Potting mix
I have exactly one Cymbidium. I have to grow the ones that don't need cool weather to spike here in Texas, so I have Milton Carpenter 'Everglades Gold'. It is still too young to flower, but if it does flower, i want to invest in some more. I actually have my eye on some. There's a nursery in Hawaii (can't think of the name) that specializes in warm blooming Cymbidiums, but their minimum purchase is 5 plants, and that's a lot of plants to buy when I'm not eve sure I can bloom one, so I'll wait.
My question is about potting medium. My Milton Carpenter is planted in the classic Cymbidium mix from repotme. I typically buy the Imperial mixes from them, because they are typically better quality, but I tried the Imperial cymbidium mix, and it's almost entirely chunky peat moss. Is that the best way to grow a Cymbidium? In almost pure peat? It doesn't seem that way to me. The classic mix has a bunch of stuff in it. Coir, various inorganic bits (maybe stalite or lava rock, can't remember) and what looks like maybe rice hulls, plus some peat. My plants do much better in the classic mix than the imperial one. It's much more complex, and I much prefer it. It seems my plant does much better in it.
So I'm just wondering, has anybody else used these to mixes to compare them? The imperial mix is more expensive,but seems to me to be inferior to the classic mix. And I wrong here? Is almost pure peat the way to with Cymbidiums? I just think it's odd that the supposedly better, more expensive mix is almost all peat, while the cheaper classic mix has a bunch of stuff in it to create a complex blend that my cymbidium roots seem to love.
Anybody have any thoughts on that?
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