Orchiata

[BikerDoc5968]

Hey Ross, good to hear from you.... has it started to snow up there, yet.....

It isn't that I was planning on a purchase. Just wanted to be educated. There are some things I'd be willing to try but not to pay that kind of money to re-invent the wheel! I'm sure you get my drift.

[PaphMadMan]

Originally Posted by Ross

The thing that worries me is that Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata) is seriously threatened in the wild (it comes from California) and is known to carry fusarium blight spores. Like Ray says - it's mostly hype. Folks are constantly trying to corner the market on some magical stuff because they know we'll buy it While it's true that it grows very fast on certain soils and can even grow where few other species can (serpentine/magnesium rich soils for instance) it still would be suspect to me. Why do you believe it will be better and worth the added cost?

I don't think that Pinus radiata threatened status in native habitat is relevant when this product is coming from managed plantations in New Zealand. It is widely planted as a forestry tree where it is adapted. You can't assume fusarium contamination especially when it is grow in a non-native environment, and this is a highly processed product so even if it started out carrying spores of any kind they should be eliminated. I don't endorse the product, but why try to taint it by irrelevant or speculative arguements? I'm sure it is useful for someone.

[johnblagg]

I agree Ray.If you have learned the fact that orchids in general are hurt more by overwatering than anything else...then it dosent matter much what they are in if it dosent change ph to much.

I would never have thought of leca and s/h myself but its amazing Thanks.

[Ray]

I remember about 25-30 years ago, there was this "fantastic, new, easy-to-obtain" medium - ground cork. Uniform in size, it was nice and airy, held water for a long time, and appeared to be a real winner. Plants absolutely thrived in it, and it was cheap!

Then, about 6- to 9 months later, seemingly overnight, the entire potful of discrete chunks would turn to a dense mush and rot every root instantaneously. THAT was amazing. We've all seen media "going south" and corrected for it, but this was like flipping a switch!

[penangirl]

i decided to try this medium in my paph collection.if fred clark at sunset valley orchids uses pinus radiata it is good enough for me

[Ray]

I have done some evaluation myself, and it appears to be a pretty good product (even if their website does seem a bit over-hyped at first).

I'm even going to look into carrying it!

[Bayard]

Actually, I use it. The reason I got it was the orchids that came from Hawaii. They seemed very healthy in the stuff. It is actually aged Pinus radiata bark from New Zealand. They have forests of it planted for timber. The bark has dolomite lime added as well. So far, the results have been good. I'm mostly using it with Cattleyas in plastic pots, but some are in clay. Monterey Pine bark is supposed to last longer than Fir bark, presumably due to a higher lignin content. Greenhouse Specialists in Hawaii sells it in various grades, the largest being about 3/4 to 1 inch. They tell me they will soon have a distributor on the East coast (where I live), so it'll be much cheaper to ship than from Hawaii! If you want to try it on a few plants, Repotme.com and some other orchid supply places sell it.

[Undergrounder]

Wow i didn't realise this stuff was rare outside of NZ/Aus. It's so common here we use big bags of it for mulch at about $5 per 40L. I've probably bought special 'orchid bark' in the past not realising i could just pot it up in mulch.

I wonder though what's the point of using it as was already mentioned, orchids grow well in anything so long as the air/water mix is OK?

[Ephemere]

Howard, it is truly an outstanding product. I use it for Phals. and Paphs. It is a 100% pine shell orchid substrate from NZ, lasts much longer than other medias which break down too rapidly. Expensive yes, but on the long run worth the money and less repottings! For Cattleyas, Dend. etc. I use and fare well with small coconut husk chips mixed with genuine charcoal.

Cheers, Michael

[Ray]

Orchiata isn't "just" bark. It is aged to allow the tanin content to become reduced, and calcium and magnesium compounds are added to stabilize the pH in the 5.5-6.5 range.

If anyone is interested, I just got some in:

#5 "Power" 9-12 mm (3/8"-1/2")
#5A "Power +" 12-18 mm (1/2"-3/4") and
#7 "Super" 18-25 mm (3/4"-1")

The #9 "Classic" 6-9 mm (1/4"-3/8") was inadvertently left off of the shipment, but should arrive shortly.

I have photos with a US Quarter as a size reference.

I hear from folks "down under" that the #5 or #5A, used 2:1 with equivalent-sized spongerock is a pretty good standard mix, but I'd definitely tune that to my conditions and watering habits.