Stuff to grow them in...

When I am asked about my growing medium it is a tough answer...because it changes often. I live in a very humid environment....and more and more I am watering less and less.

1. Perlite in the bottom of the pot. - A great concept for me, but I found that the perlite compacts into a semi-cement like mass which allows water to pass, but not really a happy environment for roots. Now I put perlite in the bottom of the pot WITH Hydroton or chunks of Orchid Bark....

2. Spagnum Moss/Peat Moss for water retention. I have found Orchid Bark mulch (Whitney Farms) is great!!!! It has a range of
'powder' to chunks and does not dry out as fast as spagnum.

3. Even with my new mix, I water less. This is what my mix looks like....tmorrow I 'll post picture of the components...gotta go nightnight!!

Carol, I love the looks of that mix! I have all the necessary components except I have not found a good source of the bark yet around this area. I'm going to google Whitney Farms to see if they mail order, although I would prefer not to pay postage on something that should be available to me locally.

Doug

Carol,
Beautiful mix ya got there! Now, I have a question for you. I have some hoyas from a certain "pimpette" that sells amazing hoyas, but I find myself needing to water ALL THE TIME. I haven't repotted into bigger pots (no signs of being rootbound), and I haven't changed the mix to my "less chunky" mix. Maybe I should? I live in the NE where there is no humidity (I add a tiny bit by using pebble trays, but I'm not so good with keeping them filled). Do you think I should use a less chunky mix due to my environment?
Thanks!
Gabi

Gabi... In a word....YES. However, before you do, check the middle to the bottom of the pot first. If it is needing water, then you might want to mix more soil retention material in it...but, IHO, try to stay away from spagnum/peat moss....and try bark mulch. Peat, when it dries, is so hard to re-wet. I would just add MORE of the water retaining bark.

OK, here is a photo of the components of the mix...

Top Left - Whitney Farms bark mulch. NEXT GOING RIGHT - Fine Orchid Bark TOP RIGHT - Black Gold Orchid Bark

Middle Left - Black volcanic Cinder, MIDDLE - Two sizes of Hydroton FAR RIGHT #3 perlite

Bottom - Small Gravel (which I don't use, but a friend of mine grows a lot of epiphytes in it) and MEDIUM ORCHID Bark

I started out using the small Hydroton mixed 50/50 with the small Orchid Bark for my ICU hoyas... Now I am using a mix of the Perlite and the Hydroton (larger size) to give more Oxygen to the roots.

For my bigger plants i am using the medium sized bark in the bottom of the pot...with some Perlite and I use the bigger chunks of everything else.

I think that even marbles or those small glass balls used to support flower arrangements would work. The goal here is to all air to the roots....

Doug...you might check with Whitney and see who their local distributor is.... Or check the bigBox stores. I found it at WalMart.

OH...here is a pot I tipped out when potting up starts. I used small perlite in the bottom of this pot and it has stuck together like cement. Water will run thru it, but roots can't find any air in there. This is the reason I am adding other bits to keep it broken up...