Potting in perlite.

[Cdmcmonigle]

Has anyone grown orchids in %100 perlite, no other substrate? I have seen it done but it was for transport or show.

[silken]

I bought an Oncidium that was in 100% perlite with a few small rocks on top to keep the perlite from always washing away. It made me nervous and I eventually switched the plant to my usual medium of bark. It was doing fine as is tho.

Then I bought a Enc. mariae that needed re-potting. After it bloomed I put it in large perlite (which doesn't seem very large to me) because when I took it from the original pot, it seemed to be in perlite or something similar. It seemed perlite best imitated what it had been in. It has done very well, and I mostly treat it like the rest of my Catts that are in medium bark. When I divide it, I am going to put a piece in bark and if it does OK, I will eventually move it all to bark. I don't feel that I have as much aeration or control over moisture as I do with medium bark for a Cattleya type plant.

[Cdmcmonigle]

I was thinking about putting my two cattleyas (a few years from blooming size) into perlite. It is very humid here, usually 70% or above so a lot of my plants are br. The ones in bark mix don't seem so happy.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Cdmcmonigle

I was thinking about putting my two cattleyas (a few years from blooming size) into perlite. It is very humid here, usually 70% or above so a lot of my plants are br. The ones in bark mix don't seem so happy.

When you say bark mix, what kind of mix is it? I use only medium bark for Catts. Moss or anything smaller would not make mine happy. Some people with high humidity use lava rock or slatted baskets which allow quick drying. I would prefer those things to perlite, which is fairly fine, even when it is called large perlite. I also use pots with lots of drain holes so they can dry quicker. But different things work for different grow areas so perlite might be fine for you.

[Cdmcmonigle]

It's large fir bark and I mix perlite with it. I do have one phal with volcanic rock in swc. I ordered leca yesterday to test it out. I've never used it before so I thought I'd see how one or two of my plants did in it.

---------- Post added at 02:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:24 PM ----------

I only have two plants in swc glass vases. The rest are either br or in bark in clear plastic orchid pots.

[AnonYMouse]

What do you mean by br? swc?

[Cdmcmonigle]

Bare root and semi-water culture.

[gdupont]

Has anyone ever tried using 100% perlite with Phragmipediums?

[estación seca]

A problem with 100% perlite is that it is unstable because it is so light. Plants prefer their medium not to move around much.

[oscar freak]

can I hijack here,what about 100% silica sand?