"BruceM" wrote in message
...
In your personal experience, what is a good medium for Dendrobiums and
Cattleya's?

I have several new ones and a few older ones. The older ones were
repotted in Better Gro Phalaeonopsis mix, a general purpose mix of Fir
bark (about the size of a quaerter), hardwood charcoal, and a bark like
peat material . BG had several other mixes for orchids, the big difference
being no Peat in the others and one had a smaller bark chunks.


The cats seemt to do okay in it. They grow, new shoots, Several Kekei's ,
no flowers on any of the older ones (on one sI have had 1.5 years ). The
dendroibiums appear to hate it. Most of them sit there, a couple have new
growth. The Phal's go crazy in it. Looking at the books, it seems this
should be a okay mix, but experience is always better.

Also, for watering: In general do Cat's and Den's like more water than
Phal's? I water them on the same schedule, and some are oky, other show
signs of needing more water such as wrinkled new growth, shriveled
pseudobulbs, etc

As already said there is no answer for the absolute correct medium? However
you will have to use what is available to you and based on your growing
enviroment.
Even though this sort of response is correct it is frustrating as it doesnt
really answer your question.
I use bark,spagnum moss and perlite at say a 3-1-1 ratio i would add a
little charcoal to if it was readily available for me,but you can adjust to
your requirements,if you are worried about overwatering you could add more
perlite for instance and use a chunky bark.If your plants dry out too
quickly add more moss and don`t forget to feed and check the ph of your
water.However ph and feed strength is something else you may or maynot want
to dabble with.
I think this bark mix is hard to beat but obviously is a personel choice, i
believe it is a good staring point for anyone.
I grow catts,dens,coelogyne,masdevallias,cymbidiums all based on this mix.
Hope this helps
Keith
UK