All I ever wanted to know about soaking bark, but was afraid to ask

[silken]

Originally Posted by Raqsharqi

I learn something new every day. Like yesterday, when my neighbor asked me to look at his phal, which had lost all its leaves. Clearly crown rot. But then I thought I'd look at the root system and the orchid had been in a clear plastic pot (which had never been lifted from the ceramic container) and found green roots so lush and thick they brought tears to my eyes. The plastic pot had split...maybe due to pressure from the roots to escape? There was maybe 1/2-3/4 of a cup of bark in the 4" pot, so the roots were just "there"...not planted in any real sense of the word. And those roots! Sigh! Drool! I can't manage to get mine that healthy.
So perhaps I ought to think more about using bark instead of a bark/sphag mix and also consider watering less.
It's so hard to tell sometimes. In my arid climate, sphag can be dry in a day or two. But maybe they don't really need water as much as I think they do. Maybe bark is really the answer.

Mine grow in a mix of sphag and medium bark and have great roots in a dry climate. It's a bit off topic here but I have never had so many roots, especially on Phals and Catts since I started occasionally using seaweed. So if you don't use it, you could try that.

[No-Pro-mwa]

I am also with the ones that say you have to find out what works for you. I soak spagh and coconut hull chips also when I use my seedling bark mix. But when I re-pot my Catt's in med bark I do it dry, then I soak them in seaweed water. I re-soak them the next day and perhaps the next day and maybe even the next day then skip a day and soak again.

I know that sounds like allot but I was so under watering that I found out this is what works for me. I am also mixing in more spagh into things that need more water. I am now going to try some Leca with my Phrags. I have yet to try lava rock.

[Raqsharqi]

Silken, you made me chuckle. Saskatchewan and dry is not anything like Tucson and dry! I'm talking about 11 inches of rain PER YEAR and humidity in the single digits! This week we are supposed to hit 106 with 11% humidity. That sucks the moisture right out of you!
I've been using more bark in my mix now that I have some, and yes, I use liquid seaweed. But after reading about bark here and seeing how well my neighbor did, I'll be using more.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Raqsharqi

Silken, you made me chuckle. Saskatchewan and dry is not anything like Tucson and dry! I'm talking about 11 inches of rain PER YEAR and humidity in the single digits! This week we are supposed to hit 106 with 11% humidity. That sucks the moisture right out of you!
I've been using more bark in my mix now that I have some, and yes, I use liquid seaweed. But after reading about bark here and seeing how well my neighbor did, I'll be using more.

I agree, you are really dry. but I don't grow outdoors. I grow in my greenhouse and when I open the windows in summer to cool it off, my humidity is not even readable on my electronic thermostat. So it can get pretty low. I try and mist once or twice a day but that brings it up to 30-40% for a short while. In winter it is better. Most of my few Phals grow in the house where humidity is a little better, but not real high. You just have to water more often I guess

[Cym Ladye]

Two reasons have not been mentioned here for soaking or wetting bark prior to using. Barks are not all the same. Some have many fines and others, like Orchiata, have been treated and have almost zero fines, but they all have dust. This same applies to coco fibers too.

The first reason to soak bark is to rid the bark of fines and dust as well as to eliminate older bark which has started to break down. The fines and old bark sink and can be used as a mulch in the garden, not on orchids.

The second reason to soak, or at least to moisten in the case of Orchiata, is simply to cut down on dust. For anyone with asthma or allergies, this really helps.

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

Two reasons have not been mentioned here for soaking or wetting bark prior to using. Barks are not all the same. Some have many fines and others, like Orchiata, have been treated and have almost zero fines, but they all have dust. This same applies to coco fibers too.

The first reason to soak bark is to rid the bark of fines and dust as well as to eliminate older bark which has started to break down. The fines and old bark sink and can be used as a mulch in the garden, not on orchids.

The second reason to soak, or at least to moisten in the case of Orchiata, is simply to cut down on dust. For anyone with asthma or allergies, this really helps.

I agree. Since I use Miracle Grow Bark and only pick out the big pieces, there is no dust or fine particles.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by bil

Ray, are there any orchids where the roots HAVE to dry out?

Once upon a time, I would have sworn that tolumnias needed to dry out - in the wild, they are on tiny shrub branches on the windward side of Caribbean islands. They get lots of rain, but are quickly "blown dry" by the warm breezes. However, I have seen them grown successfully in S/H, so I have to rethink that.

So I suppose that my answer would now be "No. No orchid roots HAVE to dry out, but the rest of your growing conditions had better be exactly what the plant needs for that to be."

[bil]

Originally Posted by Ray

Once upon a time, I would have sworn that tolumnias needed to dry out - in the wild, they are on tiny shrub branches on the windward side of Caribbean islands. They get lots of rain, but are quickly "blown dry" by the warm breezes. However, I have seen them grown successfully in S/H, so I have to rethink that.

So I suppose that my answer would now be "No. No orchid roots HAVE to dry out, but the rest of your growing conditions had better be exactly what the plant needs for that to be."

Ray, I don't mean swimmming in water with the roots wet all the time, more a question of do they need to go without water for long enough to let the medium dry?