I bought a bunch of Epiweb from Ray at firstrays.com I got a planter, 2
stanhopea baskets, and 1 lb of 3/4 inch cubes of the epiweb. (or whatever
minimum/size Ray sells... Whatever... Size isn't crucial to my comment)

My Report:

You can easily cut the cubes into smaller pieces if you want. It doesn't
dull an old pair of scissors. I wouldn't use my best shears on it, but
whatever you have in the desk drawer is OK, IMHO.

The stuff looks just about like the 3M scouring pads for cleaning pots and
pans, just less densely woven. (men: ask your wives what 'scouring' means,
*G*)

If you need to add air to your potting mix, this would be the way to go. If
you have a heavy hand in watering (and so need to add air to your mix) this
would be what to use to add into your mix. If you rarely water the claim
that it holds water isn't true... or at least not in my hands. YMMV.

The individual pieces easily interlock between pieces to wrap around roots,
especially thin roots, making a mass that one can easily pot up. Nice! More
pieces can be added to stabilize a plant in a pot. Nicer! I wonder if it
may not be a good way to trap a bit more humidity around Vandaceous plants
grown in a windowsill or under lights...in a plastic pot. It still open
enough to allow good air movement to the roots.

Personally, I'dd add it to my regular mix if I was looking to add more air
to the mix. I have 2 stanhopeas in "straight" epiweb and IMHO its too open
for a "straight" mix. YMMV, depending on your heavy handed watering method.
As you all may recall I rarely water... so it's a 'potting medium adjuct' in
my hands. I don't think I'll ever use it 'straight' in my application
again. I just don't water enough to keep it moist/humid.

Would I buy it again? Yes, I believe I would. I may be tempted to take a
few of my recalcitrant Ascocendas and put them into a plastic pot stabilized
potted with epiweb, just to see if they'll sprout new roots. But generally
I'll use it to open and extend my usual bark mix. This year I placed a
couple of vandas into coir becasue they just stopped growing/producing roots
(Jerry Rodder used it on some of his vandas to good effect) but I believe
epiweb might be better. (More air movement in the pot.)

I have 2 bulbophyllums in straight epiweb and open plastic net pots. I was
hoping the ability to have these get wet and then go dry would help these
bulbos recover. Court's still out on them. But they haven't dropped leaves
while others in straight sphag have... so I don't know what to say....
We'll see. Next step will be just to slip these epiwebbed plants into
plastic pots to see if a more closed space will keep more humidity at teh
roots to allow better root developement.

I have a Gongora histeronica in teh epiweb basket filled with 3/4 small bark
and 1/4 epiweb cubes (each cube cut into 4quarters). There are 2 new
growths coming up... good sign! Again, we'll see. The bark seems to add
teh moisture retention that straight epiweb doesn't.

Therefore it could be good added to s/moss for increased air to the roots.
Sometimes people will follow what Alan Koch says about repotting.
(Personally I'm a believer.) Koch uses clay pots (they breathe) and S/Moss
(for moisture retention) but he leaves a 3/4" to 1" space at the bottom of
the pot (crucial for air to the roots). With epiweb one may not need the 1"
space if one interweaves teh epiweb into the moss, or one can fill the
bottom 1" with epiweb for drainage... I'm considering using it on some
masdevallias, mixed into the s/moss (again, clay pots).

So, if one was to ask me what epiweb was to be used for I'd say adding air
to a mix. This is necessary if one has a heavy hand in watering, like if
one routinely rots out roots. This could be a God send in those cases. Use
your regular mix, add in some epiweb cubes and voila! You're golden. If
you are like me and regularly forgets one's orchids then its too open for
you.

That said, I've been favorable impressed with the PrimeAgra that Ray sells
on his page. I have 3 plants that I put into S/H... all of which were
critical in my collection...... one is an awarded paph! All of which are
making comebacks.... So I put 3 expensive varigated Chinese cymbidiums I
almost killed into s/h, and they haven't croaked yet... so we'll see. But
I'm hopeful. Moreso than any other potting method I've used to date.

OK I've blathered on enough. I'm off on vacation. Talk about not
watering!! We'll see how things develop.

Happy 4th!

K Barrett

Thanks for the feedback, Kathy.

I'm right with you in the experimental stage myself. This is the first time
I ever started carrying a product before actually using it myself, but the
concept of tree-fern replacement and just looking at a sample sold me well
enough to give it a try.

Your right about the airiness - can't be beat. It DOES hold water - little
droplets in some of the spaces in the web (let's hear it for surface
tension) - but it's not a lot, so frequent watering would be needed if used
alone, but at least there's no fear of EVER overwatering!

So far I have a leafless species on a mount, an oncidium in an EpiWeb basket
filled with the EpiWeb medium, and both look pretty good. The oncid was
dying on a cork bark mount, but has shot those fine roots all through the
EpiWeb in a matter of just a couple of weeks. Like you, I was impressed at
how you can firmly pot up a plant without fear of it being too compact.

