Potting Medium for Masdies - Orchid Board

Connie Star · #1 03-07-2011, 09:55 PM

A lot of Masdies seem to have acquired me and I'm pleased with how well they are doing in my care. A number of them are ready (I think) for re-potting, and several are in tree fern fiber. Where do you get it? So far I've only found totems and pots made of tree fern. I'm also concerned about the sustainability of tree ferns. Are there other media that people are using with success?

silken · #2 03-08-2011, 01:02 AM

I have only had my 2 masdies since Sept. so hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. At the time I got mine I potted them in sphagnum moss. They seem quite happy and keep putting up more new growths. No blooms yet, but I am hopeful. I water them just before they dry out completely and was misting them, but stopped, since new growths were turning yellow and dying. Since I quit misting, that hasn't happened. OrchidWiz recommends fine fir bark, tree-fern fiber or sphagnum moss for potting. Hope that helps.

RJSquirrel · #3 03-08-2011, 02:14 AM

I have 5

..they were all in sphagnum and I kept them in sphagnum...They need to stay moist, I suffer from chronic low humidity, bark based media drys out too fast for me. The need for lots of moving air, so sphagnum helps again keeping the plants moisture level up...bark is great fir the plants that need quick drying out but not the moisture lovers for my own conditions....hope that help some

phelsumatic · #4 03-08-2011, 03:36 AM

I use tree fern with my masdies as well,regarding sustainability some places say theres is farmed others well they dont really mention how its acquired.I also use coco fiber/tree fern/spaghnum all ground up for medium it works well for me.Goodluck.
Here is a source of tree fern medium Tropical Plant products out of orlando florida.
Hope its ok for me to post the company name if not mod's please do you dirty work

camille1585 · #5 03-08-2011, 07:19 AM

Masdies do extremely well in sphagnum. Until I lost my masdie it was doing exceptionally well in it, and it's actually OB members that recommended that I repot in sphag.

Me too I'm concerned about the sustainability of tree fern, which is why I don't use it. Even the supposedly sustainable one. I recently read a chilling article about how 90% of the 'sustainable' mahogany wood going out of Peru is actually illegally felled, with the government's consent. (courtesy of wikileaks) How do we know that the same isn't going on with other 'sustainable' tropical products?

Becca · #6 03-08-2011, 08:09 AM

Well if you must have tree fern fiber, I think repotme.com sells it. I have all but one of my masdie's in sphagnum moss. The other one is in a medium bark mix and I just went to repot it and the roots are so tightly bound that I am having trouble getting it to let the old medium loose even after soaking it for 24 hours.

RosieC · #7 03-11-2011, 03:31 PM

I use moss. I don't like moss for most of my orchids but my Masdies love it.

Isn't Ecoweb meant to be a good replacement for treefern (Ray sells it). It's plastic, but is recycled stuff and I had heard it's meant to be more eco friendly what with the concerns over treefern sustainability. I'm trying to get hold of some of the European equivalent (Epiweb) and they advatise that as being designed specifically as an alternative to treefern.

I'm not sure about Ecoweb, but Epiweb in Europe is sold as pots as well as just flat shapes.

Tindomul · #8 03-11-2011, 04:14 PM

I do believe epiweb is the original, and yes its supposed to replace tree fern. I have never tried it out myself and wonder how well it holds on to moisture. But I have been wanting to try it out a long time.
I have about 22 Masdies, and all of them except one is in Sphagnum, the other one is topped in sphagnum. They are all doing really well. I use netted plastic pots and clay pots (unglazed) and a few are in plastic pots. They all seem to do well in all three types of pots.
If I was to use potting mix, it would finer pine bark and charcoal and other small bits of stuff, not never the large pine bark, that would dry out too fast.

