corks from wine bottles for orchid medium?

[Epipactis12]

Hi. Orchids grow on cork, and some like coarse media. Anyone tried wine corks in a pot or something?

[Shannara]

I actually had a friend who potted up her Phal in a container full of wine corks and it seemed happy last I heard from her. It could be a fun experiment!

Shann~

[Slick]

Wine corks? I like it! They should allow good drainage, I really think this is a winning idea. I'm going to try it.

[englandfx]

Several members here have done it before...
I believe their outcome was successful.

[Dendian]

I recently potted a miniature Laelia species in wine corks in a wooden basket - it rewarded me with a flower!

[katrina]

I use cork chunks I get from repotme...the plants love it. I can't see any reason why wine corks wouldn't work. Plus, you'd be recycling.

[terra_australis]

I think it would work well. I have a lot of epiphytes growing on cork slabs and they love the stuff. I expect a medium made of it would be excellent for upright growers.

[Ray]

Wine corks, if intact, should be fine. Be very wary of ground cork though.

About 25 years ago, ground cork was touted as the "new, greatest thing" for potting up orchids, and it took the hobby by storm. It absorbed well, stayed airy, was graded very uniformly, was easy to use - what could be better? Well.....

Under typical orchid-growing conditions, about a year on it would break down and turn into a suffocating mush almost overnight, and if you weren't paying attention, would take all of the roots with it.

Apparently the microorganisms that break it down start slowly, then POW!

[skipper]

I use it in my Phal. mix. I purchased the cork chunks from Repotme.com It seems to work very well. I have not heard about it breaking down to mush. I repot my Phals. at least very year, or sooner. They seem to like the repotting and the mix drains better when it is newer.

Dale

[Reg22]

I have wine corks inside the basket of my rhynchostylis. I don't think they are visible in this picture, but they are there!

[otis 226]

I've actually seen pics on another board of folks who make mounts from wine corks, but attaching them with wire and such. The plants climb all over them eventually, even the newer 'artificial ' corks.
Tony

[Shannara]

Originally Posted by Ray

Wine corks, if intact, should be fine. Be very wary of ground cork though.

About 25 years ago, ground cork was touted as the "new, greatest thing" for potting up orchids, and it took the hobby by storm. It absorbed well, stayed airy, was graded very uniformly, was easy to use - what could be better? Well.....

Under typical orchid-growing conditions, about a year on it would break down and turn into a suffocating mush almost overnight, and if you weren't paying attention, would take all of the roots with it.

Apparently the microorganisms that break it down start slowly, then POW!

Oh yikes Ray. I purchased some small bits of cork to pot up in the mix for my new seedlings. The primary mix is to be clay Turface with a small amount of cork bits and charcoal mixed in. Do you think I should avoid the cork alltogether or just repot them all in less than 12 months and still use it? I wanted something to hold moisture but not too much as they are kinda big seedlings.

Sorry to derail the thread!

Shann~

[orchids4me]

I have some cork chips from repotme also and used it in Shanns un official grow project plants and so far I see no signs of break down.
Ray were the cork chips that your talking about used in baskets,clay pots or plastic pots. Wondering if it was plastic and the cork wasn't getting enough air causing the break down. I have it in wood baskets lined wit the coco fiber so doesn't fall out the slots.
Please elborate more in type of pot or what was used on the ground cork bits that broke down.
Thanks Ray

[Brooke]

Doesn't Katrina use some cork pieces in some of her pots?

Brooke

[katrina]

Originally Posted by Brooke

Doesn't Katrina use some cork pieces in some of her pots?

Brooke

Yup! I've used it for a few years now and I've not had any problems. The nooks and crannies hold a bit more water than lava or leca so I like it for young catts and/or larger ones that like a bit more water. And, or those situations where I don't want to be watering every day under the lights. I also use it in the bottom of pots and or in the middle of plants where I want to lessen the amount of medium being used. I also have a few plants potted in a mix of chc and cork. All plants and all uses have proven successful so far.

The longest I've had a plant potted in it was just over 2yrs and while the pieces in the bottom were discolored there was no actual breakdown or softening of the material.

On a side note...I once removed a plant from a cork bark mount that had a rather large hunk of sphag and behind the sphag the cork was soft. This particular mount was kept moist 24/7. The cork bark mount is slightly different than the cork chunks I get from repotme but I would bet if the cork chunks were subjected to constant moisture they would begin to break down in a few years. But I honestly believe it would take several years for that break down to occur and it would be even longer if the plant isn't constantly moist.

Ray mentioned "ground" cork...perhaps the process of grinding it up is what sped up the breakdown. ?? The stuff I get from repot me isn't ground but rather chopped.

[Ray]

I don't know what the determining factors were, but growers were using 100% cork, not using it as an additive to other ingredients. Maybe there are competing critters in a mixed medium.

I doubt that the ground-versus-chopped processing is the factor, but I WOULD bet that the condition of the cork itself would. No matter how you cut it (no pun intended), such processing opens up more porosity, hence surface area, upon which the microorganisms can populate and get to work.

Wine corks are intentionally made from secondary-growth cork bark, as it is much more dense and uniform than the first-growth stuff we get for mounting slabs. If the chopped cork available to RepotMe is denser than the stuff that was peddled in the past, it certainly would be less prone to "overnight collapse".

[syndywindy]

I know Oak Hill sells mounts made of wne corks and have some plants mounted on them. For whatever reason, the look doesn't appeal to me, but the thought of using cork chunks as part of a medium sounds interesting.

[Shannara]

Thanks guys for all the shredded cork bit experiences and info. I think I will go ahead and use them because these plants should outgrow their little pots in a year or so. I will keep an eye on the cork to see if it breaks down too fast. Should be an interesting experiment at least.

Now

Shann~

[rcb]

Shann, just wanted to point out the Turface holds water pretty well by itself, at least compared to Hydroton.

I've been mixing in Perlite with my Turface lately, more to spread out the Turface, cause I have a huge bag of Perlite, I figured I'd use it up.