Orchid Soil What is your favorite material/soil to use vs for your orchids. Is there a better mix…do you use different mixes for different plants…do you like small bark over large mix bark…etc. I would like to try to create my own blend and am looking for advice. I have a Jewel Orchid, Ground Or chid and others…excited to hear your ideas and experiences.
Yes, absolutely, each type benefits from different materials. It’s also incredibly important to take into account your environment and watering habits. If you’re heavy handed and excessively attentive in your care in a humid environment, you can go with less water retentive material, with larger chunks. If you are in a kind of cool dry environment, and have a busier lifestyle, you might want something more water retentive. I don’t know what you mean by a ground orchid. GENERALLY SPEAKING, and not taking into account the things above…If you are talking about phragmipedium or paphiopedilum, you are still going to want a mix with tiny little bark pieces for a little more aeration. Jewel orchids are different in their needs and I’ve seen them grown in tiny pieces of very small bits with lots of perlite etc, but NOT soil-like. Other terrestrial orchids, Bletilla, Cypripedium etc need a much more fine mix, ALMOST soil-like. but I don’t have any experience with those so I don’t feel comfortable giving advice about them. Just for a visual example, I’m attaching photos of the mixes that repotme.com recommends. They are a great place to start and incredibly reliable in their knowledge and quality of product.
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💯 what Jen said. I find her advice always solid. I do a lot of research on the orchid variety, and tweak depending on my observations of the plant’s performance. This is what works in my house (right now): - Phals: 100% bark (large pieces) or 75% bark (large pieces) with 25% sphagnum - Paphs: Repotme blend - Cattleyas: 50% bark (large pieces) and 50% charcoal (large pieces) or a Repotme blend - Oncidiums: Repotme blend - Dendrobiums: Repotme blend or a 50% bark (large pieces) and 50% charcoal (large pieces) - Jewel: Repotme blend
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