Spagnum with bark

[jenni_orchid]

My catts and my dendrobiums are shriveled no matter how often I water. I am in Western Colorado and current humidity is less than ten percent. They are potted in bark, and I am considering adding some spagnum. Is this a good idea, or not?? If I add spagnum to the bark, would I mix it in, or just place it on top? Any help with this is greatly appreciated by me and my poor orchids.

[estación seca]

Hard to say. Your plants might have dead roots. I live in a very arid climate. I found the semi-hydroponics method to work very well. There is a S/H forum here that explains it. As to your question, I would put the spahgnum on top of the bark.

I might point out the humidity trays you will read about everywhere absolutely do not work to raise humidity. This was proven long ago but people keep writing about it. Don't waste your time nor money on them. The only things that raise humidity in arid rooms are:
1 more animals, including humans
2 more plants that use a lot of water
3 humidifying machines.

[Leafmite]

I agree...check the roots and make certain that they are still healthy. My home gets very dry in the winter when the furnace is running. I use basket pots and, as a medium, lava rock, and just water often. I usually leave a little water in the saucer after watering. The lava rock helps with the humidity as it has a great deal of surface area. The basket pots ensure that the roots stay healthy. I grow my orchids near a nice grouping of other plants which help increase the humidity.

Good luck!

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by jenni_orchid

My catts and my dendrobiums are shriveled no matter how often I water. I am in Western Colorado and current humidity is less than ten percent. They are potted in bark, and I am considering adding some sphagnum. Is this a good idea, or not?? If I add sphagnum to the bark, would I mix it in, or just place it on top? Any help with this is greatly appreciated by me and my poor orchids.

Agreeing with checking of the roots. Roughly how long have you been growing these orchids jenni?

If the roots can't handle relatively low oxygen levels under conditions of watery roots (or being watery or wet for a relatively long time) ------ then the roots can die, and the orchid can then dehydrate due to no water getting into it.

On the other hand - very dry bark repels water ------ so very dry bark needs to get some preparation, such as soaking for some time in water - in order to make it not bone dry. That is - soak ultra dry bark in water before potting orchids into it.

Water on the surface of bone dry bark generally just passes straight over it, and out of the pot - which can also cause the orchid to die of dehydration.

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[Fairorchids]

Almost all orchids can be grown in spaghnum/bark mix (3:1 or 4:1). This holds moisture around the roots longer, so you can water less.

These days, in a 2500 sqft greenhouse with high humidity, I grow all orchids in 3" pots and smaller in that mix. I also use it for all:
intergeneric Oncids (incl. Brassia),
Zygopetalums
reedstem Epis
all my Vandaceous
most of my Paphs

Only Catts in pot sizes 4" & up go into a bark mix.

[jenni_orchid]

Thanks to all of you. I got these in bloom in September of last year. They were perfect when I got them and I have managed to dry them out