Paphiopedilum repotting

[Traci]

I am soon to repot my Paphiopedilum fujiwara x delenatti for the first time. It is currently in very chunky bark mix much like I would use for Phalaenopsis. My paphiopedilum media that I have is coconut husks, stalite, sponge rock, granite chips and spaghnum moss that is less than half the size of this chunky bark. Is it ok to swap such an orchid from large bark to my paphiopedilum media or should I stick with the chunky phalaenopsis mix?

---------- Post Merged at 08:41 PM ----------

Forgot to add the chunky bark is a little bit smaller than a US quarter and the other mix is dime size roughly or a bit smaller.

[ksriramkumar]

. I grow most of my paphs on LECA or on lava rock. Paphiopedilum being terrestrial would do better in a finer bark than chunky bark. my paph experience is not great. would love to hear from other members

[78Terp]

I grow my paphs in the same mix I use for my other orchids. They seem to do fine in it. But I do water often in general.

[Jx3]

Hi Traci, I grow about 80 paph in a similar mix, small 1/4 in bark inplace of coconut husk and no spagnum. Your mix seems fine to me but i do have a few concerns.
First coconut husks have a tendency to accumulate excess salts which paph roots despise.
Second ive tryed spagnum added to my mix and noticed it creates excess dampness in certain areas of the pot and some spots never seem to dry between watering creating rotten roots.

If you decide to use the mix you have i would strongly recommend flushing the pot with ro, distilled or rain water once a week to limit salt buildup.
The added spagnum may not be much of an issue for you if you have fairly coarse mix, it will dry off better if more air can get in the pot.

[Traci]

Thanks Jeromy for the info. I think that I will pull the spaghnum out of the mix. It really isn't prevalent in there anyway and I trust your culture methods with so many paphs. I only have three of them . I only use distilled water on my plants because I don't trust the water at my house so I'm hoping that I will keep the salts from any MSU fertilizer at bay. I also flush very liberally at least once a month and use very little fertilizer. I think moving forward I will switch from the coconut husks to the bark. I bought the mix because it had granite chips and the other one for paphs made with bark had none. I can always add granite chips into it though.
Thanks again!