Who are your Favorite Suppliers?

[Amanda L]

I'm repotting all my 'chids after they've been mounted for around 4 years. The tank is not working anymore and is damaging my plants. The problem is that I don't have any orchid supplies on hand and need to order them. The other problem is that I can't, for the life of me, remember where I used to order pots, bark, and fertilizer from. I just can't. That information is just gone from my brain. So, tell me where you order your supplies. I'm looking for slotted clear plastic pots, up to size 7.5", because I have a massive Balden's Kaleidoscope. Also need charcoal, fir bark, superthrive, and orchid fertilizer.
These 'chids need a major cleanup and overhaul and I need all the supplies.

Editing to add that repotme dot com is sold out of almost everything and is unhelpful at this moment in time.
TIA

[Roberta]

I go to Green Barn Orchid Supplies for some wooden baskets that I can't get anyplace else (even though the shipping kills) but they have lots of other supplies as well, and are a delight to deal with. (Fortunately I can get most of what I need locally, but they are impressive) Also, Flori-Culture Orchid Supply has a good selection and very nice to deal with.

[Keysguy]

I get all my supplies from Kelley's Korner but Daryl is a good friend and I can just swing by and pick my stuff up. Way cheaper than having 2-3 huge bags of fir bark shipped.

And as far as pots go, I've thrown in the towel on clear pots. Even the so called UV resistant ones only last me a couple years. Eventually they literally disintegrate in your hand. I've resorted to buying cheap plastic field pots in bulk. They work just fine, lots of sizes including BIG ones for my specimen plants and they are cheap so no guilt when I have to cut one off a plant to re-pot it.

[DirtyCoconuts]

ebay works for some stuff, same with amazon.

I get my 40L bags of orchiata from amazon
perlite #4 i get from ebay
charcoal i buy at home depot
lava rock i get from home depot

green barn has good stuff, i can pick up there which saves me money

[Ray]

Forget Superthive; KelpMax is far more effective and has a much longer shelf life.

I go to Kelley’s Korner, Green Barn, or Chula Orchids for most of my supplies now that I’m no longer selling many of them.

I avoid RepotMe due to pricing and shipping costs.

[Amanda L]

You know, I think I used to get supplies from you. It's been so long since I've ordered supplies, I can't remember. I mean, last time I ordered Calwest was still Calwest. I went ahead and ordered from Green Barn, because almost every other site I went to was sold out of pots. This pandemic has made some weird stuff be out of stock. lol

[Roberta]

I second Ray on SuperThrive... actually, I had an issue with crippled flowers (segments not separating properly) on some Catts when I was using it. Was it the cause? Don't know, but when I stopped using the stuff the problem went away - I did read of other people observing this.

[Amanda L]

Originally Posted by Roberta

I second Ray on SuperThrive... actually, I had an issue with crippled flowers (segments not separating properly) on some Catts when I was using it. Was it the cause? Don't know, but when I stopped using the stuff the problem went away - I did read of other people observing this.

I've heard a lot of people say that their orchids had become deformed, grown strangely, or other odd occurrences with SuperThrive. I've used it in the past and have never observed any type of abnormal growth, or abnormal flower development. Maybe because I don't use it often. I actually don't fertilize my 'chids often at all. When I do it's using 1/4 tsp in a gallon of distilled water, with about an 1/8 tsp of SuperThrive. This might happen once a month or every 2 months. I've never been great about fertilizing my 'chids. But, they also grow strong and bloom pretty regular, so they must be at least somewhat happy.
They aren't happy right now, because they were growing in a tank that was not big enough and they were mounted. I just moved, so that wasn't a happy time for them, and I haven't watered them in weeks. They are probably really mad at me right now.

[Chris17]

Roberts flower supply (Orchidmix.com).
I’ve had good results with their potting mixes.

[Ray]

Forgot about Roberts! Good guy and good products. He and I used to compete and cooperate.

Any product containing synthetic auxins can lead to flower deformities if applied too frequently and/or too strongly. Superthrive, Dyna-Gro KLN, etc. I have also read that stunted growth can occur, but I have not seen that first-hand.

The stimulating effects of KelpMax are partially due to natural auxins, but the efficacy is far greater than is expected from the auxin concentration, so the other ingredients in the specific kelp juice play an even more significant role. To my knowledge, there have been no issues with overdosing, but I think it’s wise to use such things in moderation, only “upping” the frequency if rescuing plants.