Miracle Gro Orchid Potting Mix

[tom_e_boi]

I was repotting my new Phals and went and bought some of this Miracle Gro Orchid Potting Mix. When I got home and opened it up, I was kinda surprised to see that it looked more like soil than tree bark. I was kinda hesitant about using it at first, at least until I read other people's reviews of it. So far, I seen mixed reviews, some good, some bad. I decided to test it out and filled up an empty pot and watered it to see how well it drained and how much water it retained. The water drained out of it pretty quick. It looked similar to the medium that the orchids already had, so I decided to try it out. At least on one of the plants, to see how things went, before repotting them all into it.

After repotting an orchid with it, I gave it a good watering, using fertilizer and SuperThrive. One thing that I did do to help was to place the pot on some paper towels to help wick away any excess moisture. When the paper towels were completely wet, I squeezed them out and placed the pots back on them. I did this a few times, until the towels no longer soaked up any more excess water.

I already leave my ceiling fan going on medium speed, so that they have fresh air circulation. I checked on my repotted orchid daily to see how the roots were doing. Yet another reason I love using transparent pots. It's been well over a week now, and the orchid seems to be doing okay, and the mix seems like it's drying out pretty good. I have a couple other Phals that are currently planted in sphagnum moss, and upon comparing both potting mediums, the moss seems to retain more moisture than the Miracle Gro does.

The one thing that I would suggest when using this medium, is setting the pots on paper towels to help wick away any excess water. Seeing as I only have half a dozen orchids at the moment, I didn't really mind taking the extra time doing this.

Anyhoo, I just wanted to hear from anybody else who might have used the Miracle Gro Orchid Potting Mix, and perhaps get your input and any suggestions that you might have.