Duane McDowell · #9 03-11-2011, 06:54 PM

I've used several different media for Masdevallias. Here's a quick analysis of what I've seen:
Fine bark: Grows great roots. Must be soaked thoroughly prior to use (overnight at least). Must never be allowed to dry out completely, as it can be difficult to re-wet. Must be repotted annually - use a calendar rather than your eyes, since the top will look fine while the rest of the pot turns into toxic goo. Some sustainability questions, if I recall...
Tree Fern Fiber: Grows good root systems, stays open longer than bark. Needs to be watered more frequently. Blends of tree fern and sphagnum or tree fern, sphagnum and perlite can go longer between waterings. Ecuagenera uses a blend of tree fern and sphagnum for almost everything, and their Masdevallia culture is outstanding.
Sphagnum moss: really the standard for US hobbyists. It stays moist, it's very easy to tell when a plant needs water by the feel of it. It frequently stays a little too moist. If it is packed in loosely, it retains a lot of water. If it is packed tightly, it retains less. This can make it tricky from pot to pot to know what's going on. I've grown Masdevallias fairly well in sphagnum, but I've also killed them dead very quickly in it. Seems like it grows fewer roots than other media for me. I personally like it better in clay pots than in plastic, since it helps with wicking of moisture - sphagnum can help keep root zones cool, which can be really helpful if you're "cheating" by a few degrees air-temperature-wise. Putting a few styrofoam "peanuts" at the bottom of the pot with sphagnum above can work pretty well to facilitate fast drying.
Mounts: Cork mounts can be great for some Masdevallias, and they are sustainable. They need to be watered very frequently, and need very high humidity for this to work. Tree fern mounts or pots work well, too (but have some sustainability issues).
EcoWeb and EpiWeb: Two names for essentially (or perhaps exactly) the same product. It's a webbing of plastic much like a plastic pot-scrubber. It comes as small cubes for potting, or as sheets for mounting. I've done both with Masdevallias. It maintains an open texture, but every opening holds some water, so it's nearly impossible to overwater in it. The cubes offer some amount of "compressability", so they can hold a plant tightly in a pot, which is a HUGE BENEFIT. It's a lot like Osmunda fiber in that way. The stuff is plastic, so it will never go away, but it's recycled, so maybe repurposing it as a plant medium makes it more sustainable. The upside to it never breaking down is that you'll never have to worry about the condition of the medium. It will be the same in a year, 2 years, 10 years, or a thousand years. The only repotting necessary is to put plants into a larger or smaller pot. I string a small amount of sphagnum between the cubes in pots to serve as extra moisture reserves. Since the plastic has absolutely no nutrient value, fertilizing regularly is very important. A very weak fertilizer solution after every watering (water thoroughly first, then water with fertilizer) is ideal. Any good balanced fertilizer is good - preferably one with micronutrients. I use Dyna-Gro, but I don't think it's magical. 1/8-1/4 strength Peters with a few drops of Liquid Seaweed or Superthrive added would be just fine.
Potting Strategies: I use clay pots to keep the root zones cool. In my conditions, which are very very humid and watered daily, this is the growing method of choice for Masdevallias. They seem to thrive in it. In a lower-humidity environment, daily watering might be enough if a plastic pot were used. Might still want to set the pot inside a clay pot for the weight - pots for Masdevallias are generally pretty small relative to the weight of the leaves - they can be really top-heavy.
I would go so far as to say that the overall potting strategy is at least as important as the choice of medium. Having no pseudobubs, Masdevallias are relatively intolerant of inconsistent moisture at the roots. The medium must hold the plant firmly in the pot. If it doesn't the plant will rock, and the roots will never establish. Staking can help, but having the medium tight enough in the pot to hold the plant in place is better. The medium must stay moist but not soaking wet given your watering cycle, humidity, and temperatures. The pot should be large enough to hold all of the live roots, but not much larger. The plant should not be at risk of being knocked over. This might mean sleeving in a clay pot.
And one last plug for clay - you can "cheat" by a few degrees of air temperature in clay, because the wicking action of a clay pot will help keep the root zone cooler.

camille1585 · #10 03-11-2011, 09:12 PM

Thanks Duane for taking the time to write such a detailed post! It's very informative.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RosieC

I use moss. I don't like moss for most of my orchids but my Masdies love it.

Isn't Ecoweb meant to be a good replacement for treefern (Ray sells it). It's plastic, but is recycled stuff and I had heard it's meant to be more eco friendly what with the concerns over treefern sustainability. I'm trying to get hold of some of the European equivalent (Epiweb) and they advatise that as being designed specifically as an alternative to treefern.

I'm not sure about Ecoweb, but Epiweb in Europe is sold as pots as well as just flat shapes.

If you want Epiweb (which is the original), the terrarium supply shop 10km from me sells some (slabs and cubes). Next time I bike over there (probably when the weather warms up, it's nicer to bike) I can get some for you if you like, it's quite cheap. They charge 25€ for shipping outside NL, but if I buy it then I can send it to you myself for a third of that price.