Hi

I saw several recent references in orchid literature in the US for
using/recommending composted Monterey Pine bark from New Zealand for potting
orchids. Does anyone know where you can buy this in the US? With Rexius
bark being somewhat hard to find I thought of trying the Monterey bark - if
I can locate some.

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks

Charles VanDyke

On Feb 6, 4:54 pm, Charles VanDyke wrote:
Hi

I saw several recent references in orchid literature in the US for
using/recommending composted Monterey Pine bark from New Zealand for potting
orchids. Does anyone know where you can buy this in the US? With Rexius
bark being somewhat hard to find I thought of trying the Monterey bark - if
I can locate some.


There's a place in NZ that sells it by the ton -literally- but other
than that, I can't find any other vendor, at least not in a brief
check on Google.

There's a product called Black Gold that is made of composted pine
bark, but I can't find any reference to what species of pine is used
in it.

J. Del Col (who uses Diatomite)

On 9 Feb 2007 12:53:29 -0800 in . com jadel wrote:

There's a place in NZ that sells it by the ton -literally- but other
than that, I can't find any other vendor, at least not in a brief
check on Google.

There's a product called Black Gold that is made of composted pine
bark, but I can't find any reference to what species of pine is used
in it.

J. Del Col (who uses Diatomite)

Yeah, if you need a 20' cargo container of it...
http://www.moutere.com/bark
For the quantities used in the study that probably triggered this thread...
Contact Erik Runkle at MSU.
His email is buried in
http://www.hrt.msu.edu/faculty/Runkl...20part%202.pdf


Actually this bring up an off thread question.
How do folks that continually tinker with potting materials
obtain their inital samples for testing? And when they make
the move to being distributors, is it normal to end up with
a couple cargo containers of the material?
--
Chris Dukes
elfick willg: you can't use dell to beat people, it wouldn't stand up
to the strain... much like attacking a tank with a wiffle bat

Yeah, if you need a 20' cargo container of it...
http://www.moutere.com/bark
For the quantities used in the study that probably triggered this thread...
Contact Erik Runkle at MSU.
His email is buried in
http://www.hrt.msu.edu/faculty/Runkl...20part%202.pdf


Actually this bring up an off thread question.
How do folks that continually tinker with potting materials
obtain their inital samples for testing? And when they make
the move to being distributors, is it normal to end up with
a couple cargo containers of the material?


I tinker quite a bit, and when I find something I think might work I go
into research mode. Unfortunately, my usual research is the internet,
and a lot of the weirder things I want to try aren't easily found, even
on the internet. I did find a very nice lightweight aggregate at a
landscape supply company, never hurts to check at the rock yard for
orchid potting materials.

I am not a 'distributor' of anything, since I can barely get my act
together to ship plants, much less supplies. I might be listed as a
distributor by a few wholesalers, since yes, the only way to get some of
these things is to buy in bulk. I haven't bought a container of
anything yet. I did order two pallets (80 bags) of diatomite a year or
so ago, which would last me a decade (although I have sold quite a few
bags locally). The lightweight aggregate I found I ended up ordering 40
yards of (it cost the same to deliver 5 or 40 yards, might as well), it
is in a large pile next to the greenhouse. I also ordered 100 bags of
MSU fertilzer, even though I only go through a half dozen a year (I also
sell a few of those locally), and 100kg of cork slabs from Portugal. If
you have space to store things (I have a 1500sq foot barn), it pays to
buy in bulk.



--
Rob's Rules: http://littlefrogfarm.com
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit