where can I find growing medium online?

[soundtweakers]

Originally Posted by Ray

Maybe- and maybe not, as there is a lot more to choosing media than just the plant.

A phal only has those fleshy leaves to store water, so needs a moisture-holding medium. The paphs can likely go into that same mix, but could go more airy than that.

I would recommend against using the same mix for the cattleya, as having pseudobulbs for water storage, they will handle being drier between waterings, so the root system is probably adapted to that.

However, if you learn to control your watering - both volume and frequency - and tailor that to the individual plants, it is possible to grow all three in a single medium.

Personally, if I was unable to tailor the medium more for the individual plant types, I'd go with an overall drier mix and just water the phals more often.

Read Choosing Potting Media to get a better understanding of where I'm coming from.

thanks for the awesome article, and I appreciate you taking your time to answer . I have a quick question and a new confusion.

So the cattleya with pseudobulbs should be kept the driest(how about younger seedling plants?), and the Phals should be wetter than the cattleya because they only have the fleshy leaves for water storage. You mentioned the Paphs should be in a more airy mix than the Phals but both of my newly acquired Paphs has much "leaner" "bushier" leaves, does it mean the Paphs require less water?

thanks again fo ryour help

[Ray]

Unfortunately, that's the problem with trying to give short answers in forums.

Most phals - in nature - live where it is rainy on almost a daily basis. Their extended root systems tend to run all over tree branches, so get frequent soaking. They are also exposed to the air, which is an important factor. When we bring them into captivity (i.e., in a pot), we need to mimic those conditions.

Most paphs, on the other hand, live in the leaf litter on a forest floor. You will also note that their roots are hairy, and I have heard one theory that states that the hairs make sure there is always an air space around the roots. The leaf litter is probably evenly moist, but certainly not soppy most of the time.

Cattleyas, and other plants with pseudobulbs, have adapted to tolerate periods of dryness, but those are more likely seasonal changes in rainfall patterns, so they may see periods of both saturation and realative dry.

Another concept to wrap your head around is that roots tailor themselves to the environment in which they actively grow. If you take a plant from dry conditions, you can grow it very wet, but only after it has grown an entirely new root system tailored to that new set of conditions.

Also keep in mind that not all of the species in a genus prefer the same conditions, so don't think that all paphs, for example, with thrive under one set of parameters.

[soundtweakers]

thanks so much for yours help, Ray.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you read the captions on the pics to the website about Paphiopedilums. Some Paphs grow on limestone cliffs, such as Paph stonei. If you dig around the web, you'll start seeing the often inaccessible cliffs they grow on, they're nearly 90 degree verticle. Very little water gets retained as limestone is also not a very porous mineral rock, although some moss does develop on the rocks and retains a bit of it.

You will also see a colony of Paph villosum grow epiphytically on a moss covered tree in the article link.

Yes, some do grow amongst the top soil covered by leaf litter, like Paph sukhakulii. Like Ray had said these stay moist but not soggy.

Yet other Paphs grow in decaying wood.

It depends on your Paph.

Most Cattleyas grow as epiphytes on trees while others are lithophytes along cliff faces near waterfalls. Some Catts grow as both epiphytes and lithophytes.

As for Phals, the pics show them growing on trees with little to no moss, growing in swamp forests or forests along the edges of rivers and streams. This means high humidity, even moisture, and good air circulation. The roots are mostly exposed so the root's ability to photosynthesize is enhanced.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

All I have to say is, I recommend going back to those links, and really pick everything apart. That's a lot of information to just skim over.

You'll start making connections.

Especially when you start to understand what kinds of media are available.

Pots, bark, perlite, wood mounts, and moss aren't the only things out there that grow orchids.

There, I've taken all of the things you would think of as possible growing materials and have said there are more.

Like I said, and like Ray said, there are potting media you would never think about as a beginning hobbyist, but orchids will grow in them and you'll be surprised. And they can be very species specific.

So far, every one here has been speaking in general terms. It's up to you to find out the specifics.

Without writing a book, I've said all I can really say.

Do keep in mind, pictures of orchids growing in the wild are extremely rare.

Just because I was able to pull them up didn't mean I had it easy finding them. There were some species I wanted to find pictures of growing in the wild and I couldn't find a single one. Other times there was only one pic of them in the wild, and I couldn't see the details clearly.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You know what, I just remembered.

In the link to the Paph pics, Dr. Tanaka also sells his book on orchids of Myanmar with color pics in English for $40.

Maybe that's worth checking out.

[soundtweakers]

the tag that came with my Paphs are
Paph. Maudiae 'Silverado' AM/AOS x Paph. Hsinying Citron #5 I'm guessing it's a cross?

and also Paph. Magic Leopard '#1' x Paph. fairrieanum

they are still in their original medium(which is bark only), I'm planning on getting some kind of specific medium for paphs.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

They're both hybrids.

These are getting pretty complex.

All I know is that when I looked up Paph faerriaenum it naturally grows on limestone with some humus and some leaf litter.

I'm guessing the second one you have (the purple one), likes the medium to be more airy with some rocks. Maybe perlite or dolomite may work with the wood chips. IDK.

[peeweelovesbooks]

I recommend the baker's culture sheets for more specific culture/growing media information.You have gotten excellent advice here.

[soundtweakers]

how many 6 inch pot can we fill with 1/2 CF of growing media. Just want to get a general idea about quantity. apologize for the newbieness...