I used to live down south and I had tried tree fern, bark, osmunda and lava rock. They all worked fine but bark is so readily available you might want to try that. It is also very easy to handle and comes in different sized-pieces (for seedlings or larger plants) You might want to "google" for your orchid repotting supplies as you likely will have a supplier down there that can sell you a big bag for a fraction of the cost that you are going to pay at HD or Lowes. An orchid supply house will also have things like, pots, pot clips,hangers, fertilizers, labels, and wood baskets, etc., for very reasonable prices compared to the box stores.

kjlyttle,
I am in Tampa. I grow all possible orchids, and I cannot imagine having having just one mix for all of them

Having grown orchids for 7+ years, with 400 right now, here is what I do/use:

1. I do not use bark anymore. It rots too fast with rainy nights and high humidity. But, if your orchids are in a controlled environment - a roof, for example - bark will do.

2. Catts - large flowered ones - are in tree fern mix.

Minicatts - mostly sphagnum moss or tree fern mix with sphag

Phals - clay pots or open baskets with sphagnum moss.
Vandaceous - open baskets with chunks of tree fern or
mounted on tree fern pieces/big oak branches. I do not like having them completely bareroot.

Cymbidiums: I use two mixes, and do not know which one I like more: one is coconut husk with large perlite and charcoal. Another one: Black Kow cow manure + perlite + pea gravel. Both seem to work well so far.

And then, there are phrags, paphs, and lots more...I just cannot have one mix for everyone :)

I think if you can control the supply of water, using bark will be OK...so, anywhere I have a treefern mix, bark mix can be used instead.

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Olya

olyagrove-stunning eye candy! Your babies are beauties!

WoW!!!!! Gorgeous Olya!

Olya, your orchids truly look gorgeous. I like your potting media suggestions. I use a lot of charcoal with tree fern fiber and aerolite for most things, but phals don't do as well with it, and vandas, I just keep in pots instead of baskets. We may have to reign you the orchid queen! Marcia, of course, is the coleus queen.

Anna

Hi
Always find it interesting that if ten people answer this question you get 10 different answers . Since s florida has at least 80 percent of the necessary climate there are many more options. My favorite is on tree limbs as you would find them in the wild. But has lots of drawbacks but then do does other grow methods.
As you get more experience, experiment with different
methods and media. I find orchids highly adaptable to many methods so the only question is which works best in a given situation.
All the types you name are entirely different families from different areas of the world .Obviously one method or media would not work.
gary

On noÂ.
First, thank you all for your replies and suggestions :)

Ok, back to my original thought - When I told my DH that I think that it is time to repot all of the orchids, he just rolled his eyes and said "That's another boat payment" (He's been bugging me to buy a boat!)

Now I see that he may just be right (and, obviously, I cannot tell HIM that! :)

By the way, all of the orchids are outside hanging under my coconut palms.
Is there a good place to get all of these supplies without breaking the bank completely (I know that the big box stores don't have all this).
Thanks again!
K

(I really wish there was someone who could come over and show/help me with all these orchids... most of them I inherited from my MIL when she moved from West Palm to Michigan!!!) That should be an option if you are a member of the AOS - I would definitely join for that!!!
K

Thanks guys for the compliments )

kjlyttle,
you can mount most of your plants, or grow them on a wooden raft, almost bareroot. I have some of my phals, catts and vandas mounted. Minimum of medium, no pots - just water them every day.

Olya

Olya, your plants are da bomb! Jusr gorgeous!
Gary, as always you are among the wisest of the wise!
My questions are these:
#1...WHY are you repotting? Are some of your plants OUTGROWING the present containers, or is the media breaking down? If the media is just breaking down, and the pot is still okay, and you have no bugs, you can use the same one again for the same plant

#2...for your vandas...are they presently in actual pots or in wood baskets? If the wood basket is just falling apart, all you need to do is get another slightly larger and put the whole shmeel into the new basket. If you like the look of the basket but want to ditch the wood, which deteriorates eventually, you can use the newer plastic slat baskets. The last thing I personally would do is put a vanda in a pot with media where I couldn't keep my eyes on the root system. That just my own preference though.

#3...there are other open medias you can use that are cheep and won't break the bank. We save all the corks from the wine we drink and I use that mixed with aliflor sometimes to pot orchids. I have a friend who pots stuff in nutshells. I also save strawberry baskets and put plants in them...cute little green thingies!

I never use bark, haven't for years. I mount everything I can, if it won't mount well, I pot it in as loose a media as possible

OLYA WASNT ABLE TO SEE YOUR PICS...