Phrag. besseae potting media

[Bill U.]

Hi there everybody,

I am looking to get some clarification on the proper use of potting media for my phrag besseae ('big bob' x 'colossal').

I just got it Wednesday, and it's in a really fine bark-type mix that looks like it is broken down and in need of changing.

Right now I am thinking of putting it into sphagnum moss (because that's what I have) but my big question is- will that have enough aeration for the roots? I don't have the time to water everyday (another perk of sphag retaining moisture) and I am hesitant to have it sit in water due to the potential for root rot. Would putting a few small garden stones (cleaned, of course) mixed in with the sphag help for aeration and drainage?

What you do think?

[silken]

I don't have a Phrag. besseae but I have 3 Phrags and one is Hanne Popow which is half besseae. I have all of mine in a medium chunky mix of bark, perlite and charcoal and they always sit in about 1/2 inch of water. The Hanne Popow is in bloom right now and seems quite healthy with good roots. I don't water it every day but once or twice a week. I also have them all in clear fairly deep pots and they seem to like that.

I don't think I would want to use only sphag and it would go bad quite fast being as wet as a Phrag needs. They also hate stale media. Maybe order or buy a different mix and then re-pot it. That's just my opinion

[Call_Me_Bob]

At work we pot all the Phrags in plastic pots with medium bark mix. the mix is medium bark, medium charcoal, and perlite. but they get watered frequently. i would do medium bark in the bottom 1/3 and small bark in the rest

[Zoi2]

You could also do S/H with it.
Joann

[DelawareJim]

Yes, they seem to do pretty well in S/H. I moved a Jason Fischer to S/H and its growing better than it ever has.

Cheers.
Jim

[Lagoon]

I keep my monster phrags in a peat based mix. They do really well for me

[Bill U.]

Thank you all for your posts! I was able to find a friend who had some left-over hydroton, so I am going to try a mix of sphag and hydroton (thinking that it will hopefully retain moisture, yet still have aeration due to hydroton preventing the sphag from getting compacted).

If the sphag/hydroton mix doesn't work, then I'm thinking I will just use the hydroton and pot it for S/H.

Thanks again and if you have any further thoughts, let me know!

[keithrs]

They love air around there roots... Semi hydro works well for them... Pot it in leca or hygromite with tall saucer for water. Run a good amount of low TDS water through it daily or so.

I have also used power orchiata with 25% moss and 25% leca with good results.

You should watch some you tube video that Ecuagenera did on besseae. It will give you a better understanding on how they grow.