Orchiata Mix

[sweta]

Originally Posted by HiOrcDen

So when shopping for Orchiata mix for my Orchids, is the brand at all important? Is the Orchiata (which was purchased by Dalton's) brand necessarily better than others, and if not which other brands might be as good, at a better value?

I have seen the 'Perfect 'Plants' mix which is very highly rated by about 6,000 reviewers on Amazon, and the next closest is just a few hundred purchases. Of course this could just be that the ones that've sold hundreds have been introduced to Amazon recently.

So again, what might be the best brands, if there's a difference as long as it's real orchiata? I have heard of Orchiata brand, and also rePotme... any other suggestions? Or should I just go for the best value?

Oh one more thing, the Perfect Plants mix has added charcoal, sponge Rock, pine bark, coconut chips, in small portions. Is this advantageous?

I've been ordering orchiata bark(Daltons) and I've been very happy with the quality of product and their service. This has been by far the best bark that I've seen so far. And you get a bonus free gift if you spend more than $35 which is awesome. I've also tried the MWP fir bark but that didnt meet my expectation but Rexius fir bark is good. I also like the cZ garden supply store orchid bark on amazon the quality of their bark is great as well and its cheaper than orchiata bark. I remember ordering my first orchid potting mix by perfect plants on amazon https://a.co/d/7P44ae1. That was a disaster I had an infestation of fungus gnats.

[HiOrcDen]

Originally Posted by estación seca

As others mentioned, Orchiata is a specific brand of high-quality, very hard bark. Kiwi Bark is another high-quality brand, although the product is different from Orchiata. Other brands of orchid bark are lesser quality, which means they break down faster than do Orchiata and Kiwi Bark.

That said, commercial growers with excellent growing conditions need to repot plants about every 2 years, because they grow so well they outgrow containers. Many of them want the cheapest fir bark they can find because it doesn't need to last long, and the price difference between cheap and expensive bark is large. Fir bark is a lot softer than Orchiata or Kiwi Bark. Excellent growers with good growing conditions, who have time to repot every 2 years, don't need to spend money on high-quality bark.

Most of us hobbyists don't have ideal conditions, and many of our plants don't outgrow containers in 2 years. High quality bark matters more to us.

Choice of potting medium varies with how often the grower has time to water. If the grower has plenty of free time every day, it is safest to pot orchids in large bark and water daily, or almost daily. But few hobbyists have that time, and few commercial growers want to pay that much for labor.

The smaller the bark the smaller the spaces between the bark. Smaller spaces fill up with and retain more water, excluding air. This means the watering interval can be stretched, but at risk of suffocating roots if the plants don't take up the water rapidly, or if it doesn't evaporate rapidly.

Some people mix perlite with bark. The perlite is irregularly spherical in shape, and helps hold bark particles apart, allowing more air into smaller bark mixes. The aim of adding perlite is to use smaller bark to stay moist longer, but reduce root suffocation problems.

Sphagnum placed evenly throughout mixes retains water a lot longer than those mixes without sphagnum. The idea is to stretch the watering interval. Sphagnum holds so much water it will cool the medium via evaporative cooling. At typical household temperatures it can stay very wet for two weeks or more. I don't think sphagnum mixes are a good idea for most orchids unless relative humidity is so low the medium dries very quickly. It is especially problematic for warm growing orchids in cool winter houses. I think it's much safer to use a larger bark mix and water more frequently than to mix in sphagnum evenly.

People here have described using single columns of sphagnum or Hygroton rock wool cubes in a pot of medium to large bark, or discrete balls of sphagnum (rbarata wrote about this) placed at the edges of pots otherwise full of bark. This lets the air spaces in the bark remain open, but gives roots extra water when the bark dries. This does make sense to me.

Sunset Valley Orchids mixes perlite with small or medium Kiwi Bark for Cattleya and Dendrobium seedlings. This permits using smaller bark and stretching the watering interval. They water about twice or three times a week during warm weather.

In an ideal world, I would pot things in large bark or in S/H, and water all my plants every day during the growing season. But I don't have that kind of time, so I compromise.

Thank you! A question, what does S/H stand for here?

---------- Post added at 12:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 AM ----------

Originally Posted by sweta

I've been ordering orchiata bark(Daltons) and I've been very happy with the quality of product and their service. This has been by far the best bark that I've seen so far. And you get a bonus free gift if you spend more than $35 which is awesome. I've also tried the MWP fir bark but that didnt meet my expectation but Rexius fir bark is good. I also like the cZ garden supply store orchid bark on amazon the quality of their bark is great as well and its cheaper than orchiata bark. I remember ordering my first orchid potting mix by perfect plants on amazon https://a.co/d/7P44ae1. That was a disaster I had an infestation of fungus gnats.

Hi, thank you so much! Where did you purchase the Daltons Orchiata, where you received the bonus gift for $35? Daltons does not seem to sell on their own website, at least at this point.

[estación seca]

S/H is the abbreviation for semihydroponics.

[sweta]

Originally Posted by HiOrcDen

Hi, thank you so much! Where did you purchase the Daltons Orchiata, where you received the bonus gift for $35? Daltons does not seem to sell on their own website, at least at this point.

You can order Daltons Orchiata bark from orchidsupplystore.com and get the free shipping and bonus gift. You can sometimes get an extra 10% discount if you can search on the internet for a coupon code that works. You can also order good quality orchiata bark from orchidsupply.com but you wont get the free gift but overall cost including shipping is cheaper

[HiOrcDen]

Originally Posted by Ray

Unless things have changed, Orchiata is not a “mix”, but is the Besgro trade name for their aged and treated Pinus radiata bark. It is composted to get rid of some of the resins and treated with dolomitic lime to neutralize the pH. It is also very uniform and graded into several particle sizes to suit the grower’s individual needs and preferences. It is clean and very durable.

There is a similar product, “Kiwi Bark”, that some prefer.

I am not a fan of pre-mixed potting media, as all my plants don’t have the same needs, and “one size fits all” is simply untrue in this regard.

That does not mean that you won’t find one that works for you, but just because something works well for one grower has no bearing on whether it would work for you.

Orchid potting media really only have two functions; moisture retention while staying open and airy, and mechanical stability. What ingredients are used to achieve that are somewhat irrelevant.

Before spending too much at RepotMe, take a look at orchidmix.com. Wayne knows more about potting media components than most people, and his prices are much better.

Thank you for the reference to orchidmix.com. Would you suggest using coconut husk, or traditional bark? Is the use of coconut husk relatively new, as I was not previously familiar with it? Other than the fact of lighter shipping and greater water retention, I am just wondering, in case there might be a case of many keepers switching over, if it is new and preferable in some other ways...

[Ray]

I may be incorrect, but I believe Wayne (orchidmix.com) has passed away, leaving a big gap in the supplies world.

CHC (coconut husk chips) is certainly not new. Granted, I am not looking for it, but it seems that there is far less discussion about it these days than there used to be. One of the issues with it was the retention of salt. I don’t know if the plant naturally accumulates it or if, as I’ve read, salt water is used in the processing, but either way, it pays to soak the stuff for a long time with plenty of water changes prior to use.

[Roberta]

I used to use coconut husk chips for Cymbidiums, but over the years quality dropped - it broke down even faster than small bark. I would not use it for much else, stays too wet. Along with the need to wash it well.