[iandaniel]

I have been doing to some observation/research on my potting and medium.

I hear so much bad information on using sphagnum moss, so as an newbie I immediately transfered my plants from Sphagnum to bark.
Well I had many problems with Wilting and dehydration, much to my inexperiance this was the result. I now learned to water more frequently and using a blend which retains more water.
but the purpose of this post is i wanted to tell my experiance with Spagnum moss and my success. I live in Minnesota and a reputable orchid grower, Orhids Limited told me they plant all their Phals in sphag. and I was suprised after I heard all the bad press sphag as gotten.
The key i was told was most plants like the ones at Home Depot, Lowes and any of these cheap secondary nursuries where monted by a machine and packed so tight the roots have no way to breath, and end up rotting because they stay drench with out airation.

I tried the moss again but just layed the moss around the roots didn't pack the moss and made sure it was able to breath. I have had some great results.
Now if i get a gift orchid from friends even if its blooming (they got it from Home depot) I still repot it imediately because the potting is much too tight.

Any one concur my findings or care to debate this? I am eager to learn more.