'tis the season - Paph/Phrag potting mix

[kmarch]

Hey all you fellow Aussies, it's Autumn, time to go out and collect a big bag of one of my favorite Paph/Phrag potting mix components....oak leaves. I add a couple hands full of shreaded up oak leaves to my Paph/Phrag mix. It "opens" the mix up a little, makes the mix a little more like "home" (as many Paphs grow in leaf litter), adds a bit of organic material (food), and I have been told (although I have not crunched the numbers myself) that oak leaves adjust the pH more to Paphs liking (I really should research this). So go get a bag full of oak leaves today!

[janet_a]

any kind of oak leaves? any that should be avoided?

[butt0n]

I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time I repot my paphs. Its still spring here, so I'll just have to wait!

[BillC]

Kevin, there is a huge oak about fifty meters from my place but I will have to wait for autumn for the leaves. Will really try this mix of yours because I will be smothered in oak leaves when they start to fall. Thanks for the tip. Bill

[kmarch]

Janet,

I have just always picked up whatever leaves were lying around. he ones I picked up yesterday were mixed, some red oak, something that looked like pin oak, and another that looked like burr oak. When I lived in Michigan I thinkit was mostly white oak.

Oak leaves don't make up a major portion of the mix, it's one of the 'additives'.