Sphagnum - Loose or Packed Tight?

[Fairorchids]

I have also purchased from both OV & Christoffersen, and admire their results with the tightly packed spaghnum. Having read only the tail end of this thread, it appears that most are talking about large/mature Cattleyas. Size is an important consideration too.

I use spaghnum (coarsely chopped), but only for seedling plants up to 3" pot size, and mixed with about 1/3 seedling size bark & charcoal. That mix is only used in 3" plastic pots with multiple slits in the sides; I pack it fingertip firm, but not hard. This ensures a 3-4 day period of fairly consistent moisture + some air flow.

For 5" & larger I use clay pots, with granular mix II (Catt size bark/charcoal & super coarse perlite in 2:1:1 ratio).

For 3.1/2" to 4.1/2" sizes I use clay pots, with granular mix I (1/2 the bark is seedling size).

For a few larger plants, I use baskets with Aliflor (Leca) clay nuggets.

With this size based selection, I can water everything in the greenhouse at the same schedule (twice a week in winter, three times a week in summer).

My dad, who was old school, used exclusively clay pots, always with spaghnum/bark mix (3:1) and tamped down as hard as he could with a potting stock. Plants grew fine, but it made watering a more cumbersome process, as you had to water pots of different sizes at different rates.