I‘ve been using for awhile for some plants, oncidiums, phrags, paphs, and a few others.

I like it so far, it seems to last a long time. One thing I have noticed is, if it dries out, it becomes hydrophobic. You really need to soak it to get it to absorb water again. I would drench a plant and find that just below the surface it would be bone dry.

Moss will also do this but it takes longer and is easier to re wet

I've used it many years ago. Its expensive and I have too many orchids to use it. If you are careful in your watering, and use a mix that allows good air flow it really isn't necessary.

It certainly was highly thought of but I doubt it is used very much anymore.

Whatever works to keep the roots happy is a good thing!

Jane

Yes, it was like the answer to orchid growing in 1990. Now the primary medium is bark. There's differences even in bark, with Orchiata being the top std. I just potted a miltonia into it (from vendor's sphagnum) and I really liked how uniform the graded media is. I'll have to learn how to water in it for each species, but the media doesn't matter. What does matter is how long it holds moisture and how fast it breaks down.

I'd like to try using it for a few plants. I've heard it's really good mixed with some perlite for propagation. But the stuff is expensive! Where did you get yours?

Thanks everyone ! I see)
In all the years I have been growing orchids I have tried everything from single ingredients and a combo of peat, sphagnum , bark, perlite, coal, lava rocks , bagged orchid mixes from very expensive places and so on.
For me , most either dried yo fast , involved to much soaking very often , or stayed too wet too long.
I have only been able to keep about half my collections from year to year alive.
With this tree fern fiber , every single one in my orchids is very happy and growing roots quickly.
Someone mentioned using spaghnum
I have lost every one of my phals in it and it seems that many are very successful with it.
Funny thing , I have ordered 4 new fragrant phals received them that seem very healthy.
I removed the spaghnum from them and found half the roots dead especially in the center.
I re potted them all into the fiber and hopefully they will do just as well as the ones I have in them now.
These particular phals are not easy to keep happy so this will be a true test.
I ordered them because I’m more confident I will be able to now although all others prior to this died in everything I tried.
Time will tell
Jane and all, so glad yo see you all and know you are all hopefully doing well )
Just got over Covid thank god. I don’t want it again
Mike

Popmama , my Hoya are growing more robust and healthy in it. In fact overwatering is impossible yet the mix holds just the perfect moisture even when dry.
I get mine from Kelly’s Korner orchid supplies. I get a huge bag. I hear this stuff will be hard to come by soon because of delivery issues. So I stocked up. Good luck )

That's when you either change YOUR habits (because media doesn't really matter) with regards to watering or make a mix that works for your habits. That's most of how learning to grow orchids works. Media is irrelevant, you just have to pair it with your watering habits and conditions. There was an experiment using all sorts of media, including glass beads and ground up tires. It doesn't matter, orchids just want something to hold them up and hold a bit a moisture. Heck, I've grown (and lots do) orchids for years with nothing but a pot around their roots. You just water and fertilize a bit more often. In some cases that's easier than growing with media, frankly.
You can grow orchids (esp phals) in anything just with control to the environment and variable watering habits.
If you can't grow orchids in sphagnum then you're not paying attention or have too low temps or airflow. You don't water orchids on a schedule (or any other plants for that matter), you water when they need it.

Dbarron. Perfectly put. I appreciate.
I have a question with regards to fragrant phal especially the ‘Bellina ‘ and violacea’, I think that’s how you spell it and hybrids?
How come every time I buy some as in the three I just got , when I remove the spaghnum there is no roots in the center and any of them I do uncover are either black or dead.
The only ones I see healthy are the ones against the pot on the outside of the spaghnum.
I’m guessing it’s a good thing I check the roots over and make sure they are ok lately or I’d loose these too.
I’ve just started practicing this
Thanks

They are fussy (compared to std hybrid phals) and require high temperatures. (bellina and violacea) and good moisture levels. Where are you buying them from? I'd recommend Big Leaf Orchids to get a well cultivated specimen to start with. I grew a violacea once and decided my household temps would not suit it (yes it perished).

That growth pattern would be typical of bad culture and bad media handling. The roots you describe are only where the most oxygen is and where the pot dries fastest. I'd say a much coarser medium and frequent waterings would work better in a household environment, but again if it's warm enough and has good air flow, they'll dry fast (grower's greenhouse).
I think if I wanted to grow those particular phals in spaghnum, I'd use a loosely packed spaghnum, allowing more air space within the media. That and higher temps and higher ventilation would probably keep them happy.

