Sphag Moss issues

[jowben1]

I purchased a bag from Lowes the other day. I chose the darker color because it looked coarser. Boy what a suprise. I got enough sticks out of it to build a bird's nest.Next time, back to the lighter color, finer type.

[Undergrounder]

Also, sphag comes in different grades... milled, long strings, short strings, sticks removed and cleaned, etc. The difference between the good quality, long string, fluffy gold stuff and the stripped, brown, soggy stuff is the difference between life and death.

If it comes in a bag already damp, then you know it's already been rotting slowly for months, and comes complete with a whole range of bacteria and fungus spores ready to bust out.

But even if it comes packed dry, keeping good quality sphag sopping wet provides a perfect bed for fungus to spread and kill roots. It should feel damp and cool but springy to the touch. If it feels slick and looks a little slimy and doesn't spring back when you touch it, then it's too wet.

I know it sounds complicated but it's not, you get a good idea how to water sphag after a while..

[Sandy4453]

Once you get the hang of using sphagnum as a sole medium for Phals, you'll be amazed at how great the stuff is. By comparison, when using sphag. to bark mix, if it's used correctly and in the right conditions, side by side, I've found better results with sphag....more growth 10 fold than with bark BUT there's very little room to screw up with it. It will be very unforgiving if you do, unlike bark mix. That's the tricky part! Sphag.. mixed in the bark mix is an excellent compromise also.

I did a lot of experimenting this past summer and don't know what exactly I can credit the growth on this Phal. to but it's been growing in nothing but straight sphag. (mixed with sponge rock to prevent it from getting water logged). It now has 3 basal keikis, 3 aerial keikis and one keiki was recently removed and now growing separately. It's huge, more than doubled in size since March.

Phals love getting wet but they need a constant source of good air circulating in their pots to really thrive. That's where you have to be very careful when using straight sphag. which can easily get weighted down and suffocate those roots if not careful.

Here's mine. The second pic includes the keiki I recently separated from momma. I have the keiki growing in a combo of bark and sphag. I'm not always so brave.