehydrate them when you wish. I did more research and saw that a lot of people (who claim that they're forgetful about watering their plants) use Orbeez to not only keep their plants alive, but the plants also grow very well too. There is a list of plants that do well in Orbeez but it's a pretty small list and a lot of them seem to be plants that require a lot of water (such as bamboo). I know that waterlogged soil is not good for Pings.

The reason why I'm bringing this is up is because I have always had a lot of issues with watering my Pings (P. Laueana, P. Pirouette, and P. Sethos). Because of this my pings shrank and died. Losing my Pirouette broke my heart because it was my favorite. I know that I had the soil and the lighting conditions right, it was just the watering part that messed me up. If I could have just watered it properly then it would have been just fine.

My question is: Has anyone here ever used Orbeez/Water Beads in their soil? Or have they completely replaced their soil with Orbeez/Water Beads.

If they have done either, I would really like to know how well it worked out for their Pings? (Because if it worked really well then I might be persuaded to get another Pirouette and plant it in some Orbeez but only if it worked haha!)

Super Easy Science: How to Grow Wheatgrass on Water Beads - Left Brain Craft Brain
 
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Bonjour

what are your cultivate condition for these ping? substrate,light, temperature, etc ?

I know that waterlogged soil is not good for Pings. for the temperate and some subpropical US waterlogged soil is necessery :nono:

jeff
 
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Bonjour

what are your cultivate condition for these ping? substrate,light, temperature, etc ?

I know that waterlogged soil is not good for Pings. for the temperate and some subpropical US waterlogged soil is necessery :nono:

jeff

Greetings Jeff!
All three were tropical ping clones so lots of sunlight, a minimum temperature of 70-75 degrees and ONLY moist soil. I was told to water them by filling the tray the pot sat in. I did that but it didn't help, they kept shrinking until they died.

Some other background info is that the original ping that they were cloned from is from Oaxaca, Mexico.

I can't remember any other info, but I hope it was enough. =(
 
Bonjour

what subtrate ?

do you make a dormancy for these 3 ?

'Pirouette ' and 'Sethos ' are 2 hybrids , laueana a taxon .

jeff
 
I'm not too sure what was in the substrate anymore. I bought it from the nursery I bought Laueana and Pirouette from.

Cascade Carnivores' Dewy Pine/Mexican Ping mix - 1 Quart

As for dormancy, only the Laueana ever went dormant. It went dormant twice, had that one for two years. These were my very first plants so I wasn't too sure what to do aside from reduce the hours of light they got.
 
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Bonjour

for me may be 2 reason

The nature of the substrate.
Watering when there is dormancy

jeff
 
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This sounds very promising... did you try with any CP's?
 
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