Which Orchid Mix do you use to repot your orchid in?

[james mickelso]

Kinkos. Any place that sends mail mail and packages like mail boxes R us.

[Skayc1]

I've found a phalaenopsis Orchid Mix at Home Depot.

[WhiteRabbit]

buy stuff online ? packing pnuts included

Originally Posted by jeremyinsf

From a store that specializes in moving supplies. You need the white ones that are made from real polystyrene, NOT the biodegradable ones.

true - and stay away from pink ones - they are treated with an anti-static substance ...

any styrofoam will work - I also break up pieces of formed styro that things were packaged in

[Skayc1]

Are the green ones bad as well?

[jeremyinsf]

Depends who you ask. They are made of recycled polystyrene. Some people believe you need the "pure, virgin" (white) ones as with the recycled ones you don't know what the mix is.

Having said that, I learned as I did some re-potting recently that a very well respected, large nursery where I got some of my best plants this year uses the green ones. So, they are good enough for them.

Living in the San Francisco bay area, people here are (insistent?) about recycling. I couldn't find ANY polystyrene chips for a while, because everyone I went to (Kinkos, UPS store, mailboxes etc, Staples, Office Depot, etc etc) only had the bio-degradable ones. They will melt when you water the plants. But if you ask for the real polystyrene ones, you might get a very dirty look, or get laughed at.

I finally found some at a specialized packing store that has been in SF since 1977. I had the choice of pink, green, white, or mixed. I got a large bag of the white for $3.50.

I'm ok that some of my plants already have the green ones. I'm not going to re-pot them just to move them to white ones.

[james mickelso]

You can also use pebbles, gravel, rocks, broken pottery, ect. And it helps to make the pot bottom heavy and it's dirt cheap.

[Leafmite]

I use lava rock (most of them) or lava rock and sphagnum moss for my orchids. With my phal equestris, I use a little sphagnum moss mixed in. With the noID's, I always just use lava rock and give them a good soak once a week. Good luck!

[Skayc1]

So It was not easy finding what I needed when i decided what to do with re-potting my orchids...

first two had very little roots and someone
suggested shipping Peanuts to keep from having too much in the little pot that is still too big.- I had given up on finding them cheaply, then found an incredible source, same place where i found the clear plastic orchid pots. And got them for free!

Next- was getting some Phalaenopsis orchid mix- bark has worked for me, so bark I will do. i'm a little bit afraid to use sphagnum moss. I decided to tweak the bark mixture by adding Leca to the mix, not as a filler for a pot too big for the tiny amount of roots, but to aid in moisture control & airation of the roots. I had to look in 2 stores for the Phalaenopsis Mix & ended up finding it at Lowes lol
the Leca was most hard to find..I ended up finding something called 'Hydroton'. i had to go to a Hydrophonics garden center...
I'll get pictures when I've repotted my Orchids.

Oh and at BB Barns, I got me an Oncidium...me thinks I needs to look in that garden center every week to two weeks lol for stuff on sale..

[james mickelso]

Sift the Lowes potting mix through at least a window screen to get rid of all the fine material. I prefer to sift through a piece of 1/4 inch wire screen. The small stuff will clog the pore spaces that are needed for proper air flow. the hydroton was a good choice. In NC the humidity is high most of the summer so evaporation is minimal and the middle of the mix will stay wet longer than the outside and top. be careful. Don't water too much.

[Skayc1]

I'm located in the mountains of western NC & the average humidity for June is 75.5, by September has an average humidity of 80.0. then it starts falling lower.