Paph mix

I have been thinking about changing the mix I use for my Paph. But I just can’t seam to make up my mine on what I want to change too. The mix I use now is very hard for me to keep from drying out before I get time to water again, I am a windowsill grower, at this time I am using a mix of
· Bark
· Nz moss
· Sponge Rock
· Small Charcoal
·
I use this on all of my Paph’s would they do better in some of the mix’s like list below.. As for not drying out so fast… growing nice roots and the most important flowering..

Do any of you Paph growers have a mix that works good for you, which you might share. And do you use the same Paph’s mix for all of your Paph collection, or do you have mix’s for say malipoense, rothschildianum, philippinense, the concolor, bellatulum. And the Maudiea
And what do you think of the Aussie Gold orchid mixes for Paph.


Paphiopedilum Imperial Blend is made with:

• Small Cork Nuggets imported from Portugal
• Small Aliflor
• Medium Sponge Rock

Paph & Phrag Orchid Mix Selected Blend is made with:

• small coconut husk chips
• medium aliflor
• small sponge rock
• coir
• premium chopped sphagnum
• small charcoal
• white marble chips

Aussie Gold Orchid Mix especially formulated for paphiopedilums and phragmipediums, based on Horticultural Diatomite.

Thanks..

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Laura

Hi Laura,

We mix our own mix instead of buying pre-mixed products. For our paphs we like to use the following mix:

Small coconut husks
Small redwood bark
Small charcoal
Perlite
and on some - crushed oyster shell

We always soak the coconut several times (remove salt) before using in the mix.

We find this works very well for us.

The Aussie Gold Mix was a big disappointment. It was mostly rock and was expensive to have delivered. I ended up dumping it into my flowerbed. lol.

Cheers,
BD

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RVO's OrchidTalk Forums - "Bringing People Together" Help support our Community: Donate or Become an OrchidTalk Subscriber today!
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

i would like to try a mix I think with the coconut husks, I know you have to wash out the salts how hard is this to do, and where is the best place to buy the coconut husks, one more thing how much coconut husks do you mix with your bark?

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Laura

hmm, interesting... mixes aye... hehehe

I now try to grow all my orchids in one media, bark. I tried mucking around with all the different other stuff like perlite, and coco-peat and sphagnum moss and and and... but I found I could never get the right amount of any of the ingredients.

So, I have decided to KISS my media! Keep It Simple, Silly! One ingredient, bark! Everytime I repot an orchid, it goes into this media. Simple and no fuss.

Oh, ok, maybe not so simple, there are different sizes of bark, so the bigger the pot, the bigger the size of the bark, but that is pretty much it.

Good luck in finding the media that works with your watering regime!

Washing out the salts from the coconut husks is not hard, just takes some time. We soak and rinse at least four times. We always wash up a 5 gallon bucket full of coconut husks when we do it because it takes a while to get it completely clean. We have one large 5 gal bucket we have drilled holes into the bottom of like a veggie strainer. The other holds the husks. We wash the husks once right after we open it with a simple rinse in the regular bucket and strain through the one with holes. Then we put it back into the regular bucket and let it stay over night (usually). Sometimes if we are in a hurry, we wash it again the same day after several hours. We repeat the process the next day and by the third day, we drain the water and rinse again. This time leaving it in the strainer bucket in the greenhouse sink. The husks dry out and we transfer to a clear plastic tub with a lid for future use. So hard to remove the salts? Not really. Just takes time. You can easily see when the salts are gone. The coconut no longer gets the white speckles when it drys.

Since we had a business/ we purchased in bulk from a wholesaler. I am sure you can do a search on Google to find a retail dealer or someone may pm you their source.

We mix the husks (for paphs) about 1/3 husks and 2/3 bark. The charcoal and perlite are added after we soak the medium before potting up the paphs. The crushed oyster shell is sprinkled on top of the medium after the orchid is potted up - if that particular orchid will benefit from the shell.

Cheers,
BD

__________________
RVO's OrchidTalk Forums - "Bringing People Together" Help support our Community: Donate or Become an OrchidTalk Subscriber today!
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box. ...Hmmm? .

Some vendors offer 'pre-washed' coconut husks, but I have always washed out the stuff I get. I find it breaks down pretty quickly, especially the smaller size chunks, so you have to watch it. I still have bark in all my mixes, as well as perlite. Only paphs get chc, and not too much as I find it hard to get my watering schedule right. Instead I add a bit of sphag to my small or medium bark mix.


Good luck with your chc...

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Diane

"NA BEAN DO'N CHAT GUN LAMHAINN"

I never use Sphagnum in my Paph mix, it breaks down too fast for my liking. I use fine bark, charcoal and sponge rock. If I want something to hold more moisture, I add rockwool cubes but I only do that for my Phrags and a few other non slippers.

Hi Laura,
I haven't tried the imperial mixes, but I did just have an order delivered today of the imperial mix for Catt's. I'll let you know how I like it. I only order the junior sized bags, they seem to be enough and I don't have a bunch of extra to store and it is so convenient! I have my paph's potted in the regular paph orchid mix and so far all is well. Previously my paph's were potted in bark, and I am just not a big fan of it, but everyone has their own preference. I have also tried the Aussie Gold Mix, and I am not to fond it it either. I also use s/h on some of my paph's and they seem to like that as well. Good luck!

thanks to all of you I now know where I want to start.. and thanks Bd for the info on how to wash out the salts from the coconut husks, I understand now. and the tip on how to tell when you had all the salt out is very helpful, I always wondered about how to tell when you had washed the stuff enough. I may try the imperial mix will let you all know how it works out.
thanks

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Laura

Laura, I just potted a phal in the phal imperial mix and I love it! You can tell the ingredients used in it are high quality! They are about to come out with more imperial mixes using Monterey Bark and I will be giving that a try as well. Good luck and keep us posted!