What are you growing your phrags in?

[e-spice]

I'm just curious what type of potting medium and type of pots everyone here grows their phrags in.

I use PrimeAgra and clear plastic pots.

Thanks for any info,
e-spice

 

[Gilda]

We use a bark mix, or we have used straight bark, and are experimenting with straight cypress bark, and that looks promising. We use clear pots with a reservoir for water. We have been using this for 3 -4 years and have great results. We just undid a Brecko Nitament that had been growing this way for 3 years. No rotten roots, no leaf tip burn...a mass of roots .It had 4 spikes this year !

 

[Candace]

Spagnum moss. I had them growing in s/h for a year and had many losses. If the spag. is kept moist enough either from standing in a small amount of water or watered frequently, my phrags love it.

 

[parvi_17]

I grow in LECA in clear plastic pots (s/h).

 

[goldenrose]

Bark mix & plastic pots, whatever they fit in, color makes no difference.
Some sit in shallow trays.

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

bark mix or dyna-rock or perlite, all in plastic pots.

 

[SlipperFan]

Diatomite, CHC and sponge rock -- my own mix -- in clear plastic pots.

 

[smartie2000]

I grow mostly in sphag in plastic cups if small or in larger plastic containers.
Also I have phrag wallisii and popowii in bark, and schlimii in bark with lime. I might move kovachii into bark too with lime, right now she is in sphag with lime.

All of them sit in water. The sphag soaks up the water quickly and it resevoir dries out fast (before next watering), faster than S/H resevoirs.

 

[kentuckiense]

We use a bark mix, or we have used straight bark, and are experimenting with straight cypress bark, and that looks promising. We use clear pots with a reservoir for water. We have been using this for 3 -4 years and have great results. We just undid a Brecko Nitament that had been growing this way for 3 years. No rotten roots, no leaf tip burn...a mass of roots .It had 4 spikes this year !

I do it this way, too. No complaints so far.

 

[Phrag-Plus]

Chilian spagnum base mix with perlite, small bark and charcoal... Over 4 inches pots or the caudatum alliance same mix with diatomite and/or Leca. To get better aeration. Styrofaom peanut and plastic pots...

 

[biothanasis]

I don't have phrags... LOL

 

[shakkai]

Mine are actually in large rockwool cubes with a top dressing of small bark chips. This means they need to be repotted each year, but with the young seedlings that I've got, that's a good thing anyway as they seem to put out a growth spurt after repotting.

I will have to consider the best medium for more mature plants, as I have a feeling they won't like yearly repotting quite so much.

All of them sit in a reservoir of rain water. And they are all in clear plastic pots.

 

[SlipperKing]

I use a 50/50 mix of CHC and bark plus sponage rock and charcoal all except for the largest plants are in air cone pots. I add oyster shell to some and sandstone to others.

 

[e-spice]

We use a bark mix, or we have used straight bark, and are experimenting with straight cypress bark, and that looks promising. We use clear pots with a reservoir for water. We have been using this for 3 -4 years and have great results. We just undid a Brecko Nitament that had been growing this way for 3 years. No rotten roots, no leaf tip burn...a mass of roots .It had 4 spikes this year !

Sounds too good to be true. I'm definitely ruling this out. oke:

Seriously - I imagine bark & reservoir method keeps the medium at the top of of the pot more moist that it is with LECA? I am starting to wonder if the black leaves on my new growth are due to the new growths not getting enough moisture.

e-spice

 

[SlipperKing]

Sounds too good to be true. I'm definitely ruling this out. oke:

Seriously - I imagine bark & reservoir method keeps the medium at the top of of the pot more moist that it is with LECA? I am starting to wonder if the black leaves on my new growth are due to the new growths not getting enough moisture.

e-spice

Probably so E-spice

 

[Gilda]

Phrag in cypress bark

Here is our phrag experiment in cypress bark. This phrag is putting out nice new leaves,too. Happy roots + Happy leaves !

 

[goldenrose]

Here is our phrag experiment in cypress bark. This phrag is putting out nice new leaves,too. Happy roots + Happy leaves !

That looks great! Where do you get it? The same thing used for mulching gardens, etc.? I've been repotting paphs, haven't started on the phrags yet!

 

[Gilda]

That looks great! Where do you get it? The same thing used for mulching gardens, etc.? I've been repotting paphs, haven't started on the phrags yet!

Owens Orchids in NC has started selling this...much cleaner and more uniform than what you buy for your garden. I don't know where they get it.

 

[swamprad]

So many people talk about how great s/h is for phrags. My Jason Fischer monster has done fantastic in s/h, all the rest just sulk, get brown leaf tips, and generally hate me. I have no idea why. I followed Candace's lead and repotted all the phrags (except for JF, why tamper with success?) into sphagnum a few months ago, and so far, everybody is happy and thriving. I am very intrigued with Gilda's method, though, and may try that in the future. Potting in sphagnum is not easy, a bark mix/semi-hydro combination would be much easier, and could possibly be repotted every other year, rather than annually, as with the sphagnum (which breaks down rather quickly).

 

[Candace]

Glad your phrags are happier now, Mark. Yes, the spag. can get pretty nasty after a year.