best media for Phals

[bronco]

I just started to care for orchids.
What is the best media for growing Phals?
I am using a bark,charcoal and perlite mixture. Do you recommend mixing Spagh with this bark mix?
Is it better to use only Spagh?
Thanks in advance
Denny

[Vanda lover]

I like to add a little sphag to the mix, just because it makes it a little easier to judge when to water. The sphag is still moist to the touch when the mix feels dry. Using all sphag works well as long as you provide good drainage and don't over pot. Styrofoam peanuts are good for drainage. In our climate we have high humidity during the winter, and I find that the sphag stays moist for a long time, which isn't always good. It is better if it dries quickly. If you have a pot that has plenty of holes, even in the sides it helps.

[Gage]

Welcome! It depends on your growing conditions. You generally want Phalaenopsis to be about 70-90% DRY in a week or less. So for me that means using sphag for my little ones in 2.5" plastic slotted pots, and chc/charcoal in my larger pots with some styrofoam in the middle of the pot. Read this thread, or at least the first 10 pages or so.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ends-here.html

[tucker85]

My opinion is that your bark, perlite and charcoal mixture is probably a perfectly acceptable mixture for mature phals. If you want to add sphagnum, I would add just a little for starters. I agree with Gage that you want the mixture to dry out in about a week or less. I see you're in Florida and our problem here in Florida is that the weather is dry in the winter and very humid in the summer. I had great luck with sphagnum for phals in the winter but in the summer it would almost never dry out. Like Gage, I find that sphagnum works well in tiny pots and for very small phals.. I would never use it in Florida in a pot over 4". No matter what you use, put the orchid in the smallest pot that will accommodate the roots. Clear plastic pots with good drainage give you an advantage also. The mix I'm using now for my mature phals is medium coconut husk chips, sponge rock (large perlite) and charcoal in a small clear plastic pot. By the way, I should have mentioned, if the mix you're using is working well for you, I wouldn't change it. Good luck.

[The Orchid Boy]

This is my favorite phal mix:
7 parts medium fir bark
2 parts sphagnum moss
1 part charcoal
1 part small lava rock (you can substitute perlite although lava rock is preferred)

For me, this is a perfect mix. It dries out evenly and doesn't dry out too fast or too slow.

I also pot some of my phals in sphagnum moss with charcoal and perlite added.

[Leafmite]

As you see, different medias work for different growing conditions. I live in Ohio, I grow by the windows, I don't use a fan, we have many cloudy winter days, my house is ~64-65'F in winter, and lava rock/net pots is perfect for my phals.

[Vanda lover]

If you use lava rock in netted pot, do you have to water every day or 2? I find it difficult to tell when to water with that method. Lava rock seems too work well for s/h too. The plants can help themselves to the water that way.

[The Orchid Boy]

I don't use lava rock in net pots. In net pots I use sphagnum moss with little if anything added.

[Vanda lover]

Leafmite mentioned lava rock and net pots.

[Bud]

I just go online to orchid supply stores and look for the correct phal mixes(they have different varieties to choose from you can even do your own choices of mix)...seedlings have a different mix than the mature blooming ones...
I wash them until the dark coloration is gone and soak them in water and fertilizer overnight...then its ready for repot