Supplies Oakville (close to Mississauga, Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario)
 

Hi there, I am looking for the following types of media to repot my cymbidium orchid: perlite, lava rock, coconut husk (I already have spaghnum moss, peat moss and bark). I have contacted Sheridan Nursery and they do not have the above 4 things I need. Any suggestions?

Cymbidiums aren't that picky... if you can't find something, substitute something else. The chief thing is really good drainage. If your mix is full of sphagnum, coconut husk and peat, it won't drain well, it will stay too wet, and your roots will rot. Maybe somebody in a climate with less humidity can do well with those. but I would be very careful in a humid, high-rainfall area.

For example, rather than the lava rock, which will be hard to find because there aren't many volcanoes in eastern North America, use LECA clay balls from a hydroponics shop. Or maybe a home or landscape store has cinders intended for use as mulch.

Perlite retains a lot of water for a long time. I would also be careful using it in a humid, wet climate.

With your available ingredients, I would be happy putting them into a mix of 45% large-chunk bark, 50% LECA balls and 5% peat. Or good-quality potting soil in place of peat. Or just plain LECA balls. Or 95% LECA and 5% peat or potting soil. You get the idea.

My environment is quite different than Bobits' but I just use small bark and #2 perlite (about 1/4"-1/2", 0.5-1 cm), about 3 parts bark to 1 part perlite (by eyeball, I don't really measure) It stays fairly damp, but as long as it is fresh and well drained, the Cyms really don't care. Just repot every 3 years or so.

Try the SOOS orchid meeting in Toronto today Sunday at noon at Toronto Botanical Garden at Leslie St. and Lawrence Avenue.


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