Potting Medium

[Leafmite]

The medium that you choose will be what works well for you with your cultural preferences and your environment. I do not like re-potting, especially the part of picking bark or moss off of the roots and I need a medium that allows plenty of air to the roots so I use red lava rock for all my potted orchids (except the Phrag and Vanilla). I paired this with basket-type pots so that I can see my orchid roots and know better when to water. The cravat is that I need to water often as the set up dries quickly.

I have tried other mediums but the lava rock works best for me. Unlike most people, I can kill anything in bark. I have been successful with high quality NZ sphagnum moss but it can be expensive and difficult to find...and it needs to be replaced.

The best way to find the medium that works well for you is to experiment. Good luck!

[Orchid Whisperer]

Hi eager

There is no single medium that perfectly meets all of the above requirements. Or shoud I say, no medium that would be responsible for either failing or succeeding.

You can grow beautiful leaves roots and flowers in a wide variety of media. The reason bark based orchid potting medium is so popular is that it meets a lot of your requirements. It holds some water, but not too much. If you let it nearly dry out in between watering, but not quite, bark can last a few years. That balances reduced watering frequency with less frequent repotting.

I have successfully grown orchids in media made from many things, including bark, charcoal, scoria (= "lava rock"), wine corks, Styrofoam chunks, and gravel. Even no medium at all. It is less important what medium you choose, and more important whether you can adapt what you do to successfully growing with a particular medium. I usually recommend bark to new growers because you can get good results and it is forgiving if you make small mistakes along the way.

[eager2learn]

Thank you for the kind words Orchid Whisperer and Leafmite!

A quick update:

(Picture 1)
If you guys noticed in my gallery that I linked, I hid my bigger orchid in the back without a container. I read that orchids like confined spaces so I modified the cheap plastic container that the orchids came in with some air slits, disinfected it with vinegar and rubbing alcohol, then repotted it. No more touching I promise. (How many posts do I need to start posting pictures? Does anybody know?)

(Picture 2)
My set up. My smaller orchid that lost all its leaves is up front in front of my bigger orchid. All that's left is small white hairs sticking out the top. Can anybody identify this body part?

I said that I would let my orchids dry out to cauterize its wounds like I read online somewhere--but I don't think I am going to do that, it doesn't make sense to me, plants love water, and my roots are mostly disintegrated so I'm going to need the water even more. Gave my orchids a quick bath-soak for 15 minutes then dumped out the water, the bark got dry pretty fast. Then I poured some water to fill the rocky first layer that I established as shown in my gallery to feed the barks water over time through water adhesion and cohesion.

Thoughts? Concerns? Let me know in your comments!

Thanks for looking!

[Orchid Whisperer]

I am a proponent of allowing orchid roots to air dry when repotting. Bear in mind that orchid roots are adapted to an environment that is different from, for example, a marigold. Orchid roots are meant to cycle between periods of wet and dry. Yes, at times they like water. But when injured (or disintegrating), not drying off will hasten root loss.

[katrina]

Originally Posted by Poohbie

I am thinking of cutting the bigger one's spike back to the stem because a lot of its roots were lost to root rot and I don't think it'll be enough to sustain the next flowering cycle. Penny for your thoughts?

I don't think it's safe to cut to the stem in case it gets infected. I only cut to the last node so if it gets infected I can still cut more. Also I apply cinnamon to the cut to help it dry faster.

Cutting the spike to the base is perfectly fine and if the plant is at risk then it's a logical step to take.

As for infection in spike...you won't see bacterial/fungal infections in spikes but you do want to use a sterile cutting tool to ensure you don't pass virus from one plant to the next.

Cinnamon is good to use to seal cuts on most part of the plants but using it on a spike is not necessary. Also, don't use cinnamon on roots...it can dry them out and do serious damage.

[eager2learn]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

I am a proponent of allowing orchid roots to air dry when repotting. Bear in mind that orchid roots are adapted to an environment that is different from, for example, a marigold. Orchid roots are meant to cycle between periods of wet and dry. Yes, at times they like water. But when injured (or disintegrating), not drying off will hasten root loss.

oh no...

Originally Posted by katrina

Cutting the spike to the base is perfectly fine and if the plant is at risk then it's a logical step to take.

As for infection in spike...you won't see bacterial/fungal infections in spikes but you do want to use a sterile cutting tool to ensure you don't pass virus from one plant to the next.

Cinnamon is good to use to seal cuts on most part of the plants but using it on a spike is not necessary. Also, don't use cinnamon on roots...it can dry them out and do serious damage.

Thanks for the info, katrina!

[katrina]

Originally Posted by eager2learn

Thank you for the kind words Orchid Whisperer and Leafmite!

A quick update:

(Picture 1)
disinfected it with vinegar and rubbing alcohol, then repotted it. No more touching I promise.

