Soil for Arundina bambusifolia (Bamboo Orchid)

[jreidsma]

Hi everyone

My friend brought me back some bulbs of Arundina bambusifolia from a store called grow Hawaii Hawaiian Bamboo Orchid Plant 2 Rooted Bulbs ~ Grow Hawaii ~ more info

And I would like to know what I good soil mix might be?

I usually mix high quality organic potting mix with coconut coir/fiber and perlite for all my other non orchid plants. And I have some very fine peat moss, some long strand light colored peat moss, and a little sheat moss left. And some orchid bark from better gro.

I could also pick some more stuff up.

[keithrs]

Originally Posted by jreidsma

Hi everyone

My friend brought me back some bulbs of Arundina bambusifolia from a store called grow Hawaii Hawaiian Bamboo Orchid Plant 2 Rooted Bulbs ~ Grow Hawaii ~ more info

And I would like to know what I good soil mix might be?

I usually mix high quality organic potting mix with coconut coir/fiber and perlite for all my other non orchid plants. And I have some very fine peat moss, some long strand light colored peat moss, and a little sheat moss left. And some orchid bark from better gro.

I could also pick some more stuff up.

I use 1/2 organic seedling potting soil and 1/2 seedling bark. I add a pinch of organic fertilizer to the mix. My seedling PS is mainly 50/50 peat/perlite.

[isurus79]

I used to live in Hawaii and these things are everywhere. They grow in areas of thin soil (say 2-4" thick) over top of lava rock. They also live in fairly moist parts of the islands, so they really prefer moist, but well drained soils in very bright places.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

There are pics of Arundina bambusifolia (aka Arundina graminifolia) growing in the wild. They are actually really originally from parts of tropical Southeast Asia, not from Hawaii. This species became naturalized in Hawaii, very similar to how Spathoglottis plicata used to originate from tropical Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand down to Malaysia, but became a "pan-tropical weed".

Arundina does grow bright. Of all the pics I've seen of this plant, I've seen them growing out in open fields. They grow under lighting conditions as bright as Cattleyas and Vandas do. In the wild, the fields they are in are riddled with them, it's pretty cool to see them in a pic.

This is a link to some that grow in Hawaii:

Plants of Hawaii: Arundina graminifolia (Bamboo orchid) - Image 110722-7427

These are links to some that grow in Malaysia:

Arundina graminifolia | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Arundina graminifolia | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (This one shows the soil they grow in the clearest)

Arundina graminifolia seedling | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (This one shows one growing in a different soil type)