Soak it in hot water over night. That helps a bit with its hydrophobia. I
also use a wetting agent when I rinse and mix it with other stuff. I do
this by the cubic yard now. The wetting agent is called, AquaPore, I think,
but a bit of physan would also help do the same thing. So would a bit of
dish soap, but that would add to rinsing requirements.

Of course, once it gets over it's fear of water, it starts breaking down.

"TRAINMAN9" wrote in message
...
I recently repotted my greenhouse using Rexius Bark mixtures. This stuff is
kiln dried and reminded me of the old Wharehouser bark that I had in the
late
70's. Anyway it is very hard to keep wet and seems to dry out fast. The
mixtures for the paphs contains sand but the rest of the plants are potted
in a
mix of bark, large perlite and charcoal. None of the pots seems to hold
much
water and it seems it will take a long time for the bark to break down.