I am looking for some suggestions on a very fast drying potting media.
The majority of my plants are mounted, probably 95% of them. I built my
"shade house" a few weeks ago and I want to move the rest of my potted
orchids in there. The problem is, I water the mounted plants very
heavily every morning. I know this will be too much water for the
plants that are potted in a fir bark mix.
I was thinkiing something like aliflor or hydroton maybe mixed with
perlite and some tree fern fibers?

Thanks
Dustin

Dustin wrote:

I am looking for some suggestions on a very fast drying potting media.
The majority of my plants are mounted, probably 95% of them. I built my
"shade house" a few weeks ago and I want to move the rest of my potted
orchids in there. The problem is, I water the mounted plants very
heavily every morning. I know this will be too much water for the
plants that are potted in a fir bark mix.
I was thinkiing something like aliflor or hydroton maybe mixed with
perlite and some tree fern fibers?


How about just pea gravel? If you use aliflor or one of the more
porous kind of rock, you will trap moisture. A smooth gravel will dry
out more quickly.


Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
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 purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit

How about just pea gravel? If you use aliflor or one of the more
porous kind of rock, you will trap moisture. A smooth gravel will dry
out more quickly.

For mature Catts & Dends (and a few other things) I use plain old river rock
from HD.

Diana

Thanks for the suggestions, I will see what I can find around here.

Dustin



Diana Kulaga wrote:

How about just pea gravel? If you use aliflor or one of the more
porous kind of rock, you will trap moisture. A smooth gravel will dry
out more quickly.

For mature Catts & Dends (and a few other things) I use plain old river rock
from HD.

Diana

"Dustin " schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Thanks for the suggestions, I will see what I can find around here.

Diana Kulaga wrote:

How about just pea gravel? If you use aliflor or one of the more
porous kind of rock, you will trap moisture. A smooth gravel will dry
out more quickly.

For mature Catts & Dends (and a few other things) I use plain old river
rock
from HD.


How about looking for a river?
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html



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Not many rivers around here, just a whole lot of sal****er. I am on the
east coast of Florida.

Dustin


Reka wrote:

"Dustin " schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Thanks for the suggestions, I will see what I can find around here.

Diana Kulaga wrote:

How about just pea gravel? If you use aliflor or one of the more
porous kind of rock, you will trap moisture. A smooth gravel will dry
out more quickly.

For mature Catts & Dends (and a few other things) I use plain old river
rock
from HD.


How about looking for a river?

Be cautious when using "gravel." Sometimes it is crushed limestone.

Paul
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
nk.net...
How about just pea gravel? If you use aliflor or one of the more
porous kind of rock, you will trap moisture. A smooth gravel will dry
out more quickly.

For mature Catts & Dends (and a few other things) I use plain old river
rock
from HD.

Diana

Not many rivers around here, just a whole lot of sal****er. I am on the
east coast of Florida.

So am I. I would like to find the pea stone that Rob mentioned, at a decent
price, to mix with the Home Depot river rock. I can get it at various
growers, but at prices more suited to folks with only a few orchids. The
good news, of course, is that I can reuse the stuff after soaking in a
chlorine solution and rinsing well.

Diana

Dustin


Reka wrote:

"Dustin " schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Thanks for the suggestions, I will see what I can find around here.

Diana Kulaga wrote:

How about just pea gravel? If you use aliflor or one of the
more
porous kind of rock, you will trap moisture. A smooth gravel will
dry
out more quickly.

For mature Catts & Dends (and a few other things) I use plain old
river
rock
from HD.


How about looking for a river?

Diana Kulaga wrote:

Not many rivers around here, just a whole lot of sal****er. I am on the


east coast of Florida.

So am I. I would like to find the pea stone that Rob mentioned, at a decent
price, to mix with the Home Depot river rock. I can get it at various
growers, but at prices more suited to folks with only a few orchids. The
good news, of course, is that I can reuse the stuff after soaking in a
chlorine solution and rinsing well.



Don't know about where you live, but here you can buy pea gravel
(called such for its size and 'smoothness' more than anything else, I
imagine) at any landscape supply. If you walk in with a bucket, they
might even give you some for free.... Usually they sell it by the yard,
and a yard would probably keep you in business for a while. If they
didn't have that particular stone available, you would be able to find
something equivalent, I'm sure.

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
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 purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit

Don't know about where you live, but here you can buy pea gravel
(called such for its size and 'smoothness' more than anything else, I
imagine) at any landscape supply

Good idea, Rob.