Veering but on the educational track. I, myself, am trying to move some miltoniopsis from sphagnum to orchiata bark as of earlier in the week. I'm trying to figure out how often to water it...I've used the bark before, but not on miltonias. I'm thinking around 3 days in winter, probably 2 days or even 1 in summer (but dunno yet). I'm just keeping my eyes on them at present.
I've grown them well over the last year in the sphagnum the vendor had potted them in, when I repotted there wasn't a single rotten root. and a fairly distributed root mass (though as you pointed out with your phals) there was indeed far more in the surface and edge areas with the center not used as much. I believe the greater aeration/drainage in the bark will help with that.
I may fail, but that's how you learn..try things...figure out what works best for you.
I have the luxury of giving my plants individual attention on a weekly, if not a daily, basis. A lady I know from another orchid site says she has 2100 orchid plants. In which case to preserve sanity (and save time), she has all sorts of mixes for different plants to get them all on the same watering schedule.
I tend (somewhat) to have one or two different media and figure out each plants requirements (the exact opposite of hers) but I only have about 25 orchids (and about an equal number of non-orchid plants). Still ends up that I water something every day. I have a small pot (2 1/2 inch I think) of a Belleara (onc x miltoniopsis) that I water every two days, I only acquired it in August. On it's next growth cycle I want to move it to a bigger pot with a bit of sphagnum mixed in to keep it a little bit more moist, because after 3 days (for sure), it's looking pretty unhappy...to the point of pleating leaves (which I HATE). However, I'm keeping it happy enough that it's throwing an unanticipated spike that I only found last week. But every two days is more watering than I really want to do *lol*.

dbarron- I remember orchidnicks potting experiment from a few years back. Unfortunately he stopped posting shortly after he started it. I was alway curious how it turned out.

Mike- I find that there is no perfect mix, I currently use a few types of media. My ultamate goal is to get a plant established to a point where I don’t need to re pot anymore, but that too doesn’t work for everything.

First I start with me, my habits which tends to be neglectful, so I need something that will work if i get busy and miss a week or 2 of watering.

Next the plant, how wet doest it want to be. Plants that like to be wet I try to use a self watering pot and an inert media. This set up I use , Lechuza Pon, Hydroton, and plastic fiber(PET).

Plants in the middle range, damp but almost dry between watering, I use the tree fern fiber or bark with some moss on top to slow drying.

Plants that want to be dry between waterings I use bark, hydroton, or a mix of the two depnending on the pot and plant .

Eventually I try to get to a point like this dendrobium.

Once this guy fill its pot, I cracked the pot with a hammer and dropped it in a bigger pot, filled in with a little hydroton and left it. that was about 5 years ago, now I can pick it up by the stem.

James, this one is similar. It’s ready for the hammer today. Going in a wood basket with rock and bark. It drops leaves this time of year, but is a beauty when it blooms.
I too, am a neglectful waterer.

James, i think I saw results for over a year, that was enough for me. (But maybe I dreamed it?) It's gotta have been at least 7 years ago, I would think.

Jane, that is such a nice looking orchid) Jim sent me one and I love it.

James, I have discovered the same thing over the years. I have lost a few trying while at the same time most just don't perform well. But I see a difference finally after trying all these years. I am thrilled at whet they are doing now. It feels good knowing they are safely growing now especially now that I can see through the pots. I was tired of guessing.

Dbarron, same here. I feel you when you describe what you are doing. I am happy you are finding out what works best too. I am going to get more tree fern before it's hard to come buy. I have actually placed mt phals on a heat mat and it is working great thus far. I also checked out that site and I like it. It's my next go to and they have lots of selections. Thanks.

Mike, are your Phals spiking?

This is the time of year when they develop spikes due to shorter daylight and cooler temps. Make sure you don't keep them too warm this time of year.

You want those flowers...!

Jane

Jan, some are in fact. I will take afew pics to show you. I am so excited. YOu are right about too much warmth. I will keep that in mind. Thank you.

I am growing a couple in spaghnum, and the rest in the fern fiber to see how well each do. Going to keep a close eye on the roots))

Phals only need a couple of weeks of slightly cooler temps to initiate spiking if they have the energy reserves to do so. Usually at my latitude they have spiked by Thanksgiving (or will not).

Dbarron, thank you.

So you think it will be ok for me to continue to keep them on a heat mat?

I just started doing this last week, thinking they may have had their cooler period by now beforehand.

That room gets down to the low high 60's at night and warm 70's by day

Mike

I have never used a heat mat, I'm not really a phal person, though I understand 80 would be an ideal temperature or maybe 85 if they had their way.

I gravitate more toward dendrobiums and oncidiums, many of which prefer cooler winter temperatures, or even cooler in general. I've had phals off and on over the last 25 years. Just (to me) the more vibrant colors in other genera are more attractive, as well as being more suited to my windowsills. My newest acquisitions are some paphs (which I've killed quickly in the past, but I think this attempt (and house) is going to be different) which mostly prefer cooler household temps.

Mike - I just purchased some clear orchid pots on Amazon and because i was bored the other day, I split some of my oncidiums and repotted in the clear pots. The mix i used seems to be a little too chunky, but I think the pots are going to work out very well. I realize it's not the season to repot, but being bored, it suddenly became the season! I'll let you know how it works out.