What do you grow in small Orchiata bark?
 

I picked up a bag of orchiata the other day to try. Unfortunately the only size they had left was the fine one(I think it's 5-9mm). Just wondering what others would grow in this size? I was thinking maybe masdevallias and paphs and also wondered whether Thunia might go well in it. Any other suggestions?

I have my paphs in a mix that is mostly small Orchiata bark.

It's the Classic #9 you have 6mm-9mm. I bought a hobby bag to try it on some paph seedlings I have. I didn't see any growth on some imports I got from Taiwan that were in regular bark seedling mix, so I switched over to give it a try. I tried some just straight Orchiata, and some with some hydroton mix in. The hydroton mix did the best for me, but it could have been because I didn't water the straight mix right.

From the manufacturer your not supposed to soak it or it'll wash away the dolomite. But if you use it straight out of the bag, its very dry, so you have to water it more the first few days. Also they just came out with a smaller size called Precision which is 3-6mm

I have Oncidiums, Phal's and Milt's in the #5 Orchiata.:waving

I use the Orchiata seedling size for all of my Phals, Paphs, Phrags, Masdies and Bulbos now. I replaced anything I used to grow in CHC with the Orchiata. I use different sizes of sponge rock and charcoal to increase/decrease how "tight" I want the bark to touch the roots.

I did have to start adding some chopped sphag for my Phals because it wasn't retaining as much moisture as they needed.

Brooke

Thanks. Will have a play over the weekend

I've moved a number of my Paphs into the small Orchiata. I am also re-potting my Milts into it as they come due for re-pots. I also put a Bublo in it and top dressed with moss. Not sure how that is going yet.

A commercial grower I know (Hilltop Orchids in Cloverdale Indiana) experimented using it with his phalaes, phrags and paph's - he liked it so well he is going to use it exclusively for all his plants. He did say it took a couple of waterings to get it moist and then it was great for his stock. I haven't tried it, but I did buy a phalae that was in it and it seems to be doing really well.
Good luck with it and keep us updated on how it works!
Steve

I have hundreds of orchids of all different care types from obligate terrestrials to mounted. It's simply a matter of picking which ones out of the collection to put in it, I'd have had something to suit any of the bark sizes, hence I was happy to take what he had available at the time and try other sizes when they became available.