Potting Medium - Orchid Board

eager2learn · #1 06-19-2016, 11:36 AM

I have a phalaenopsis that came under my care.

It was two phals, each in their pot, in one giant pot.

I did brief research on orchid care and quickly learned about the ways orchids are potted densely so I quickly took mine out and broke my potting medium apart, there was brown stuff, and it stunk. I ripped off all roots that looked rotted and spread the roots apart.

One orchid's leaves were all rotted and it all fell off, the other orchid's leaves were green and strong, although the smaller of the three is starting to yellow.

I threw all the excess stuff and kept what looked like moss and repotted it with the same moss that came with the orchid, it wasn't enough, some roots are still exposed and I've been constantly misting the roots and the moss, keeping it as damp and moist as possible.

I learned that sphagnum moss is the best stuff to use until I landed on these forums and realized there are far better options.

Now, shall I continue using moss, or should I switch to bark, or something else?

Do I use 100% of the potting medium or do I mix them up?

Furthermore, where is the best place, cost wise, to get potting mediums? My local home improvement store or online?

I'm excited.

Thank you for reading,

Eager2learn