Media Tests Part 3 | Wicking efficiency and Drying times | Does Lava rock wick better than LECA?

Hi everyone, it's Annabel, welcome back to my channel! Today I am finishing up with the media testing we started a few weeks ago (    • Media Tests Round 2 | pH & Water Absorptio...   ) for the following materials: Bark (small, medium, large) Pumice (small, medium, large, 2 brands) Moss (besgrow) S-te / kyodama (Kaizen bonsai) Lava Rock Superlite black (Kaizen bonsai-small LECA?) LECA (Bonsai supplies purchased from https://www.kaizenbonsai.com ) We will be picking up where we left off in the last video. The last video quantified pH of each media, and the amount of water in grams that each cup of media was able to retain after soaking to saturation. We will be using that fully saturated weight, leaving to dry for 7 days and measuring the new amount of water per cup, to see if evaporation varies between the different sized and shaped media. We will then be pouring a small amount of water into the reservoir of each cup, careful not to soak the top of the media when pouring. we will be leaving this for a further 7 days, then looking at how moist the top of each cup is. this will tell us the effect each media has on ' The Dry Layer '- which is simply how efficiently each media can 'wick' water. If the media wicking rate is slower than the rate of evaporation, the dry line will emerge. Just how dry this is will depend on a variety of things, including environment, pot used and the actual plant in the pot. I hope this can be useful in informing us about the properties of each media, and how this can be applied to growing orchids! Time stamps 00:00 Introduction 01:20 Drying Test | Weight Results after 1 week 04:45 Drying Test | Graphed results 06:45 Wicking Test | Adding the reservoir 08:45 Wicking Test | Results after 1 week 09:00 Discussing each media 24:00 Comparison Between LECA and Lava 27:00 Discussion ______________________________________________ Instagram:   / the.orchid.room   ______________________________________________ ❀ My Orchid Room ❀ UK Spare Bedroom Currently Moving to a New House Temps- 18-35C Humidity 50-75%. Artificial lighting, supplemented with daylight ____________________________________________ ✩ Plant Products I Use & Love ✩ Quick Disclaimer - These are products I genuinely love, buy and use- I wouldn't list something I didn't use regularly and purchase myself. I've provided links to try and make them easier to find, some of these are Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to purchase any of these products through the Amazon links below, I may get a small percentage towards future purchases, which really helps! ❀ Inorganic Media ❀ RHS Alpine Horticultural grit or washed gravel- non wicking pebble top layer LECA - Canna Aqua Brand: https://amzn.to/2Z5sPPy or IKEA Lava rock, small grade, used here: https://amzn.to/30J3Z9y or larger: https://amzn.to/2CPXCt0 This seller in Germany has free, quick shipping, and is also on eBay. Pumice : Medium grade ~10mm : https://amzn.to/3aTCIFn Or Kaizen bonsai, small or large grade: https://bit.ly/3aeYKRW Synthic: UK supplier https://bit.ly/2RCb4oI US: Glassbox Tropicals : https://bit.ly/2wHy2na Seramis : https://amzn.to/2QdyP59 or https://bit.ly/2V90RSJ (cheaper) Perlite ❃ Organic media ❃ Sphagnum moss by Besgrow Orchiata bark- UK Supplier: https://bit.ly/3elQItD ________________________________________________ 💧Water & Nutrients🌱 ZeroWater Filter: https://amzn.to/2KaaYjP Rain Mix: UK: https://bit.ly/2yaTfX5 Akerne: https://bit.ly/2XEj3W3 Silicon: https://amzn.to/2K41IxJ Seaweed: Maxicrop: https://amzn.to/2VbQ0rv Or Envii: https://amzn.to/3fZ1bek ________________________________________________ 🐛Pest Control🐛 Pink Sun Neem Oil/Soap duo: https://amzn.to/39qyPam Systemic insecticide Bug Clear Ultra (5g/l Acetamiprid): Large size, better value but lacks dosing: https://amzn.to/39nTzzS (Use at 10ml/litre) Or smaller size with clear dosing: https://amzn.to/2smCUfp 💡 Lighting 💡 Lower Light Orchids (Phalaenopsis, Oncidiums) Cool white LAP '4000K' under cabinet lighting- Screwfix: https://bit.ly/2V5KBlv IKEA Tertial Lamps: https://bit.ly/2Vs492t Fitted with 1500 lumen LED bulbs: https://amzn.to/36RnRsG High Light Orchids (Vandas, Cattleyas) GEMMA Lights: https://bit.ly/34CqY7Z , 10% discount with code 'OrchidRoom' Mars Hydro TS600 MARS HYDRO TS600 Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3bagRcS ❃ Shelving ❃ Wire shelving, Hartleys direct: https://bit.ly/2REpeWl Metal shelving IKEA Mulig : https://bit.ly/3bkUjGc ✩ Pots ✩ 13cm Buckets Amazon: https://amzn.to/2V92cci (£~20 for 35) ______________________________________________ Cheaper alternatives to Elho outers: 18cm white pot cover: https://bit.ly/3cmwTRb _________________________________________________ Wick for self watering pots: https://amzn.to/2sMuWM7 #mediatests #orchidmedia #wickingtests