tbirdracing wrote:



I've been using Aussie Gold Orchid Mix for just over a year, and can
report wonderful results here in Southern California. There's some
interesting chat on gardenweb.com about it too. I'm not sure if it's
available outside the US but it's been available here for a while (in
fact it's made in San Diego). My orchids have never looked better -
great roots, new growths all over the place and this year I had the
best blooms I have ever had. They seemed to last longer too, but that
may have been my imagination!
Elizabeth




I have a bag which I haven't opened yet. Somebody bought a bunch
and was giving them away at cost. My only observations so far. 1)
Expensive!!! You don't get a lot. I can't imagine anybody with more
than a dozen plants being able to afford to grow everything in it. And
heavy, so unless you can pick it up locally it is going to cost a
fortune to ship. 2) it looks like a pretty standard peat based mix with
some rock (diatomite?) and other stuff thrown in. Again, I haven't used
it this particular one yet, but I have used a lot of peat mixes. A
friend and I wrote an article in Orchids (back before it was Orchids...)
about peat mixes. I think that was in 1996? Plus or minus a couple years.

Not knocking Aussie Gold, but unless the price comes way down, I'd
recommend making your own peat mix. Or buying bales of Promix HP. The
newest 'peat' mix on the block is a Scotts product which is based on
coir (coconut) fiber, not peat (perhaps this Aussie stuff uses coir
too?). Dick Wells (Hilltop) swears by this stuff, and he is the guy who
started me growing in Promix. Of course Dick adds a bunch of stuff to
it. I can send the recipe if anybody is interested.

Of course in any peat mix you will see a huge improvement in your
phalaenopsis blooming and growth. Until you kill the plants by
overwatering them... It is a bit of a learning curve. Easy on the
front side (plants take off quickly), hard on the back side (plants die
quickly after about a year, if you haven't figured out the watering
routine yet). And peat mixes work best in areas of the country where
you don't have cold winters (unless you grow under lights, where it
doesn't matter), since they can stay awfully wet in the dark dreary
Michigan snowmobile season.

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
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