Tring something different ( potting medium)

[rba]

Greetings everyone,

What's everyone's opinion on using a mixture of Canadian peat & perilite with Masdevallia orchids as opposed to straight sphag?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Not a lot of people have tried this mix.

I have done SuperSphag and perlite.

All I gotta say is - try it out. It might provide enough moisture while providing enough aeration to prevent root rot in the long run.

[rba]

I appreciate the response Philip.

IMO this mixture actually holds more moisture longer as opposed to sphag ( It's actually made for AV's ). As it stands right now I can't keep enough moisture in the sphag. This stuff dries out in 3-4 hours after watering.

I guess I'll try this out in the morning and see what I come up with.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by rba

I appreciate the response Philip.

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by rba

( It's actually made for AV's ).

What's an "AV"?

[rba]

What's an "AV"?

African Violet

My thinking was that both had similar requirements as far as wanting a potting mixture that was light and airy and that held moisture well.

From my understanding both are prone to root rot. So, I suppose with using this medium the question would be just how prone would the Masdevallia be.

I've potted one of the orchids this morning using this medium so, time will tell.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

African violets from what I understand are more lithophytic than they are true terrestrials.

I've been doing a lot of research regarding the soils of South Africa, where some of these African Violets along with some orchids (Disas) come from.

It's usually some sort of gravelly crushed sandstone, or crushed granite. Maybe some organic material intermixed in there. But the inorganic stuff is much more prevalent.

That may solve the problem with your AV's.

The Masdevallias, I really recommend you look at some pictures of them in the wild. Flickr has tons of them.

[rba]

That may solve the problem with your AV's.

Okay. Uh, Philip I think we might have missed each other in our responses. I really haven't had any issue's with the AV's. I've cloned them for the past 3 years using this mixture. I guess I thought it was a somewhat fair comparison. Between a AV and a orchid.

The Masdevallias, I really recommend you look at some pictures of them in the wild. Flickr has tons of them.

All 5,744 pics. I made it to page 64 without a pic of one in the wild. From your recommendation it sounds like I may be missing something. By all means please share.