I pot with it for most of my Phals and find that it works just fine for my growing conditions. The point of orchid mix is for it to be airy and light. I don't find a lack of uniformity to be an issue, since as air plants orchid can grow in virtually anything provided you accommodate their needs. Nick did a fascinating experiment with his phals - http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1551788/phaelanopsis-experiment?n=104

Just soak it well overnight. It should be fine for a Phal.

Jane

A lot of people use it with good results, but I looked at the reviews online, and one of them said the mix did not resemble an orchid mix, and it was peaty and fine. Now, all the other reviews said the product was great, so that one bad review was probably a fluke (and the product), and it was probably a mistake with the supplier/packaging/whatnot. When I last looked at the product, it did not contain any peat at all. Where did you get it from?

The most difficult part of orchid growing is getting the mix right for your growing conditions and watering habits.

You can grow "Failonopsis" in pure spag provided you have the right conditions and watering habits for that mix. That statement I just made must be true otherwise you would not be able to purchase them in bloom jam packed into spag.

They are difficult here in the sub-tropics where there is little expertise in growing orchids indoors, and most orchid society members regard them with suspicion.

In my many years as benching marshall at a local orchid society I can tell you that the two growing competitions where I handed out about 40 Phals to members were not a resounding success.

I absolutely love this mix. On the morning I know I'm going to be repotting, I measure out the amount of mix I'll need and place in a bowl. I pour VERY hot water over it and let it sit a couple of hours until it's room temperature.

Once it's soaked like this, it's so easy to work with. My Phals love this mix...new leaves and new spikes, with beautiful existing leaves and very healthy roots.

I bought that mix last week and I had to clean it, the mix was full of sticks and garbage. This was disappointing for me.

Exact same experience, Maritza

True, there are a few very small twigs (not "full of sticks"), but once soaked and broken, they are very manageable. Not sure what you mean Maritza about 'garbage'.

I understand we each have our own favorite potting mix, but for me to buy each of these 4 ingredients and blend together is much more costly than buying one bag of this Phal mix.

I hope you consider trying it again, but following my soaking instructions above. If bark is not soaked prior to using for potting, it will never be able to hold moisture. Water will just run right off.

Here's the best picture I could find of my soaked Phal mix...hope this helps someone.

I think that the bags do not always bring the same susbtrate and I was just unlucky this time.

I'll keep this in mind, as I have a second unopened bag that I'll probably open in the next month or two...same shipment...so I'll post here if it's the same or not to my liking. Thank you Maritza for responding! :)

My only comment for those that are using a bark mixture, YOU NEED TO CHECK THE MEDIUM OUT every couple of years. Bark breaks down after a while and before you know it, you have ants nesting in the medium below, and if the air circulation is bad, you will also get a white fuzzy fungus which attacks the roots.

At that point, the top of the medium may look very dry and you WILL water. But the bottom is now like a potting soil and soaked with water. IMO, this is what kills most orchids even though people are saying that they're NOT over watering!

When you eventually take the orchid out for inspection, SURPRISE! Brown mushy roots. Worse yet, people don't do it UNTIL the orchid has only a couple of leaves left that are also dying! Last but not least ... stay away from PEAT MOSS. Keep in mind that it's NOT the same as sphagnum moss.

You could try buying it from Home Depot or some other place... I don't like shopping online because you never really know what you're going to get. The bags I saw had a clear section so you could assess the quality of the mix.

I bought two bags in Home Depot, one for phal and other special orchids, the bag for phals was lousy and the bag special orchids is very good, both are of the same brand as we speak.

Maritza, what do you think makes the Special bag so special? :) Asking because I couldn't find any differences when comparing the bags side-by-side as ingredients seem to be the same. I still have an unopened bag for Phals, and can only hope it's as good as the one I'm working out of now!

JerseyGirl, the mix in the bag for special orchids is healthy and clean, I bought it for my cattleyas, less the chunky peat, all other are the same. The difference is in the quality and I do not know the why.

Maritza, thank you....makes no sense to me, but if the quality is better with the Special mix, I'll definitely be purchasing this one in the future! I bought the second unopened bag on Amazon, and just don't feel like dealing with the return....but as I've already mentioned, the 'original' mix is very nice, and I like it anyway.

This are the bags that I bought, maybe are different to yours

I have the first one, the Phal Orchid....when I recently discovered there was a 'Special' blend, I compared the ingredients, and they appeared identical to me, except for the addition of other species of Orchids on the front of the packaging.

My first thought was that it was a marketing ploy, until you mentioned Maritza the ingredients are more quality. Personally, I'm fine with the first one as I only have Phals, but good to know for the future should I decided on other gorgeous species...then I will definitely only be purchasing the Special mix.

I just opened a bag of the Better Gro orchid mix, purchased 4-6 months ago at home depot. As soon as i did, two small flying insects flew out, and there were more inside the bag. immediately was thrown away, but there are a couple flying around, hope they don‘t settle on any of the other plants. i will never buy anything from this brand again.