Can I add small pieces of regular wood to my "Miracle gro orchid potting mix"?

[Karmenmo]

I am repotting my 2 phalaenopsis and bought Miracle gro orchid potting mix, I notice it has a lot of dirt, so I decided to go online to read some reviews, most people said it doesn't work well for phals unless they add some bark... I have small pieces of wood, so I'm wondering if I can use this instead of bark

[Leafmite]

I would see how long it takes the medium to dry before putting an orchid in it. For those of us that live where it gets cold, this does not work well. Where you live, the conditions might be fine for a more water-retaining mix. You can cut up styrofoam peanuts and mix in the medium and put an upside-down net put in the middle/bottom of your larger pot to provide better aeriation to the roots. I use lava rock for my phals but Ohio is cool in the winter. In their native environment, they grow bare root on trees as it is very humid. Whatever you do medium-wise, the trick is to provide a humid environment around the roots without it staying too wet (root rot). Good luck!

[Karmenmo]

Thank you Leafmite for taking the time to answer my question>
It has been 6 months since I got my first orchid and I use to water it every week, thinking It needed more water... I almost drawn it, all it leaves fell off, I really thought it was going to die, but it survived =) now it has 5 beautiful and strong leaves, but my 1 year old son accidentally broke the pot, this is why I'm repotting, and I don't want to make another mistake...
Thank you again =)

[Ray]

Wood is a poor additive for orchid media, and won't add appreciably to the aeration. Coarse sponge rock is a better idea.

The key to successful orchid growing is maintaining good air flow to the root system while providing sufficient water. The Miracle-Gro mix holds too much water in between the particles, so can suffocate the roots. If you only slightly dampen it, you will be more successful with it, but I agree with your desire to "open it up" more.

[Karmenmo]

Thank you Ray, that is exactly what I want, "open it up" don't want to suffocate the roots.
I am going to my local nursery today, will add coarse sponge rock to my list! =)

[The Orchid Boy]

Don't use Miracle Gro Orchid Mix! I bought it once and it is potting mix with very few tiny pieces of bark and a little perlite. It works well for cacti and African violets though. I tried it once and it didn't turn out well. Lowes has some nice orchid bark mixes though.

Here's a picture of Miracle Gro Orchid Mix with a depressed phal: http://morlinos.com/pictures/orchids/DSC00678.jpg

[AGibson001]

In general, Miracle Grow Orchid Potting Mix is NOT to be used to grow most types of orchids. I have used this in a bind for Phal and Paph by doing the following: For a 6" pot, dump about twice the pot volume of mix into a clean bowl or bucket, soak with warm water until fully saturated. The Mix should separate into a floating layer and a layer of sludge on the bottom. Using my hands, I skimmed only the top layer of floating wood and perlite (the white stuff) and put that into collander I normally would use for straining pasta. Now, thoroughly rinse the stuff in the collander with warm water. What you will be left with is essentially a "Fine" grade orchid potting mix, which by itself can be used for Onc. and other thin root orchids. For Phals I added some sphagnum moss (soaked in warm water, squeezed of excess moisture, fluffed up, and mixed evenly throughout with the MGOPM at a ratio of 2 parts mix to 1 part moss. This will get you through, but unless repotting is urgent and you cant get ahold of real orchid media in the near future, you should avoid MGOPM and just use fir bark, charcoal and perlite at a mix of about 3:1:1, generally speaking. Hope this helps.

[Leafmite]

I use the miracle grow orchid mix all the time...but not for orchids. It is great to use in mixes for plants that require a low pH. Yes, unfortunately, the orchid expert who developed it must have very different growing conditions from most other orchid growers. I found all their soils rather heavy so I mix my own soils for plants now. I get just what I want for each plant.
For orchids, most I have in red lava rock, with a group mounted, two in sphagnum, two in bark, and vanilla in a mix. The ones in bark will be moved to lava rock or a mount in the spring.

[mdomaz]

Since many of you think the Miracle Grow Mix is not a good choice, can you provide the name of a brand that is a better choice? Thanks

[cbuchman]

I don't use a particular brand, but have found that I can go to my local nursery and buy bags of large bark, orchid mix, charcoal, lave rock etc. I think even Lowe's, Home Depot etc have these. Read the bag carefully and make sure it is OK and not too dense. I then mix my own according to the orchid's needs