Lesson learned...get quality media!

[Leafmite]

I don't know how these companies can sell products for orchids without completely testing them longterm, for a variety of orchids. At least a little research would prove useful.
Our OS does not buy bulk and the big box stores in this area only ever have phals. Leca? Nope, just cheap (not price-wise) bark.

[Vanda lover]

I guess it must depend what area you are in. The same with Walmart. Ours used to get cyms in now and then but now they only have phals and they no longer sell orchid pots.

[aqualady]

I've been curious about quality lately as well. I typically use a premixed bag of Better-Gro orchid mix from Home Depot. I did notice a lot of dust in the bag when I opened it and even after soaking the bark overnight, there's still a brown tint to the water after repotting and watering the orchids. It seems to take a week or two to run clear. I was wondering how this affects the orchids. I wonder if this has anything to do with some brown I've noticed on some of the new growth. Anywho, someone mentioned buying mix from Repotme, and although it's more expensive, it looks like better quality media. Would you all agree that money = quality in this case?

I did mix a little bit of Sphagnum moss in with the bark mix and usually use a mixture of the large and small bark because I've heard mixed answers regarding which type of roots prefer large vs. small bark. I've also read that the sphag moss breaks down quickly, which is not good. I've had good results with bark mixes - I feel like the plants appreciate how quickly it dries out and allows air movement to the roots. I do have to water them more often (every few waterings, I soak them for about 30 min), but I'd rather do a little more watering than have them stay too moist.

[Vanda lover]

I guess it really does come down to what you prefer as well as what you are growing. I like sphag for phals in some ways. It's nice to be able to go away for a week and not have to worry about every one of the orchids. I plan to group together the plants that won't need water for a week and leave notes on some others. If all of them need water at different rates it becomes more difficult for who ever waters for you. It's a good thing that we don't go away often.

[Ray]

I think that Gage's approach is the way to go: acquire volumes of the best potting medium ingredient materials you can get, and custom-blend the mix to meet the combination of the plant's individual needs, your growing conditions, and your watering habits. No pre-made mix will be right for every plant or every grower.

There are basically two ways to look at it - customize the media by plant so you can water them all on the same frequency, or use the same mix for all and water them differently, as they require.

Don't forget that the choice of container will also affect that.

And by the way, without a doubt, THE BEST bark is Orchiata, coming out of NZ.