Potting Ocidium, Vanda

[Kailash]

Hi,
I had been on a trip to Kodai Kanal, India - its a hill station. I managed to acquire quite a few Oncidium pseudobulbs from there. I have potted them in clay pots with the medium from below upwards - sphagnum moss, coarse pertile, coal, coco husk, some red mud, sphagnum moss. The roots of the pseudobulbs extend from the upper sphagnum moss layer to upto just above the coal. I was just wondering if this was fine and if it would allow my orchids to bloom.
I used a similar potting mixture for 3 Vandas I found deserted in bad state on the roads in Kodai Kanal. Is this also sufficient or is there something else I must use?
Hoping for your guidance.
Thanks.

[delphiguy]

personally, i would just use coal or coco husks as potting medium for any orchids. I find
that spagnum moss stays wet for too long and the roots gets rotted... but thats me
because i water every day. Maybe you can get away with spagnum moss if you just water
1x a week or so. As for Vanda I love to just hang them bare root, provided that they get
enough humidity, if not, potting them up would be a good idea. I bet somebody more
experienced will be able to give you better advice.

[Kailash]

Thanks a lot for your quick reply. I do plan on watering my orchids only once in 3-4 days - so I guess the sphagnum is good. But don't worry, it makes up hardly 10-15% of the total mix.
For my Vanda's, this is only temporary till I can get myself a proper place and pot to hang them in.
Thanks a lot for your reply. Looking forward for more advice.

[Orchidzrule]

Some sphag in your mix is a great water retainer, but if you water every 3 or 4 days, water retention probably isn't too important--unless you have really hot & dry conditions.

Cheers,
Rob

[dudleyleroux]

3 - 4 days with spagnum would destroy most orchids where I live. It's every 10 - 12 days with spagnum here. I usually repot into coconut husk and water once per week.

[Kailash]

The weather here isn't that hot but it isn't as humid. The moss dries in about 2-3 days itself - thats why I said once in 3-4 days - will vary it depending on how wet the moss remains.
Thanks for the replies.