Does bark have to smell?
 

Hey everyone. I'm transplanting an orchid here and I bought a bag of bark, but when using it I perceive a smell of pine sort of, like when you break a pine branch and it smells delish. But I'm reluctant on using this bark as it may contain resin. Should I refrain from using it?

Thanks in advance,

Stan

My bag of Kiwi Bark has a pleasant piney aroma. It's not going to knock you over, but it is noticeable. Bark will smell like the tree it came from, even if it has been processed to remove most of the resin. What brand of bark is it?

It's no brand at all, just bought it at what could be a farmer's market but with plants haha :l

I've bought a few different types of orchid bark, and most of them disappointed me to some degree. I also regularly buy bagged landscape mulch, and some of those are far superior to the orchid bark in quality and consistency. Had I not found Kiwi Bark locally, I was going to use the unprocessed landscape mulch for my orchids.

Epiphytic orchids grow on trees. Nobody runs around de-resining the bark of the trees they grow on. :D

If it's not 'horticultural grade' bark meant for potting up plants, I'd be cautious as it might not have been treated sufficiently. Though like Dimples points out some orchid barks do have more of a noticeable piney smell to them and it's not at all a sign of poor quality

The majority of epiphytic orchids are tropical, so you generally won't find them growing on coniferous trees.

Mexico and Central America have tropical pines! Many of these Mexican pines were planted in Madagascar during the time both were held by France.

I stand corrected. I thought they were restricted to cool, temperate or Mediterranean climate. Sorry for posting misinformation.

I think the variation of landscape mulch around the world makes generalized recommendations difficult. Here in California, some landscape bark mulch products are available that are far superior to most non-specialty orchid barks. Greenall Micro Bark is one I use for my indoor plant potting mix. It's fir bark in the 1/2-1" size, uniform, hard, very clean stuff. I've never seen pests or fungi in the bags, and the product consistency is excellent. If SVO weren't so close to me, I'd be using the Greenall for my orchids too. There's also a LOT of junky sapwood mulch sold too, so it's not like every brand is suitable.

They mostly don't grow in the hot lowlands, but large swaths of Mexico are mixed pine/oak forest, from which the Laelias come, for example. Oak diversity is also large in Mexico. There are many areas that avoided glaciation and preserved incredible diversity.

Thank you everyone for your input. As an update, I used the bark on that orchid and the roots that were growing looked affected (as if the tip started to dry out). When I switched it to horticultural bark, it grew roots like crazy. Hopefully this is helpful to anyone who might face the same issue.

Stan