Phals in Peat Moss vs. Bark...

[annehylee]

Hi Rosie, what's the name of ur supplier? I'd like to go online and take a look. Your probably right though. These overseas vendors very rarely ship to Canada.. Boo...

[Donald]

Have had all my "phals" in sphagnum for years with no problems. They are in clay unglazed pots and need to be watered every 6 to 8 days. Never had a problem with root rot etc. They get repotted every 2 years. It all depends on the conditions that they are grown in.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by annehylee

Hi Rosie, what's the name of ur supplier? I'd like to go online and take a look. Your probably right though. These overseas vendors very rarely ship to Canada.. Boo...

This is their website.

Orchid Accessories - www.orchidaccessories.co.uk

I've bought a few things from him and when I speak to him on the phone he is very knowledgable. I use a mixture of his large grade & small grade bark with medium grate CHC and perlite also mixed in (all bought from him).

I was very impressed with the quality of all the bark and CHC I have bought. My orchids are loving it too.

I've got a feeling he may source a lot of the stuff he sells from the states. He is one of the few places I have found KLN in the UK and he told me he gets that from the states.

[ajdamania2]

hi.i would definetly say bark for Phals.

[Singingirl96]

I'm also assuming it is in sphagnum moss, not peat. Many phals come in sphanum.
Although I agree with most of what all above have said, I just wanted to point out that your orchid has probably been over watered for a long time and may miss some of the moisture. You may want to water it a little more often during the first few weeks until it acclimates to the new mix. I did the same thing last year. I changed it over and continued watering it once a week. Turns out it started to wilt due to dehydration. So just keep an eye on it.

[s.kallima]

Just to clarify a bit :
Peat moss is made of Sphagnum moss because it is the decomposing Sphagnum that naturally occurs in bogs and wetlands. Because of the acidic nature of waters in these environments and the low levels of oxygen, while the top part of the plant (green, reddish of yellowish color like we know) grows continuously, the lower part of Sphagnum plant decomposes very slowly into a compact, dark "soil". This soil is extracted from bogs and sold in stores under the name Peat moss. It is pure sphagnum... but not the form you want to use for orchids I think. It is great though for carnivorous plants.

[seamonkey]

Anyone ever try growing an orchid in live sphagnum?

[learning2letgo]

Nope, I just use the regular sphagnum that comes in blocks at the local garden supply store. I have found however that with growing in sphagnum, it's best to have the phal in a clear container inside another or else in a container that has somewhere I can manage to get a finger into to check to moisture content of the moss.

Maybe I'm just ill-educated, but I didn't that you could buy live sphagnum? Did I understand that right?

[s.kallima]

Originally Posted by seamonkey

Anyone ever try growing an orchid in live sphagnum?

I am currently growing some Masdevallia in live sphagnum (only since 3-4 months), one as a test (piece of an hybrid M. dean Haas) and the other is a rescue (M. bicolor).
I use a layer of hydroton at the bottom of the pot, and the live sphagnum on top 2/3rd is growing very well as long as I don't use fertilizer. I leave a bit of water in the saucer, so the hydroton wicks it towards the sphagnum.
So far I had no rotting problem, as the sphagnum itself is never soggy, but still very moist and lost of air in it.

I find that live sphagnum moss (in a ziploc bag) is a miracle trick to revive dying orchids or the promote new growths on old backbulbs (way better than regular sphag in bag). In the last few months I revived several Bulbo backbulbs, Oncidiums, a Nanodes porpax cutting, some Paphio, and I have a Madevallia currently fighting for survival... (it has only one leave attached to 2 cm of rhizome and no roots at all, and is still green after 2 months... I have hope it will do something )

You can buy live sphagnum in nurseries (or online stores) selling carnivorous plants