Media- Packing peanuts
 

I'm considering putting packing peanuts in the bottoms of my phal's pots to help the roots breathe and try to stave off rot.
I'm talking just a single layer, not a big component of the medium. The rest of the substrate will be somewhat-fine bark and perlite. (about 1/2cm-1com)


Are there any brands/kinds that I should stay away from? I suppose the ones made from cornstarch wouldn't work, since they decompose so well. (my cats love to chase them around...and then eat them. Probably not the healthiest thing in the world, but hey! Cheap entertainment!)

Read this info on repotme.com about peanuts


Packing Peanuts

I have only used them with Phals in 5" pots and above with sphagnum moss. With pots that size the top 1.5 to 2" was moss and the rest was peanuts. I really didn't watch which ones I used at the time and had good luck with them.

Is this what you normally grow your phals in?

I just recently started feeling confident enough to repot my orchids (I've only been in the hobby 1-2yrs), and could only afford some orchid mix I found at a grocery store- as all the garden centers near me are closed for the winter.

I've been considering mixing in some sphagnum on top to help with moisture.

This is all very new to me, but I'm an eager learner!

You can see what the mix looks like here- http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...orchids041.jpg
Don't mind the state of the phal, it's a rescue I'm in the process of rehabbing.
eta: that phal is mentioned in my thread here about it's failure to thrive- http://www.orchidboard.com/community...questions.html

Thanks ces and trdyl.
I've been to repotme, but haven't looked at that particular page. I'll check it out!

It doesn't look to me that your baby needs to be repotted :) She looks happy to me, maybe increasing the humidity a little might help though - how often are you watering it?

That's such a strange concept for a Florida girl that a garden center would close for the winter but it makes sense

I've said on her thread- My concern is that I think there is still peat in the bottom of the pot. I recently upped her watering, but that top leaf is still wilted. There is no crown rot.
I'm planning on unpotting her this weekend and soaking in a clorox solution, letting her dry out, and then repotting.

Hi Izzie,

I use peanuts in almost every pot. It's not uncommon to fill the bottom third with styro peanuts for plants that make shallow roots. I would avoid the colored ones. The pastel pink and green peanuts may be fine, but those colors are codes for intended use (like anti-static for packing electronics). That just kind of scares me a little so I stick with the plain white.

Also, I use a seedling bark mix for some of my Phals. I don't do sphag very well and I've found (in my conditions) that the fine bark can be used kind of like sphag. I wouldn't mix them together, though. They're too different and things may stay too wet.

Thanks RO. All I have on hand right now are the pale green variety, I was just about to ask if the dye would cause a problem. :/