Well it started in Florida really. Me, an orchid judge, killing Phalaenopsis like a World War 2 ace!! I couldn’t use bark since down there with a rainy season, it was rotting inside of 6 months!! So I went to a media that wouldn’t completely break down.
I chose Leica, charcoal and perlite mostly. The rains could come and my Phalaes seemed to thrive. My Catts loved it! So here in Michigan under lights, things dried out very, very quickly. Household humidity is 19% during the winter. Phalaes seemed to demand water every day! I haven’t got time for that so I played with this mixture trying to extend the time between waterings.
I came up with this Oreo business about two years ago. My Phragmipediums seem to be thriving. I am watering generally once every 5 days and feeding every third watering.
My Phalaenopsis get water twice a week or every 4 days. They are doing pretty good too!
Well, it seems to be working well for me. My Phragmipediums go outside for five months, May through September, and when they come back inside, they seem to be in very good health.
A good friend of mine out in California, north Bay Area, had trouble keeping his plants wet enough. He travels a lot each day, works late and has trouble maintaining a watering schedule. He is trying this method on his slippers and Phalaenopsis and he reports much better growth and flowering. He tried it starting 9-10 months ago.
