"TRAINMAN9" wrote in message
...
Why in the world would you want Rexius bark? Its the worst that I have
ever encountered...leaves your fingers full of splinters, rots at an
accelerated rate, and kills paphs faster than Roundup.

You are the first one to mention anything like this. There are a number of
growers using this bark with excellent results. The Little Greenhouse in
MD, in
business for over 30 years, and one of the premier growers of paphs swears
by
Rexius bark.

No one is questioning your ability as a grower, but this isn't the first
time I have seen remarks like Eric's. In fact, they seem to represent the
common wisdon at the orchid societies I have visited here. It is almost
certainly due to the two of you having very different experiences with it.
One of my references gives information that might help explain the
difference of experience. It said that fir bark was at one time the medium
of choice, but as time passed, the general quality of the bark available
declined, leading to a situation where many growers began actively searching
for an alternative, which turned out to be coconut husk chips. The problems
that author mentioned associated with bark were precisely those you have
identified with Sequioia bark and what Eric attributed to Rexius bark. Now,
not being an expert in the history of the orchid growing industry, I can't
comment on the competence of that particular author, but if he is right, the
information he has provided could explain why so many growers these days
have had bad experience with bark while you and your colleagues have had
good success with it.

It is no surprise that you and the growers you mention have had great
success with it. After all, you are all experts and presumably you would
not be buying poor quality bark.

I use coconut husk chips, and that with great success with my catts and
dends, but my phals have not liked 100% cocnut husk chips any better than
100% sphagnum (they're still alive, but not doing as well as they ought), so
I'll be setting up an experiment in which I'll mix the two. It is a
question of what will work for me in my conditions, and how easy it is to
get and at what price. At the price I saw on the web page for which Wendy
gave an url, I won't be buying Rexius bark any time soon regardless of how
good it is.

I have only one paph, and it came in what looks like cocnut husk chips mixed
with something else which I can't identify (it looks like tiny stones, but
I'm not sure what it is), so I can't comment on how well it'll do in the
long run, and since it's last flower has faded just recently, I haven't
gotten around to repotting it yet, so at present I have no idea as to the
condition of its roots.

Cheers

Ted