My experience with sphagnum moss

[mimigirl]

bil please explain a little more what you are saying. I feel a little confused. Thanks

[bil]

Originally Posted by mimigirl

bil please explain a little more what you are saying. I feel a little confused. Thanks

Not sure what you mean.

What I am trying to say is, there there are optimum settings for any orchid. Optimum temps, optimum light, optimum media, optimum water and fertiliser regime to name the big 5.

If you take a phal, for example, and you hang it from the roof with no media, and you spray it every day with perfectly balanced fertiliser and water, in a conservatory or greenhouse where the light and temp are perfect, then really you ought to get the perfect, problem free phal.
However, few of us can go to those extremes, so we pot in media and we don't want to water every day... we are starting to break the rules. Do it knowledgeably and carefully, and you can get away with it. However, if you fill the pot with spaghnum you are pushing the limits, and if you aren't very sure of what you are doing then it is better to stick more closely to the ideal regime.

[mimigirl]

Just wanted to make sure i didnt miss something bil. I dont care for spag. Did you see my comment up there about my Scaphyglottis sp.? Any ideas?

[bil]

Originally Posted by mimigirl

Just wanted to make sure i didnt miss something bil. I dont care for spag. Did you see my comment up there about my Scaphyglottis sp.? Any ideas?

It's not a type of orchid I have studied. It appears to be an epiphyte, and ranges from dense humid forests to dry open forest. So that ties it down nicely

Terrariums are completely outside my frame of reference too. I would have thought that the advantage of them was absolute control over their environment. Do you know what sort of conditions it hails from?

[Fairorchids]

Allow me to elaborate:

Choice of mix and watering schedule go hand in hand, and is a highly individual choice.

The same plant can be grown in pure spaghnum, a mix of spaghnum & bark, bark/charcoal or bark/charcoal/perlite, as well as mixes including coconut husk chips, leca, and/or lava rock.

However, each mix requires a different watering habit/schedule. It is up to the individual grower to identify which mix works best with their choice of plants and their watering habits.

I grow in a greenhouse. I have primarily Vandaceous plants and Paphs, but also some Cattleyas, Lycaste, Aussie Dendrobiums and a few Cymbidiums.

I use a variety of mixes (all of the above, except lava rock), with the choice depending in part on genus and in part on pot size, so that I can water everything on the same schedule.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Allow me to elaborate:

Choice of mix and watering schedule go hand in hand, and is a highly individual choice.

The same plant can be grown in pure spaghnum, a mix of spaghnum & bark, bark/charcoal or bark/charcoal/perlite, as well as mixes including coconut husk chips, leca, and/or lava rock.

However, each mix requires a different watering habit/schedule. It is up to the individual grower to identify which mix works best with their choice of plants and their watering habits.

I grow in a greenhouse. I have primarily Vandaceous plants and Paphs, but also some Cattleyas, Lycaste, Aussie Dendrobiums and a few Cymbidiums.

I use a variety of mixes (all of the above, except lava rock), with the choice depending in part on genus and in part on pot size, so that I can water everything on the same schedule.

Absolutely. You can grow orchids in almost anything provided the watering matches the media.
However, it is clear from the problems that so many people have, that they aren't following your excellent advice.

[kaede]

I like sphagnum a lot for my phals. It's a medium i find easy to know when to water (no fixed schedule, depends on day to day weather).

I also found zealand moss to be better than chile's. A lot less "junk" in it, and stays wet longer.

[mimigirl]

Any ideas on how to keep the spag moist? It like to be planted shallow and since it is a mini, it is in a small pot. The terrarium doesnt help, so i guess just take it out, put rocks on top and mist ever day?

[bil]

Originally Posted by mimigirl

Any ideas on how to keep the spag moist? It like to be planted shallow and since it is a mini, it is in a small pot. The terrarium doesnt help, so i guess just take it out, put rocks on top and mist ever day?

That's always a problem with very small volumes. They lose anything, heat, moisture etc very, very fast.

To me, the logical thing would be to plant it in a bigger pot. Just don't go too far the other way.

[Leafmite]

Use a small net pot/basket pot and loosely put moss in it, plant your orchids and just set the pot in a shallow saucer of water. The net/basket pot and loose moss will keep enough air around the roots to prevent rot and the water will keep the moss damp. This definitely won't work with a solid plastic pot and I would not try it with a clay pot, either, since it is harder to see what is happening.