Favorite phalaenopsis mix. . .
 

So,

The discussion about favorite cattleya mix is very helpful and informative......what's everyone's favorite mix for phalaenopses? thanks in advance. :bowing :bowing :bowing

Tindomul,

I've tried s/h and I was an abject failure (all my fault, not s/h, I'm sure). My plants are recovering now (after some tragic deaths, LOL) and I went back to pure moss. However, here is South Florida, moss doesn't last very long. So, I'm looking for alternatives that will make my phals happy in these muggy conditions.

Both mine are in spag. My Dtps Minho Princess 'SJ' is bigger than any other of the same variety that I have seen on this island!! I think it does pretty well in spag. I do cut slits down the side of the plastic pot that it is in though.

Hi I am a beginner and only been growing for ten months.

I hate to admit it but I realised with the help of this board that I am a HEAVY HEAVY waterer :blushing:

For reasons only known to my subconscious mind I didn't want to go down the S/H part therefore I made up my own mix taking what I learned to overcome my heavy watering.

In any given pot I fill the bottom 25% of the pot with just expanded clay.

Then I mix up this little concoction

one part Expanded clay pellets
one part large coconut husk chips
one part 1 to 2cm hardwood bark.

It allow for my heavy handed watering and at the same time provide excellent air flow to the roots plus the mix retains moisture from the husk chips.

My phals seems to love it.

I have tried every possible medium and every combination you could think of for my Phals and I felt I wasn't getting the best results UNTIL trying 50/50 regular bark mix and coir. Not all coir is created equal and getting a high grade coir, essential. Now, my leaves are firm, the roots are healthy, leaf growth is at a faster rate with this combination, just everything to know that they're happy and thriving.

:shock: OMG! so you can actually mix LECA with organic media? the reason I ask is because I almost lost 2 phals to moss :_( I brought one back (the other is still in the ICU) that grew a couple new roots and is growing a new leaf.... I moved it to s/h and the tips of 2 roots are rotting :( I am sure it is not s/h i just haven't figured out what works. So when you say you mix LECA with bark, do you use a s/h pot or a regular pot?

Because I would really like to try that :D

From where do you buy the coir from? What is that made of? thanks!

Also, what type of bark do you use? fir bark? medium or coarse? Thanks!!!

Coir is made from coconut fiber and has the same basic charactoristics as peat moss. Coir has substantial moisture retention with good aeration.

After many years of extensive experimentation in a heated green house with plenty of ventilation, a very experienced local commercial grower uses:

4 parts coarse perlite
3 parts granulated styrofoam
1.5 parts "sphagnum peat moss"

Anyway i had fairly good success using pure coarse perlite, watering ONLY when it was light and dry. Since then i've realised it's still slightly wet and can kill the odd root although not horribly so, so i want to add styrofoam or pebbles to the mix.

I like sphag also because you can just dampen it without needing to soak it and its easy to tell when you need to water. I think i'll end up settling on either 50:50 perlite/styrofoam or 50:50 sphag/styrofoam, both with pebbles in the bottom for weight and drainage.

Mine are in coarse fir bark in clear pots. I like being able to exactly judge the watering time by the color of the roots. I also like the fast draining, airy mix with coarse bark. Works for me.

Ive only been groowing orchids for about seven months, and im afraid im gonna loose two of my phals if im not lucky...

The healty ones is in different kinds of vases. I have three in glas-vases, and here i have medium sized stones in the bottom to increase drenage, then i have corse and medium sized bark. Because of the glas, the inside stays moist, but i have to be careful that the temprature does not rise, sice the vase becomes a mini-greenhouse in a way. Theyre all healthy, growing both new leafs and roots. One of the phals in a glasvase is also now growing a new stand, hope itll bloom in a few weeks *s*

Then i have some in clear plastic pots, with the same mix, exept from the stones in the bottom. This ones olso have dreining on the sides, and are growing new leafs and roots. One seems to have a stand on its way..

The last three is mounted, and one is doing just fine, growing both new leafs and new roots. But the other two seems leathery, and have lost some roots too... I dont know exately what im doing wrong here, but now i have re-mounted them, and this time with less moss...
Ill hope for the best, and leave them alone for the time beeing...

As i live in Norway, we have four very different seasons, with a lot of rain in both autum and winter, less in the spring og less in the summer. Thats why all my orchids are inndoors, and ive also got a mini greenhouse, witch keeps the humidity up. In summer the tempratures isnt very high, so i hope to keep some of my orchid outside. The mounted ones live in the greenhouse all the time, at least for the time beeing.

I think a great idea would be is to also describe where you grow your phals .. indoors, greenhouse, orchidarium .. and where you live to give others an idea of not just medium but the conditions in which your phals are subjected to .. :D
Just a random thought :dumb:

Thank you. I have to tell you that I repotted my phals into this mixture....it's like orchid crack!!!! They are HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE LOL and happy happy happy!! I really cannot overstate the change in my phals. Thank you so much!

does anyone here ever use side mounts for phals??, i put in another thread on this site about this in the adavanced section also, but im trying to find someone who can give me some direction on how to side mount phals,, ive seen posts and pictures, on this site from eastern countrys where they grow phals in this way,, it looks like from the photos there is just the phals roots wrapped around this 1 1/2" pourous board,, it doesent look like cork but it looks like it holds moisture ? there is no spag, and no bark, just roots secured and flowing around this board? the plants hang sideways on a wall like this, they look happy,, kinda natural? does anyone here grow phals like this? do you know where i can obtain this matierial in the USA , and know what its called??? can anyone give me some advice??