Diana

I moved several of my phals and a couple of there NOID plants that I
have into pea gravel today. Im a little leary about it though. They
will be in my shadehouse/greenhouse setup that gets sprayed very heavily
for 10 minutes every morning. I am sure it will soak them good, but I
think I will increase the amount of time to 15 or 20 minutes.

Is it possible to grow paphs or phrags in pea gravel?

Dustin



Diana Kulaga wrote:

Don't know about where you live, but here you can buy pea gravel
(called such for its size and 'smoothness' more than anything else, I
imagine) at any landscape supply

Good idea, Rob.

Diana

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 18:59:31 -0400, (Dustin ) wrote:

I moved several of my phals and a couple of there NOID plants that I
have into pea gravel today. Im a little leary about it though. They
will be in my shadehouse/greenhouse setup that gets sprayed very heavily
for 10 minutes every morning. I am sure it will soak them good, but I
think I will increase the amount of time to 15 or 20 minutes.

Is it possible to grow paphs or phrags in pea gravel?

Dustin

Both do well in semi-hydro. Read more about it at FirstRays.com
Ray developed the trick. Our phrags in particular love
semi-hydro. My only problem is my Cym Golden Elf keeps growing
such massive roots it bursts the pot.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

As phals and phrags like a pretty constant moisture supply, misting heavily in the morning might not
be sufficient - on gray days, sure, but in sunny, warm conditions they might be dry totally be noon.

You might try filling a few pots with the gravel, put them along side of the plants and water them
via your misting. Wait a couple of hours and dump one out. If it's still damp, you're OK so far.
Wait a couple more hors and dump another, then another, etc., and you can develop a drying rate
curve for yourself. Then carefully note the conditions so you can compare it to extremes in your
normal range of growing conditions.

If you are looking for a "fast drying medium" equating it with "no root-rot," you're focusing
incorrectly on the moisture-holding capacity of the medium, rather than the airiness of it, and the
medium' tendency to decompose.

--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"Dustin " wrote in message ...
I moved several of my phals and a couple of there NOID plants that I
have into pea gravel today. Im a little leary about it though. They
will be in my shadehouse/greenhouse setup that gets sprayed very heavily
for 10 minutes every morning. I am sure it will soak them good, but I
think I will increase the amount of time to 15 or 20 minutes.

Is it possible to grow paphs or phrags in pea gravel?

Dustin



Diana Kulaga wrote:

Don't know about where you live, but here you can buy pea gravel
(called such for its size and 'smoothness' more than anything else, I
imagine) at any landscape supply

Good idea, Rob.

Diana

I wasnt having a problem with rotting roots. I just wanted to be able
to water all of my plants on the same schedule that I use for my mounted
plants. Only my largest phals and 4 or 5 other plants are potted and
the bark stays wet for days and days.

Dustin



Ray wrote:

As phals and phrags like a pretty constant moisture supply, misting
heavily in the morning might not be sufficient - on gray days, sure, but
in sunny, warm conditions they might be dry totally be noon.

You might try filling a few pots with the gravel, put them along side of
the plants and water them via your misting. Wait a couple of hours and
dump one out. If it's still damp, you're OK so far. Wait a couple more
hors and dump another, then another, etc., and you can develop a drying
rate curve for yourself. Then carefully note the conditions so you can
compare it to extremes in your normal range of growing conditions.

If you are looking for a "fast drying medium" equating it with "no
root-rot," you're focusing incorrectly on the moisture-holding capacity
of the medium, rather than the airiness of it, and the medium' tendency to
decompose.

Makes sense to me!

I visit several orchid forums, and this seemed like a familiar subject, and I apparently erroneously
connected a root rot question with yours.

--

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

.. . . . . . . . . . .
"Dustin " wrote in message ...
I wasnt having a problem with rotting roots. I just wanted to be able
to water all of my plants on the same schedule that I use for my mounted
plants. Only my largest phals and 4 or 5 other plants are potted and
the bark stays wet for days and days.

Dustin



Ray wrote:

As phals and phrags like a pretty constant moisture supply, misting
heavily in the morning might not be sufficient - on gray days, sure, but
in sunny, warm conditions they might be dry totally be noon.

You might try filling a few pots with the gravel, put them along side of
the plants and water them via your misting. Wait a couple of hours and
dump one out. If it's still damp, you're OK so far. Wait a couple more
hors and dump another, then another, etc., and you can develop a drying
rate curve for yourself. Then carefully note the conditions so you can
compare it to extremes in your normal range of growing conditions.

If you are looking for a "fast drying medium" equating it with "no
root-rot," you're focusing incorrectly on the moisture-holding capacity
of the medium, rather than the airiness of it, and the medium' tendency to
decompose.