# Peatmoss plus perlite and more media



## gego (Jun 12, 2016)

Any feedback from those who tried it or still using it?
Thanks for sharing info or just comments, negative or positive. 

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## gonewild (Jun 12, 2016)

gego said:


> Any feedback from those who tried it or still using it?
> Thanks for sharing info or just comments, negative or positive.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk



For growing what types?


I had great results on fast growers like Phals, Catts ect.
Paphs did poorly but at the time I did not think to use mostly perlite.
That was 45 years ago when I thought Paphs grew in the ground (dirt).
You have to water very carefully and never ever compact the media.


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## gego (Jun 12, 2016)

For paphs. 

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## gego (Jun 12, 2016)

Say, 25-30% of the stuff with perlite, maybe charcoal or lava rock/stones. 

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## gonewild (Jun 12, 2016)

For Paphs I would try it at about 20% peat and 80% perlite. But that's just a guess. Just add enough peat to the perlite so that it will not need water for 4 or 5 days. Thats using coarse chunky peat moss.

Maybe someone with more recent experience will give you advice.


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## gego (Jun 12, 2016)

I' talking about the chopped Canadian moss, almost like soil. 
I hope somebody already tried it, good or bad??????

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## abax (Jun 12, 2016)

For Paphs., I'd stay strictly away from any medium that
compacts. Some people seem to do well with Pro Mix,
but all it's ever done for me is rotted roots.


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## gego (Jun 13, 2016)

Thanks. I was just curious. I saw some old posts on this topic so i wonder about the result. 

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## Stone (Jun 13, 2016)

It works fine. You need to adjust the pH with dolomite. Rinse the perlite and add just a light dusting of peat. That's all you need. In other words, probably less than 5% peatmoss. (maybe even less. Too much and it will rot roots) Then slowly add lime/dolomite until you get to about pH6 more or less.
I don't use that media but I have bought some very healthy Paph seedlings which were growing in it.


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## gego (Jun 13, 2016)

I'm kind of curious to try in an open netted basket. I will use a fine net to keep the peat moss from going out through the sides and bottom. Just wondering how to keep the stuff from settling on the bottom.

Thanks Mike


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## terryros (Jun 13, 2016)

I use a mix of milled sphagnum moss and Growstones for all of my collection. The Growstones alkalinity competes with the moss acidity, resulting in a pour-through pH that is about right for most orchids. I vary the amount of Growstones based on how quickly I want the media to dry out but about 60% Growstones still leaves me watering once a week at the most in an indoor environment. The Growstones also provide some silica and calcium (not sure about magnesium).


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## Ray (Jun 13, 2016)

Terry, I really doubt that Growstones are providing a significant amount of anything. Glass is water soluble, but significantly so only at high pH levels.


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## gego (Jun 13, 2016)

terryros said:


> I use a mix of milled sphagnum moss and Growstones for all of my collection. The Growstones alkalinity competes with the moss acidity, resulting in a pour-through pH that is about right for most orchids. I vary the amount of Growstones based on how quickly I want the media to dry out but about 60% Growstones still leaves me watering once a week at the most in an indoor environment. The Growstones also provide some silica and calcium (not sure about magnesium).
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD



Thanks Terry. So it is possible then and as long as the media doesn't stay soggy but moist, the roots will be fine? I experimented mixing with perlite (with no plants yet) but the perlite is so lite, it doesn't seem like it can support the plant. So something heavy like growstones or maybe marbles? LECA is probably too wet. Are the peatmoss sticking to the roots?

I bought this product from Canada at Home Depot that is made of peatmoss, dolomite and perlite. I was gonna try to use it for acidic species.

Maybe add lava rock for roth? 

After a while, does the peat moss settle down to the bottom? I will try a few mixes and place then in my gh for a few watering.


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## theorchidzone (Jun 13, 2016)

I would think it is a bad idea; however, my view is probably not correct.
Last year, I bought a blackish leuco in bloom at Redlands from Odom's who aren't known for Paphs [pic link at bottom]. They had gotten some excess flasks from Hanajima a couple years back.

The plant was planted in what appears to be Promix (so peat based; not sure if it is exactly Promix, but it is definitely a commercial premade mix; it has nutricote slow release type fertilizer also!) in a small pot with peanuts in the bottom. So not a very deep layer of medium. I didn't repot it. A year later the plant is going just great!. Leaves are super turgid. Growing fast. So go figure. I will try some brachys in this regiment. I think the key to this regiment is not to overpot. Always good advice, but particularly with such medium.

As everyone knows brachys are touchy to start with, so I was stunned and impressed.

JC 

https://www.facebook.com/theorchidz...7992741918121/948757861841606/?type=3&theater


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## C. Rothschild (Jun 13, 2016)

I occasionally buy a mix that has peatmoss,lavarock, charcoal, bark, and a bunch of other junk in it. Peatmoss can turn muddy but if you use just a small pinch broken up I think it's great. It always attracts those annoying fungus gnats though. I think you can sterilize it in a microwave but be careful not to get burned.


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## terryros (Jun 13, 2016)

Ray, something about the preparation of the Growstones results in some availability of calcium carbonate, if I am remembering correctly. I think this leads to the alkalinity. I haven't seen an analysis of how much silica might be available. The Growstones have substance and porosity but they don't float much for me, as compared to Perlite.

I grew Paphs and other genera in pure sphagnum moss, but the pour-through pH was always more acidic than I thought best and I couldn't water/fertilize more often than every 2+ weeks for many plants in order to have the media dry out enough. The mix of Growstones and milled moss has shortened this time up, but still leaves me able to leave the plants alone for a two week vacation without anything drying out too much.

So, in my environment indoors the GrowStone/sphagnum mix gives the right amount of moisture retention and a better pH result. I still use lemon juice (5 mL/gallon) with my feedings to further lower the pH and maybe to get benefits from citrate. I checked the pour-through pH today (after calibrating my pH meter) with a Phrag Robin Redbreast flavum currently in bloom and the pH was 6.5. I am in a fertilizer phase where I am using about 100 ppm N with K-Lite with each feeding so the pour through was about an hour after fertilization with this and the lemon juice. The fertilizer solution itself had a pH of 4.8.

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## gego (Jun 14, 2016)

Thank you all. I will do some experiment and will post some progress here.


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## RodN (Jun 14, 2016)

Quite a few people I know use it for Catts and Oncids. The mix they usually use is 6 parts perlite, 1 part peat and 2 parts crushed polystyrene which helps it stop setting. All add dolomite.
The few who have tried this mix for Paphs have generally had disasters. I use the mix successfully for Miltoniopsis and have tried it on a few Paphs one year but although they looked all right on top the roots were poor.
The person who suggested it was THE thing for Paphs has now moved his surviving plants to bark.


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## gonewild (Jun 14, 2016)

From what I remember it was necessary to repot every year when growing in the peat mix. The key was to keep the mix fluffy and the roots separated.


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## gego (Jun 14, 2016)

RodN said:


> Quite a few people I know use it for Catts and Oncids. The mix they usually use is 6 parts perlite, 1 part peat and 2 parts crushed polystyrene which helps it stop setting. All add dolomite.
> The few who have tried this mix for Paphs have generally had disasters. I use the mix successfully for Miltoniopsis and have tried it on a few Paphs one year but although they looked all right on top the roots were poor.
> The person who suggested it was THE thing for Paphs has now moved his surviving plants to bark.



Never mind,,,, then. 

Thanks Rod


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