Any experience with SPONGE?...

[mohi]

Hi...
I bought all my phals from one supplier and all of them were planted in a mixture of synthetic/natural sponge and charcoal... Is it a good media?... I mean I water my plants every two weeks while the media is still moist... the sponge absorbs the water very well and the porous structure creates considerable amounts of vapor (moistening the air around the plants)...
Should I replant my plants in osmunda/bark?... What are the pros/cons of sponge chunks?... Any experience?...

[JoeW]

That is very interesting. I have not seen this described before. How are the roots doing? Are the new leaves growing to a larger size than the older ones? Could you post a picture or two?

[Ron-NY]

Some Hawaiian growers use this in their seedling mix. I have not seen it used elsewhere as of yet. If the roots are healthy then I don't see a problem keeping it. The combo of it and charcoal should make a medium that doesn't break down quickly.

[Gin]

Interesting, I might try it . If growing well I would not re do it .. Gin

[hera]

Could you post a pic? I'm not quite sure if I understand what you're describing.

[JoeW]

Oh, I forgot to ask, natural sponge or man-made?

[Ron-NY]

what I have seen is man made and not dense but a fairly open, not sure if that is the same as Mohi is describing.

I have been experimenting with a man made material to use as a substitute for treefern mounts. It is much like the material that are used for commercial floor scrubbing pads.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Seems like this would help me keep my phrags a bit more wet. I am interested to see a photo too. I always worry that my water-loving orchids don't retain enough moisture between watering times. Maybe if I add in some of this to their mix I could eliminate the smaller bark that breaks down so quickly.

I agree with Gin - If the plant seems to be doing well, leave it alone - don't change the medium. BUT, if you do, would you post up a photo of what the medium 'sponge' material looks like? Thanks!

Cheers,
BD

[Ron-NY]

Bruce, I had been adding "Grow Cubes" to my Phrag mix...They are small cubes of rock wool. You may want to look for a source for that as an additive to your mix. Although I am moving all my Phrags to S/H culture these days and they are loving it.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Bruce, I have been adding "Grow Cubes" to my Phrag mix...They are small cubes of rock wool. You may want to look for a source for that as an additive to your mix.

I have seen that before. The first time I thought it was some kind of mold in the mix. LOL. I will google it now. Thanks, Ron.

Cheers,
BD