I'm new to using bark, but read here at GW/Houzz about ReptiBark used for reptile tanks.

Just last week I bought a bag at Petco & am trying that. Am trying to rehab an Anthurium & orchid bark mix is recommended for them. The orchid bark I'd seen was too big, so I decided on this instead.

I got the smaller of 2 sizes & just repotted last week. Since it's meant for use w/ live reptiles, it likely doesn't have chemical / color treatments.

Maybe give that a shot?

For my Anthuriums, and other Aroids, I like to use the Miracle Gro Orchid Potting Mix "Coarse Blend." You can find it for sale at Walmart for fairly cheap. It works great when it's mixed in 50/50 with a fast draining soil. The best quality orchid bark mix that you can get is the Better Gro brand, but I only use it for my actual orchids. They usually have it for sale relatively cheap at Lowe's, but my local stores haven't received any new shipments of it at their stores just yet. I asked them, and they said they should be getting some pretty soon, they just didn't know when. It usually runs about $5 per bag. The Miracle Gro brand is good stuff, just not as good as Better Gro. My Aroids love having the Miracle Gro orchid bark mixed in with their soil. My orchids, on the other hand, are a bit more picky, HaHa.

Hi, TF. Keep looking until you fond an appropriate product. Pine or fir bark is appropriate for soils like the gritty mix, and soils like the 5:1:1 mix work best when using pine bark only.

I'll supply you some pictures, and you can ask whatever questions the pictures leave you with.

See fir bark at 12:00. ^^^ The bark products at 3, 6, and 9, are all pine bark, but from 3 different sources/packagers. The pine bark can be used as is (unscreened) to make the 5:1:1 mix. or screened to an appropriate size and used in the gritty mix.

Gritty mix ^^^

5:1:1 mix with items for size comparison

the two pics immediately above are one brand of pine bark that is well-suited for use in media.

Al

greenman, Karen, Photo S and Al: thank you all so much. I will continue The Hunt.

Based on your input, I'm assuming added color is never a good idea with bark (?). And cedar is just not a good wood?

I'm hoping to continue making a gritty mix for most of my indoor plants. I started about a year ago (with Reptibark) and have all my succulents in the gritty. Repotted a few other houseplants who had issues over the winter. After I burned through the Reptibark I found the two cubic foot bag of EarthGro. Now that's nearly gone and I've got about 20 more plants I'd like to see go gritty. [I have learned so much hanging out here!]

Have a Lowes and a WM and a couple nurseries I can check. Thank you!

You might also check for orchid nurseries in your area. Many will carry bark in different grades as well as other supplies.

Thanks, Paul. No orchid nurseries nearby. In fact, I'm starting to suspect I may be the only houseplant junkie in this small town. Sometimes the WM doesn't even have houseplants.

The Big City is only two hours away tho'. I'll get in the car and go searching if that's what it takes. Would love to see an orchid nursery! :-)

There aren't any orchid nurseries anywhere around me either. There is this one nursery that advertises that they sell "orchids & bromeliads." So I finally stopped to have a look. All they had were several NoID phalaenopsis that weren't in bloom, and a few generic bromeliads that you can find for sale anywhere. What's worse was the fact that they wanted to charge outrageous prices. Nothing had any price tags on it, and when I asked them how much something was, it sounded like they were just making up a price. Which is fine, but they wanted way too much for everything. In the past, I've gladly paid top dollar for an expensive orchid that was easily worth the price, but not for some NoID generic that I could get for cheaper anywhere else.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to run a profitable business, but this place was just too greedy. I refuse to do business with a place like that. After I left there, I've never went back. Fortunately, there's a local nursery in my town that sells all types of gorgeous plants. My green thumb has been itching for them to open back up this spring. I can't wait.

Back when I first started growing orchids, I saw that they were having a local seminar to talk about orchids, and the speaker was bringing some to display, so I went to it. This lady had so many varieties; some of which were for sale. Before she was finished with her lecture, I had already zeroed in on the orchids that I wanted, HaHa! She gave us all cards and invited us to her house, which was in my childhood hometown, to have brunch and check out her greenhouses. I could've spent all day wandering thru there, looking at all of them. It seemed like she had a full scale production going; flasks, seedlings, and so many that were in full bloom.

Of course, I found the largest phalaenopsis that she had growing and I bought it from her. She didn't even charge that much for it either. It was so big, I could barely get it into the backseat of my car. It had one giant spike growing in one direction, and another giant spike growing in the opposite direction. It turned out to be one of her own personal hybrids that she bred herself. I kept it alive for quite awhile, but eventually lost to due to my lack of experience at the time. In the end, it was a great learning curve. Though, I do wish that I still had that gorgeous plant.

It's been years since I've been to her home. I wonder if she's still growing them? Most likely. Growing orchids is an addiction that can't be cured. I've recently given my sister her own orchid, when she was in the hospital, and now both her and her mother-in-law are hooked. They want more of them, and they want me to teach them everything they need to know, haha.

TF - most bark from trees commonly called "cedar" isn't appropriate because the aromatic compounds that tend to make folks want to call trees that aren't cedars, cedars, have some fairly significant allelopathic properties (inhibit growth of other plants and sometimes even autotoxic to young of the same species).

FWIW - I've not yet seen a dyed mulch that would be well-suited to use as part of a container soil.

If you're excited about growing things, channel a measure of that enthusiasm toward learning about how plants and soils work. In the end, it pays big dividends - much larger than the trial and error method because you can eliminate more than 3/4 of the errors you might normally be expected to cross paths with.

Good luck!!

Al