Soil Moist

[merc]

I picked up a few seedling paphs from an orchid vendor of what I recognized as Soil Moist granules in the coconut fiber media mix. I thought it was brilliant since I struggle with spaghnum moss' extreme swings in moisture -- being too soggy to being so dry that it repels water. I use Soil Moist in my outdoor planters and was kicking myself for not thinking to use these for orchids sooner. There has to be a reason why more people don't use Soil Moist and I am eager to learn why. Let's hear it!

 

[big923cattleya]

Sphagnum moss is just so tricky to use. I use it almost exclusively because I am growing underlights. Inside, under lights, lower humidity because of winter heating can wreck havoc with your orchids.
But the bright side, assuming one can find a bright side using sphagnum, is that I have learned how to best use it. Once dried out, it can be troublesome to remoisten it. For me I find by taking the chill off of tap water and watering dried out sphagnum that way makes a noticeable difference. I water with 85-95 degree water and it seems to help. My cold tap water now is 38 degrees F. 38 to 85 is a huge difference!
Plus I have gotten into the habit of trying to make sure that I properly pack it around the roots. Not too loose that water really pours right through it when I pot water nor to tightly that it blocks water flow through the moss to the plants roots.
Sure, it takes more time but I watch the drainage flow through every single pot filled with mostly sphagnum. I think that now after 20 years of using sphagnum for certain orchids, I am finally getting a grip on how to use it, and water it correctly.

My collection is 85% Phrags., Bulbos and Phalaenopsis so I use a good deal of moss.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Well, I have never heard of Soil Moist until now, so that might be one reason why. haha
Also, a trick to get the bone dry moss instantly wet is to simply spray some water on it. Easy and simple as that.
No more pouring water and waste water and time

 

[abax]

Get sphag. very wet, squeeze it out a bit and don't pack
it tight. I only use sphag. on some Phals in wood baskets,
but it works for me.

 

[BrucherT]

Sphagnum moss is just so tricky to use. I use it almost exclusively because I am growing underlights. Inside, under lights, lower humidity because of winter heating can wreck havoc with your orchids.
But the bright side, assuming one can find a bright side using sphagnum, is that I have learned how to best use it. Once dried out, it can be troublesome to remoisten it. For me I find by taking the chill off of tap water and watering dried out sphagnum that way makes a noticeable difference. I water with 85-95 degree water and it seems to help. My cold tap water now is 38 degrees F. 38 to 85 is a huge difference!
Plus I have gotten into the habit of trying to make sure that I properly pack it around the roots. Not too loose that water really pours right through it when I pot water nor to tightly that it blocks water flow through the moss to the plants roots.
Sure, it takes more time but I watch the drainage flow through every single pot filled with mostly sphagnum. I think that now after 20 years of using sphagnum for certain orchids, I am finally getting a grip on how to use it, and water it correctly.

My collection is 85% Phrags., Bulbos and Phalaenopsis so I use a good deal of moss.

Curious what source/brand moss you use?