Quote:
Originally Posted by plantaholic
I have an opened bale of peat moss that's been sitting outside for a few months (all winter). I'm assuming that I'd need to somehow or other sterilize the peat before using it to pot up an orchid. Is this correct and how would a person do that?
A local orchid vendor uses a mix of peat, bark, and perlite. I'm thinking that that would probably be a good mix. I've not had the greatest success with normal bark mixes sold at the box stores.
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Peat moss is pretty stable because it is already decomposed, making it last much longer than ordinary media. Unless a lot of junk got into your open bale, I wouldn't bother sterilizing it. Just dig past the top layer where weed seeds might have blown in.
I switched to peat mixes because the bark wasn't working for me either: either too dry, or too soggy in the middle. Since moving over into peat, I briefly considered moving my orchids once again to s/h, but as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke.... Right now I've got identical catts in peat and in s/h. I'm monitoring them carefully to see which does better.
One other tip: if you are worried about peat staying too wet for your setup, you can try a peat mix in terracotta pots. This will dry them out much faster--perhaps too fast. I recommend starting slow.
Cory
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