Growing Phals in chunks of chopped up kitchen sponges. Aren't they
treated with mild anti-microbials anyway ?? Me thinks this is a good
idea.

On 7 Jun 2006 06:59:07 -0700, wrote:

Growing Phals in chunks of chopped up kitchen sponges. Aren't they
treated with mild anti-microbials anyway ?? Me thinks this is a good
idea.


People have grown orchids in chopped up tires and everything else.
Try it. I would fear the water holding capacity might be too great.
I use plastic peanuts (shipping peanuts) to hold my Ascda. upright in
vanda baskets. I have to add moss to the top to keep the water wand
from shooting peanuts all over the gh. It also adds a bit of moisture
retention that the peanuts don't have.

Please let us know how it works.

Anyone else want to tell what unconventional 'potting mix' you use?
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

How would you grow them, in a whole sponge or would you cut it up into
blocks?

If your going to cut it up in to blocks, you could just use rockwool,
but I had no luck with phals in rockwool, too wet it kills the roots,
I think that if you wanted to grow a phal in a basket or mounted a
sponge might work to keep the moisture.

Jack

We've moved almost all our Phals into Aliflor. I'm thinking about trying one
in S/H, too. We use spag if we need to root a plant or if mounting.

Down at Redland this year, we noticed that the growers are really trending
away from bark mixes. There are exceptions, of course, but I saw more Catts
in Aliflor/CHC/charcoal mixes than before. Of course, we repot once we get
home and the flowers are gone, but IMO the roots on these plants are in much
better condition than those of the plants in those mud mixes.

Diana

Exactly. This is why I am never touching bark and soggy spagh in
mature plants ever again.

I'd ask you what Aliflor is, but I'll just Google it. Thanks for the
info ! Keep it coming. There's gotta be better alternatives out there,
and Im convinced they're the way to go.



Diana Kulaga wrote:
We've moved almost all our Phals into Aliflor. I'm thinking about trying one
in S/H, too. We use spag if we need to root a plant or if mounting.

Down at Redland this year, we noticed that the growers are really trending
away from bark mixes. There are exceptions, of course, but I saw more Catts
in Aliflor/CHC/charcoal mixes than before. Of course, we repot once we get
home and the flowers are gone, but IMO the roots on these plants are in much
better condition than those of the plants in those mud mixes.

Diana

Sorry. About the sponge: repotting could turn into a minor nightmare, no?
And, it's not infrequent for me to pick up a sponge next to the sink and
smell mildew, no matter how clean I try to keep them.

Just sayin'.

Diana

The sponge can definatly get funky...but at least they're made of
synthetic stuff that won't rot. If its home to mildew, meh...maybe a
lil' stinky but that's not too big a deal. I would say that they never
come CLOSE to the cornucopia of stuff found in bark and moss.

About the repotting : Nightmare to clean all the little sponge chunks
from the roots ?? The roots will cling to the sponge chunks ?
Yeah...that probably will be ugly...but how would that be different
than the aliflor (that I looked up) ?


Diana Kulaga wrote:
Sorry. About the sponge: repotting could turn into a minor nightmare, no?
And, it's not infrequent for me to pick up a sponge next to the sink and
smell mildew, no matter how clean I try to keep them.

Just sayin'.

Diana

Well, mildew is fungal, if I'm not mistaken (I could be). You wouldn't want
any kind of fungal substance in that pot, IMHO. And if I'm wrong about that,
still, who wants "stinky" around the Phals? Anyway, I agree about bark and
moss. I do not use any bark at all, because I have no feel for it and don't
like to dig the stuff out when I repot. Spaghnum has its place, especially
when trying to rescue something and give it some new roots.

As far as the repotting is concerned, Aliflor is a piece of cake, especially
with Phals. To be sure, Aliflor can get wrapped up in roots, but considering
the way Phal roots grow, it's not much of a deal. It's more of an issue when
repotting a Catt or Den that has overgrown its pot, but even then, it's a
walk in the park compared to bark. And it doesn't break down, so repotting
can be put off for a much longer period of time than with bark or moss.

Having said all that, one of the safest ways I've found to grow Phals is in
a slat basket, hung tipped so that the plant cannot retain water in the
crown, and in that case I use spaghnum moss. It dries out quickly in my
environment and the plants which I grow that way love it. One of the big
problems with moss is using it in plastic pots. The **** stuff never dries
out that way. I have a huge Phal in clay and spag right now, and it dries
rather quickly. Still, when it's finished blooming, into Aliflor it goes.

Anyway, there are as many media for orchids as there are orchid fanatics
like us. Never hurts to try something new!

