I'm not much help on answering your above question Warp.
But since semps are such tough plants, they can go for awhile without moisture, so I think I would lean towards the drier end of the spectrum of watering.
It shouldn't take long to see how it would respond to more water?

valleylynn said:I'm not much help on answering your above question Warp.
But since semps are such tough plants, they can go for awhile without moisture, so I think I would lean towards the drier end of the spectrum of watering.
It shouldn't take long to see how it would responds to more water?

...or less water in my case as the plants have been chronically over watered, IMO. Im going with about a 4hr interval and will back it off from there maybe leave them all night high and dry. I am hitting them with 2 to 4 hours a day HPS.. I know they can handle it but...
its really me who needs to be weaned off the water I think. I like to keep things moving though, like lungs drawing down fresh air with every cycle... If I keep the crowns well away from the water zone as they get older I bet I can water 20 times a day...with the High 02 content in the water (and the air) the roots should stay healthy. I will water about every 4 hours till I can determine plant/root response. that is about the period of time it takes for hanging roots to nearly dry. I should know within 1-2 weeks, or days even, if the roots are responding well or not. thats the beauty of having the roots in air is you can check them for health and new growth. I am really excited to see If I can zero in on what makes a semps roots happiest. one day I really will decide to starve them and we can see what that does too.

the other thing to consider when running hydro and letting the substrate completely dry is salt build up...and changes to the nutrient as all the water evaps. more reason to water more over less but ppms of 150 -200 are just 4-5x stronger than tap water. the experiment continues...

Keeping the crowns dry would be very important.
I know even in my beds, the more porous the soil is (fast draining) the better. We have months of non stop rain here in the late winter and through spring. It is an easy thing to loose them if the soil holds to much water.
In your case the crowns are kept dry and the roots are allowed to dry out some.

Hey Warp = it all sounds really fascinating! I can tell you that I've often gotten bareroot plants and can't get them planted right away, and they sit with roots in air, once it was about 2 weeks! No water, they were sad looking but fine - so I'd have to agree with Lynn that erring on the drier side seems better!
Thanks for posting more photos!

I left some in the garage for over 3 months, just sitting on a bench. Come spring, when I found them and planted them, they did take off and grow.

But what warp is doing, encourages them to grow instead of going dormant. Which mine did (go dormant).

Yes that's a good point Lynn, mine were semi-dormant, I do keep them in a cool area under an open window and most of them grow roots in the air while they're waiting! It makes me appreciate these plants even more!
Warp I really have been following this thread because I am curious what you'll accomplish!
Have you tried using Echeverias for this project?? I was thinking they would like your temps better and I bet they'd respond to the air watering system you have going - many of them look just as amazing as semps!

I have to say, I am really intrigued by this experiment. Looking back at Warp's photos, the semps all look really good.
A real bonus, the squirrels, birds, rabbits, deer and what every else, can't eat them.

That is very true Lynn!

Just to let you all know if you didn't notice, Warp summarized and added more info at the top of this thread to update us on his experiement and include photo of new project just finished (for you vertical planting fans).

Thanks Bev - I had missed that. This really is a fascinating experiment Warp, and I'm glad you're sharing all your information with us.

right on....glad I found you guys and that you think this is interesting. Hopefully I wont have a semp killing field on my hands and we will all learn something.


ps on Hanging root plant....roots hung approximately 12 hours overnight and were still damp in the am. that plants roots touch the limestone rock in the bottom of the container and wick water I think. perhaps undesirable but it is what it is. Everybody still looks good and some day I will start to push the water out until I get plant stress or just board.
this is a little like watching grass grow..at some point I will put them on the back burner, I figure checking in on them once a week will be more exciting. its always baby steps getting something like this set up...test test retest, reconfigure, reconfigure, replant, don't cause a flood, don't start a fire, don't burn the plants, don't overwater, don't over feed, timers pumps fuses etc etc. but I love it....

Warp, you are more patient than I am, and obviously have a mind that needs to know how and why things work. There are lessons to learn from this experiment, some of which may benefit many of us.

And here we go.... Well it was a real stressful day with my impending personal financial collapse hanging over me while I prepared to get into a big mess trying to figure out how I was going to do this, without having to do it ever again... I seriously hope this is the last transplant, its been nothing but musical chairs from the get go...
I guess this was my early vision. Some foam board, a router, odds and ends and walla. flood and drain aero/hydro sempervivum. Now rock litte spikey nuggets, rock!







I washed the roots as best i could....I think they will survive the remaining organic matter, though I must admit the word infection has come past my mind a number of times when looking at this set up...we will see. the plants will have to live up to their name i think.

Warp I love the expression "spiky nuggets" Keeping fingers crossed that this works!

Wow, Warp, another complete overhaul! Hope it all goes well this time.

Double wow Warp. I love those root photos.
This is just getting more and more intriguing as the experiment progresses.

plants in distress all have one thing in common....a collection of dead leaves and dirt around their bases....it is somewhat pernicious in some cases requiring use of a small wooden dowel cut like a finger manicure thingy, but sometimes you need to use your thumbnail to get it off, if I don't get this stuff off its been a 100% death rate pretty much and is particularly important in my little rig going at water every hour or so...so get that stuff off and make sure the plant stays dry where the stem meets the leaves.... in my system they are showing after watering, if you look at the upper plant it will wick up water and hold it in the upper crown or lower leaves if the "mulch ring" dirty bottom is present.

on another angle, I've upped the O2 by adding an air pump and an air stone to the system. that makes me feel much better!






but what I think is really cool is my new root bed forced air system.... I've Never heard it mentioned or anything anywhere that i've seen in my life...? Hmmm? anyway I just bored some holes in the foam with some sharpened copper pipe and laid a large computer fan over top blowing down into the "root bed"....sure enough any open hole in the board is blowing out air.
the brown roots and slow dyring roots make me nervous here in the early transplant stage....after 1 hour roots are still too moist for my liking and I always wanted to try this. now I can water more and know pretty dar n sure they all have plenty of O2. feeling good at this point. real good. I believe the little green men will survive






Explosive root growth please.

not much more I can do here....

its life or death now my bristly little beasties... I commend your little souls for the courage you have shown in the face of brutal and unrelenting exploitation and experimentation. Your are true heroes my little fiends, may you never forget that! Now carry on men!

Wow, Warp this is getting pretty complex. Your thinking goes way beyond anything I would think up, or put together. I am thoroughly impressed.
And really entertained by the ending to your post.

WarpJr said:Explosive root growth please. Rolling my eyes.

not much more I can do here....

its life or death now my bristly little beasties... I commend your little souls for the courage you have shown in the face of brutal and unrelenting exploitation and experimentation. Your are true heroes my little fiends, may you never forget that! Now carry on men!

That last photo is inspiring, what a beautiful site to behold. Those semps look great.