Mix for my babies..

[prisana]

I was just at Home Depot , looking for the fine bark mix for the tons of seedlings I've recently obtained and let's just say, I should have known beter. However, I ran into some soiless mix called Jiffy mix and want to know if anyone knows anything about it. I also saw a mix for water plants , which seems to have contained some very corse sand and very small shells, looks almost identical to the mix some of my seedlings arrived in . Should I try it to see how it does with my seedlings ? some of these seedlings are VERY small, so I'm afraid the bark they usually sell would not do a good job. Thanks a million .

[mayres]

How about trying coir (coconut husk fiber)? At least here it is available at a hydroponic outlet - it comes in a compressed bale and is relatively inexpensive - one bale makes a ton of media once it is rehydrated. It stays hydrated for a long time and I would think mixed with a little perlite and possibly charcoal it would work great for seedlings? I put all my phals in it July 1 last year and they seem to all be loving it. Just a thought. mike

[prisana]

I'll give that a try , Mike. I have coconuts in my yard maybe I can chop it up really fine and see how that will work, I'm not sure how close that will come to the commercial coir you mentioned.--Thanks for the tip.

[SashaBear]

You would not want to use the water plant mix if it is the stuff I'm thinking of. It will turn to mush once water hits it. It is clay and is supposed to be like the clay soil most water plants grow in. Its not really the best medium out there for water plants and I certainly wouldn't use it for orchids because it will turn soft.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Yeah, stay away from all the commercial non orchid stuff. Canadian peat and small perlite, or coir (very well washed) and small perlite is probably pretty good (3 perlite to 2 peat/coir), but use dilute Physan 20 or other fungicide once in a while. Also, add a teaspoon of either crushed oyster shell from farm/pet supply or E. B. Stone dolomite to each 4" pots worth of mix. Don't want the mix going to acid. Sure you don't want to use fine bark?

[jerrymeola]

I understand how hard it I for hobbyist to find small bark. Big box stores do not even understand that there is a difference.

This is another reason to frequent Orchid Nurseries rather than 'Kill the Orchid Stores'.

Drop in on a local nursery. They probably have some they can sell you and you may find that their orchids are not much more than the junk and much better quality.

PS do not use the coconuts from your yard. They are still too green and unprocessed they will encourage rot.

[desertgal]

I purchased some very nice seedling mix on eBay. I am going to repot 10 paphs that came in too coarse a bark. They dry out too fast.

[prisana]

Thanks a lot everybody..I'm afraid that's what I'm going to have to do..going to an orchid nursery. I went to a couple of nurseries in the past, but they ended up having the same thing Home depot does, this time I'll check first .:-)