Diana

On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 17:39:44 -0400, "Diana Kulaga"
wrote:

I have a huge Phal in clay and spag right now, and it dries
rather quickly. Still, when it's finished blooming, into Aliflor it goes.

Anyway, there are as many media for orchids as there are orchid fanatics
like us. Never hurts to try something new!

Diana


Repotting in Aliflor is easy. Pick the plant up. Check for dead,
decay, mushy roots -- none found = Stick it in a pot and pour fresh
aliflor in to fill it up. OH some stuck to the roots - no worry. The
stuff is not rotting. IF you flush your pots well it is not full of
chemicals or salts... it belongs to this plant just as if the plant
were growing in the wild. Less disturbance of roots.

My only problem has been with the summer cym breaking pots because the
root ball became too large and too strong. Cym Golden Elf has broken
out 3 times. They push up in the pot about 1-1.5 inches then they
just split the plastic pots. Now when one is sitting a bit high I
look for a split starting. Can not adequate water S/H if the pot is
split. G
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 18:04:58 -0700, Ray wrote
(in article ):

Sue, et al.

I finally got in the EpiWeb from Europe, and the granulated material is
great for supporting newly potted plants in baskets or pots.

EpiWeb, if it's new to you, is a "synthetic tree fern" made from recycled
PET bottles. It's springier than tree fern, so can be slightly compressed
without damaging the plants, and it sort-of "locks into" itself, holding
things in place without affecting free air flow.

How would you use it, Ray? For mounting? In a pot? Will this change your
fondness for S/H?
Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D70

On the subject - I don't recall ever seeing anyone advocating Loofa
sponge? Has anyone tried it? I have a piece from my wife's pampering
body stuff and am thinking of mounting an Angraecum calceolus to it -
but it's the only angreacum I have and don't want to risk it yet - I'm
a chicken!
Bob

Please let us know how it works.

Anyone else want to tell what unconventional 'potting mix' you use?
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php

Ray wrote:
Sue, et al.

I finally got in the EpiWeb from Europe, and the granulated material is
great for supporting newly potted plants in baskets or pots.

EpiWeb, if it's new to you, is a "synthetic tree fern" made from recycled
PET bottles. It's springier than tree fern, so can be slightly compressed
without damaging the plants, and it sort-of "locks into" itself, holding
things in place without affecting free air flow.

How about the slabs? I am anxiously waiting for my sample order which
they sent on June 1st.

Reka

Tom,

It's a totally different animal from anything semi-hydroponics related.
Think a direct substitute for tree fern. About the only thing in common is
the inert nature.

It's available in slabs for rafts and mounting (they should have arrived by
now), pots, hanging baskets, pots with a mesh bottom for bottom-spiking
plants like stanhopeas, and as a granular chunk for use as a medium
ingredient or alone.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"tbell" wrote in message
.com...
On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 18:04:58 -0700, Ray wrote
(in article ):

Sue, et al.

I finally got in the EpiWeb from Europe, and the granulated material is
great for supporting newly potted plants in baskets or pots.

EpiWeb, if it's new to you, is a "synthetic tree fern" made from recycled
PET bottles. It's springier than tree fern, so can be slightly
compressed
without damaging the plants, and it sort-of "locks into" itself, holding
things in place without affecting free air flow.

How would you use it, Ray? For mounting? In a pot? Will this change your
fondness for S/H?
Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D70

Fortunately, the slabs I'll be getting are made in the US to save on
shipping. Hopefully they'll arrive soon.

I do have a leafless plant on a sample I got from Sweden. So far, so good.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Reka" wrote in message
. ..
Ray wrote:
Sue, et al.

I finally got in the EpiWeb from Europe, and the granulated material is
great for supporting newly potted plants in baskets or pots.

EpiWeb, if it's new to you, is a "synthetic tree fern" made from recycled
PET bottles. It's springier than tree fern, so can be slightly
compressed without damaging the plants, and it sort-of "locks into"
itself, holding things in place without affecting free air flow.

How about the slabs? I am anxiously waiting for my sample order which they
sent on June 1st.

Reka

On 7 Jun 2006 20:02:22 -0700, "bobc" wrote:

On the subject - I don't recall ever seeing anyone advocating Loofa
sponge? Has anyone tried it? I have a piece from my wife's pampering
body stuff and am thinking of mounting an Angraecum calceolus to it -
but it's the only angreacum I have and don't want to risk it yet - I'm
a chicken!
Bob

I did not use that - I used a cactus spine that I picked up in a
garden center in AZ. But the problem is they decompose faster than a
sturdy branch... and a big hanging plant on a branch is at its best
just before the branch falls apart.

Loofa can decompose quite rappidly.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/main.php