Sphagnum Moss

[AnonYMouse]

I hate the stuff. For many reasons, I hate the stuff.

I love Masdevallias. Conventional wisdom states masdies should be cultivated in it. I have 4 masdies left (maybe 3), have killed many many more in sphag. I know there are many variables to growing orchids successfully other than potting medium and with other genera in the past, I was able to adapt. It may be arrogant/ignorant of me but I think I should be able to do the same with masdies. The specifics of my masdie madness, I'll address at a later time.

So, I would like to know if anyone has had success with Masdevallias using media other than sphag.

[Bud]

I use seedling media made out of small bark, lava rock, charcoal, treefern shards and small clay pellets....I put my Masdies on a netpot for more air and let the roots breathe...Water and humidity play a vital role in good masdevallia culture. This group of orchids does not have pseudobulbs for storage of water and nutrition. Maintenance of a high humidity of 70% is vital.
It is critical to maintain a somewhat moist root system. Accidental drying of the medium is not harmful if you are experiencing low night temperatures....there are some members who uses sphagnum moss as media for Masdies and have been very successful....its a matter of mastering the skewer method....
*My Masdevalias are happy and grows more leaves but its not yet blooming for me

[james mickelso]

When I had masdies I grew them in small bark and sponge rock. I kept them just damp, never wet. I had good air movement and medium sunlight levels. They liked the culture. But they go downhill fast when they don't get what they want or get more than they want. I moved up here in No. San Diego Co. and can't grow them at all.

[Zoi2]

I don't have very high humidity and have found my masdies do wonderfully in S/H. If it's hot and dry I spray the top layer of leca daily.
Joann

[WhiteRabbit]

I haven't been growing Masdies very long - got a few this past winter. I do have a couple in chc, and so far so good with those.

[AnonYMouse]

Joann, not to jinks you but you are the first s/h success I've heard about. Congrats.

I don't know why but standing water has always bothered me so I don't think s/h is going to work for me.

I have three (of the same hybrid from 2 different growers) that are in stable health right now with new albeit slow growth. They were in net pots with sphag but I have moved them to cool pots with sphag and lava rocks in the bottom (I don't trust their reservoir concept but like the very porous ceramic). I think I will use a mix for one to see if that works for me.

James, I've had them go south in a matter of hours!

Most every google search told me to use sphag. I don't know the origin of that nor the rationale. Thinking I'm new to this genera, I followed suit.

Live and learn.

[AnonYMouse]

Sonya, I've been killing them for two years!

They actually lasted longer before I looked up the culture!

[WhiteRabbit]

I've had the same happen with Phals - did better for me when I knew less.

Maybe try coconut husk chips for the masdies ... ? Stays lightly moist well and is very airy.

I have my smaller masdies in sphag, the bigger ones in the chc. Just seeing which I prefer for these. All are OK so far. I have them in standard clay pots, styro pnuts in the bottom. When it's very hot I leave them in a small saucer with water. The styrofoam in the pot keeps the media above the water. The water makes the clay pot moist and cool. Water in the saucer is usually gone by the end of the day, pot stays cool for another day after still.

What temps do your plants get? Perhaps they are too warm ? How often do you water? What symptoms do the plants show when they go downhill?

[NatalieS]

The book I have on masdies does recommend sphag, but also says bark/perlite mixes work. It depends on your watering habits I suppose. Bark mixes dry out quicker, so if you're happy to water more often then I'm sure it will work just fine.

I've only had my masdies for three weeks and they are also the first orchids I have growing in sphag. So I'm a newbie with both plant and medium but all have new growth and seem to be doing well. I only water once a week by standing the pots in a few cms of water for 5-10 minutes. You can feel the weight of the pot change, at which point I remove them from the water. Even if the top of the sphag still looks dry it won't take long for the water absorbed from the bottom to osmose through the rest of the sphag. If the sphag looks/feels too wet I fold up some paper towel and put it under the pot for a little while and the paper towel absorbs a lot of the excess. I think this definitely helps keep the sphag moist instead of wet.

Anyway, as I said, I am a newbie with these, but this is how I'm dealing with the sphag at the moment. From reading information posted by very knowledgeable users on this forum I have gleaned that sphag becomes a problem when it collapses, so it can be good to mix some bark or perlite with your sphag to keep it airy.

[Jayfar]

I found an interesting table on the FAQ page of the Besgrow site comparing the characteristics of New Zealand, Chilean and Chinese spag moss. One claim is that the NZ spag "will hold onto nutrients for the plant but not accumulate harsh salts" while the Chilean has the "potential to accumulate salts when nutrients applied". Of course Besgrow's product is NZ, so there may be a bias.

Spagmoss FAQ's

Besgrow's site lists numerous grades of spag that they sell, but unfortunately they don't sell direct to the public and it's unclear exactly which specific spags are sold by their dealers. I've just ordered some of the AAA Besgrow from the Calwest Tropical site, but that doesn't equate to any particular product name listed on the Besgrow site.

I'm in the process of migrating some of my Phals that I had previously moved from their original spag to coco chips into a mix of coco chips and spag or in some cases pure spag. My several underperforming bellinas don't seem to be interested in growing their roots into a pure coco chip medium. Still experimenting. With the slotted plastic pots I use, lightly packed spag doesn't stay wet too long, even those that I keep in my high humidity terrarium.

On the other hand, my larger Phal complex hybrids are very happy in coco chips and so I'll leave them be.