Joe,

I'm a ceramic engineer, so part of the basic course work is particle
packing - with the idea of making a super dense body, like a brick.
Obviously we're looking to go in the opposite direction with orchid media,
but the math's the same.

When I give my talks on Semi-hydro culture, folks are always amazed that a
room full of basketballs and ping-pong balls - or even BB's - gives the
same open volume. One guy - a HS Math teacher - did the calculation while I
spoke just to verify!

--

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


"jtill" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello Ray
After searching through my old Chem. E. books for cataylist packing
density calculations I finally read your site with all that info
already worked out by you! :-)). Anyway, I am slowly collecting the
methodology of orchid (your site is a great source) growing. If those
darn plants will just hold on for a while longer....
Joe T