By the way, the stuff basically IS those 3M scrubbing pads, or maybe a
better comparison is the pads on those big rotary floor scrubbers the school
custodians used, but less dense as you stated, but also formulated for a
specific hydrophilicity and UV stabilization.

[Hydrophilicity. Isn't that the act of drowning a desperate housewife?]
--

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


"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
I bought a bunch of Epiweb from Ray at firstrays.com I got a planter, 2
stanhopea baskets, and 1 lb of 3/4 inch cubes of the epiweb. (or whatever
minimum/size Ray sells... Whatever... Size isn't crucial to my comment)

My Report:

You can easily cut the cubes into smaller pieces if you want. It doesn't
dull an old pair of scissors. I wouldn't use my best shears on it, but
whatever you have in the desk drawer is OK, IMHO.

The stuff looks just about like the 3M scouring pads for cleaning pots and
pans, just less densely woven. (men: ask your wives what 'scouring' means,
*G*)

If you need to add air to your potting mix, this would be the way to go.
If you have a heavy hand in watering (and so need to add air to your mix)
this would be what to use to add into your mix. If you rarely water the
claim that it holds water isn't true... or at least not in my hands.
YMMV.

The individual pieces easily interlock between pieces to wrap around
roots, especially thin roots, making a mass that one can easily pot up.
Nice! More pieces can be added to stabilize a plant in a pot. Nicer! I
wonder if it may not be a good way to trap a bit more humidity around
Vandaceous plants grown in a windowsill or under lights...in a plastic
pot. It still open enough to allow good air movement to the roots.

Personally, I'dd add it to my regular mix if I was looking to add more air
to the mix. I have 2 stanhopeas in "straight" epiweb and IMHO its too
open for a "straight" mix. YMMV, depending on your heavy handed watering
method. As you all may recall I rarely water... so it's a 'potting medium
adjuct' in my hands. I don't think I'll ever use it 'straight' in my
application again. I just don't water enough to keep it moist/humid.

Would I buy it again? Yes, I believe I would. I may be tempted to take
a few of my recalcitrant Ascocendas and put them into a plastic pot
stabilized potted with epiweb, just to see if they'll sprout new roots.
But generally I'll use it to open and extend my usual bark mix. This year
I placed a couple of vandas into coir becasue they just stopped
growing/producing roots (Jerry Rodder used it on some of his vandas to
good effect) but I believe epiweb might be better. (More air movement in
the pot.)

I have 2 bulbophyllums in straight epiweb and open plastic net pots. I was
hoping the ability to have these get wet and then go dry would help these
bulbos recover. Court's still out on them. But they haven't dropped
leaves while others in straight sphag have... so I don't know what to
say.... We'll see. Next step will be just to slip these epiwebbed plants
into plastic pots to see if a more closed space will keep more humidity at
teh roots to allow better root developement.

I have a Gongora histeronica in teh epiweb basket filled with 3/4 small
bark and 1/4 epiweb cubes (each cube cut into 4quarters). There are 2 new
growths coming up... good sign! Again, we'll see. The bark seems to add
teh moisture retention that straight epiweb doesn't.

Therefore it could be good added to s/moss for increased air to the roots.
Sometimes people will follow what Alan Koch says about repotting.
(Personally I'm a believer.) Koch uses clay pots (they breathe) and
S/Moss (for moisture retention) but he leaves a 3/4" to 1" space at the
bottom of the pot (crucial for air to the roots). With epiweb one may not
need the 1" space if one interweaves teh epiweb into the moss, or one can
fill the bottom 1" with epiweb for drainage... I'm considering using it on
some masdevallias, mixed into the s/moss (again, clay pots).

So, if one was to ask me what epiweb was to be used for I'd say adding air
to a mix. This is necessary if one has a heavy hand in watering, like if
one routinely rots out roots. This could be a God send in those cases.
Use your regular mix, add in some epiweb cubes and voila! You're golden.
If you are like me and regularly forgets one's orchids then its too open
for you.

That said, I've been favorable impressed with the PrimeAgra that Ray sells
on his page. I have 3 plants that I put into S/H... all of which were
critical in my collection...... one is an awarded paph! All of which are
making comebacks.... So I put 3 expensive varigated Chinese cymbidiums I
almost killed into s/h, and they haven't croaked yet... so we'll see. But
I'm hopeful. Moreso than any other potting method I've used to date.

OK I've blathered on enough. I'm off on vacation. Talk about not
watering!! We'll see how things develop.

Happy 4th!

K Barrett

"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
snip
The stuff looks just about like the 3M scouring pads for cleaning pots and
pans, just less densely woven. (men: ask your wives what 'scouring' means,
*G*)
snip

I asked my husband what 'scouring' means, and he stopped caring for the
child long enough to explain.

Joanna

I ordered a slab of epiweb to mount a few plants. It's very easy to work
with. It may have just been the shape of the slab, but the stuff reminded
me of a furnace filter.

Chris