Seramis Clay Orchid Mix

[DweamGoiL]

Hi!

Just wanted to give an update. Recently, there have been a few random posts about the Orchitop pots. One of the things that the company recommends is that their pots be used in conjunction with Seramis clay granules, which were only available from Germany. Well, I went to Plant and Orchid Care Products | Seramis and they are now a subdivision of Mars (yes, the candy company). They are now shipping orders out of Germantown, MD.

I do warn you though. I recently placed an order for the clay granules and because I did not realize they had a separate orchid mix, I ended up ordering the wrong product, I have been trying to reach them by phone before the order goes out, and it's been quite interesting to say the least. They do not have a dedicated customer service line for the Seramis products. So, if you do plan to order, make sure you place your order right on the website. I am sure in time, they will straighten this issue out, but for now it's in limbo due to the company's size.

Once I get my product and have had a chance to try it, I will post my results, but for now, it's nice to know it is available to us US consumers.

---------- Post added at 12:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

I wanted to add that I finally got in touch with someone from Mars Symbioscience, which is the subdivision that actually distributes the product line. I got a call from a rep and she was very nice. She changed my order at no charge since there was a nominal price difference. They were very apologetic about the time it took to get the call routed to the right place.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

For the longest time, our US equivalent was a product called Turface. It's good to know that Seramis is now available in the US.

Thank you for the info.

[WhiteRabbit]

Thanks for the info. Glad you got your order straightened out!

[Ray]

But $17.99 for 7 liters????

[DweamGoiL]

It is definitely not cost effective for larger scale collections or when compared to a bark mix. I only have 2 Phals so it works out for me. The rest of my plants are Paphs in an Orchiata mix, but I only have 6 orchids in total.

However, when comparing apples to apples; the cost of Turface is actually more costly. Repotme.com sells Turface for roughly $2.60/quart so for 7.4 quarts, which equals 7 liters, it's $19.24 for the same amount of Turface.

[orchidkate]

Hi, You mentioned we could order Seramis online to ship to US locations. Could you provide the link? I went on Seramis.com but there were no online US locations. Thanks.

[DweamGoiL]

Since I posted this, Mars stopped carrying it. It is no longer available in the US.

[Optimist]

Yeah, me and my 50 orchids will not be going to this party soon.

[Zabeta]

You can get it in the US. I recently received my order from Seramis Clay Granules for Houseplants 2,5l, and I really like it so far.

It's not a potting mix - just the clay granules - but the only thing is that this version is made of really small pieces, so it won't work for everything. I'm using it for minis and an angraecum. And repotting was really easy - just position the orchid and dump it in.

I'm really happy to have this, because I have to go out of town for a week or more at a time, and this way I can just put some water at the bottom of the pot and it will wick it up evenly over time.

I know that semi-hydro is supposed to do the same thing, but when I look at people's SH in videos or pictures it always seems like the moisture is extremely uneven and the top is very dry. That's not the case with the Seramis - it stays evenly moist.

I plan to use this for all my orchids that can't dry out for very long or that can't tolerate very high temperatures.

[Zabeta]

Plus, it comes with gummy bears, and who doesn't like those?

Here are a couple pictures of my Seramis plants!