We haven't found it necessary to be picky about color, and when we get the
red, it stays red for years.

Fortunately, we also haven't found it necessary to sterilize the stuff --
otherwise, the price of orchids would have to go up G!

What I would like to come up with is a fast, easy way to sift it for size
....

But lava rock does have benefits other than low cost -- we find we can pot a
little larger, giving ourselves an extra year between repottings, and when
we do repot we can just "pot on" rather than removing all the old media as
we have to do with bark or moss, all of which leads to less repotting
time/labor and less "transplant shock."

The one potential downside that I know of is the potential for salt
build-up. This shouldn't happen if your water is decent, you're not going
crazy with fertilizer, and you are drenching thoroughly at each watering.
If it does, you will notice a white crust on the top rocks in the pots --
this is a danger sign.

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Sekanek" wrote in message
m...
I use the lava rock as well for some of my orchids , but to be on the safe
side I wash it , and I boil it ...to sterilize it , better safe than sorry
as Mom used to say !
Mostly I grow catts. in it, seems to work fine for me.
Good Growing
Todd
"Debra Lewis" wrote in message
...
I ran across some bags of lava rock used for landscaping borders at Home
Depot the other day. Can you use this for orchids? If so, does it need
any special prepping or treating?

Thanks,
Debra