(Picture 2)
My set up. My smaller orchid that lost all its leaves is up front in front of my bigger orchid. All that's left is small white hairs sticking out the top. Can anybody identify this body part?

2 things I notice right off the bat...

First - vinegar and alcohol does not disinfect. It'll clean but it won't disinfect. If you're putting the same orchid back into a pot then the disinfecting is not as important but if you wish to re-use pots for other orchids then you want a true disinfectant or your biggest risk is transferring viruses between plants. Personally, I use a bleach soak and I usually let them soak overnight. Then I scrub them and rinse well. If I'm soaking clay pots, I typically allow them to soak for a few days because the clay is porous and a quick soak isn't sufficient. After the bleach soak...because I am dealing with a porous material...then scrub and rinse well and w/the clay pots I don't reuse them right away. I set them outside in a full sun location where they stay for a few weeks before I reuse. The time in the sun and rain allows any bleach that the pot absorbed to dissipate before I put orchids and their tender roots back into the clay.

Second - in the 2nd pic...that wee plant appears to be severely overpotted which (in your chosen media) could likely lead to more rot problems. Ideally, you want to use pots that are only a little bigger than the root system you are potting. When I have a pot that seems a bit too big, I will fill the bottom portion w/something like packing p'nuts to take up the extra space and allow the media to dry out more evenly.

As for the "hairs"...I'm not seeing what you mean so I can't answer that one.

[eager2learn]

Originally Posted by katrina

2 things I notice right off the bat...

First - vinegar and alcohol does not disinfect. It'll clean but it won't disinfect.

Originally Posted by Center For Disease Control Website

"These alternatives (e.g., ammonia, baking soda, vinegar, Borax, liquid detergent) are not registered with EPA and should not be used for disinfecting because they are ineffective against S. aureus. Borax, baking soda, and detergents also are ineffective against Salmonella Typhi and E.coli; however, undiluted vinegar and ammonia are effective against S. Typhi and E.coli 53, 332, 333. Common commercial disinfectants designed for home use also are effective against selected antibiotic-resistant bacteria 53."
[Source]
Center For Disease Control
(I can't post links so I can't link the article.)

Yeah, you were right again. Shucks. I'm not doing that great so far.

Originally Posted by katrina

Second - in the 2nd pic...that wee plant appears to be severely overpotted which (in your chosen media) could likely lead to more rot problems.

See 1st Attachment
I have my little one contained in a small tupperware pot with modified air slits. I hope this is fine...I think I'm killing my phals.

Originally Posted by katrina

As for the "hairs"...I'm not seeing what you mean so I can't answer that one.

See attachment. What could they be?

[ShadePlant]

Don't be so hard on yourself... This is a trial and error process and we all are learners at some point. As far as I can tell those little white hairs are the actual roots but it is kind of hard to see. They were likely once covered with velamen.
Orchids often take a while to recover. Remember that this problem likely existed long before you met this orchid.
My first orchid was a disaster. I still have it but it will be a LONG time before it blooms again. I got it in the winter and faithfully followed the instructions of watering once a week including the 5 min soak. After it bloomed I went to repot it and to my horror the "media" poured out like water. It had pretty good root rot and not one root left Looking back at old pictures I was able to see that the orchid had root issues the day that I received it. The media was stale and decomposing. My treatment of it the first few months made it worse. I was able to save it after months of trying but not before it also lost most of its leaves before it started to sprout new ones.
Try to take the experience as a learning experience. I have 30 orchids now and so far have only lost 4 I think so far- all phals. I have phals, paphs, dracs, vandas, and Psygmorchis and a Brassavola. If orchids are what you love be willing to experiment.
I was able to grow my collection with mystery orchids as I call them. Lowe's and some other nurseries often have a clearance rack of out of bloom orchids. I inspect the roots and take orchids that appear to have a decent shot at surviving and buy them for $3 to $6. Then I take them home and work on them and if I am lucky they rebloom and I am surprised to find out what color they are.

---------- Post added at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:42 PM ----------

I forgot to mention that I don't buy orchids that appear diseased for fear of spreading it to other orchids only ones that are out of bloom and clearance but otherwise fairly healthy.
A local orchid society can also be a good place to learn. There are people there who will have the same environment as you do and who may be able to recommend a few things particular to your area.

[eager2learn]

Originally Posted by ShadePlant

My first orchid was a disaster. I still have it but it will be a LONG time before it blooms again. I got it in the winter and faithfully followed the instructions of watering once a week including the 5 min soak. After it bloomed I went to repot it and to my horror the "media" poured out like water. It had pretty good root rot and not one root left Looking back at old pictures I was able to see that the orchid had root issues the day that I received it. The media was stale and decomposing. My treatment of it the first few months made it worse. I was able to save it after months of trying but not before it also lost most of its leaves before it started to sprout new ones.

You give me hope.