Using bacteria, fungi and microfauna with orchids

[Mr.Fakename]

Greetings all,


I would like to get your opinions and experiences about beneficial bacteria, fungi and various elements that are not found in regular growing routines.

Last year I experimented with 6 Phalaenopsis : 3 NOID in pure Sphagnum moss, 2 NOID and a violacea in a Sphag and bark mix.
For an entire year, I didn't provide fertiliser and only watered with tap water.


For reference, here's a water analysis from local authorities
Conductivity 237 µS/cm, pH 7.4, hardness 108 mg-CaCO3/L
Ca 38mg/L, Mg 3.3mg/L, Na 14mg/L, sulfates 18mg/L


I didn't expect things to go really well, but to my surprise the plants grew almost normally and without obvious deficiencies.
The only major difference with fertiliser was the amount and longevity of flowers.
The 3 Phal in a Sphagnum and bark mix bloomed, the 3 in pure Sphag didn't.
I noticed that the more degraded the media became, the faster the growth.

My takeaway is that bacteria and fungi in the potting media are much, much more important and efficient that I ever imagined.
While it's by no mean a proper scientific experiment, and things would probably have been different with fast growers and heavy feeders like Cattleya or Vanda, I'm still amazed by the quantity of nutrients that had to be released and/or recycled to sustain the plants.


Following this "discovery", I've recently bought a bunch of bacteria (https://thenutrientcompany.com/products/tnc-bactorr-s13), fungi (https://thenutrientcompany.com/collections/beneficial-fungi/products/tnc-tricorr-p5), and various organic plant boosters and additives from Biobizz.
They contain amino acids, humic acids, minerals, vitamins etc that I've never seen in traditional fertilisers.

I think the next step is to get seedlings and try Ray's method for growing excellent plants, and feed different additives to different batches.
If you have suggestions on what media to use, how to conduct the experiment, what you've already tried, what pitfalls to avoid and so on, I'll gladly take them.