Potting Media for Cyms???

[Don Perusse]

I have a dear friend who has a dozen or so very large Cyms that need re-potting. Mostly are DAGS but three or so different ones. What would be a good mix? Being terrestrial wondering if I could use ground bark, river sand (for drainage) and turface (clay, for water retention) What works best for all you cym growers? Thanks.

[blueovalgal]

My mom uses fine/medium sized bark. Like to see what others use... Barbara

[gerneveyn]

I have mine in s/h. An alternative is horse manure, which has been used by some. See the website on Nic van den Bosch's technique and results: http://www.vision.net.au/~nicvdb/why%20horsemanure.htm

[Bolero]

I personally think bark is the thing to use but some people are having great success with a mix of CHC and perlite.

I wouldn't personally use anything except these two.

[Don Perusse]

Thanks Sarah - horsemanure is avail. in my area. I just may add some to see how goes.

Bolero - What is CHC???

[Weebl]

I know of a friend who's been growing them for 35 years in straight redwood bark. Repotting as needed of course; I imagine if you learned the water retention capabilities of anything (well ok, mostly anything), it would work with the right watering schedule.

[Oscarman]

Originally Posted by Don Perusse

Thanks Sarah - horsemanure is avail. in my area. I just may add some to see how goes.

Bolero - What is CHC???

CHC = Coconut Husk Chunks. Some growers swear by it......some at it!

It can be high in salt and consequently needs a lot of soaking & rinsing to reduce it, before use.

It retains a good amount of moisture which can be good or bad depending on your growing conditions.

I have one that is going to go into Semi Hydroponic once new roots show. It is in a bark/charcoal mix.

My question is what are DAGS?

[cb977]

I have some of my Cyms in aliflor and some in fir bark...I'll let you know how they work out
So far, I've had success with the aliflor but the ones in fir bark are new for me and there hasn't been enough time to say whether its good or not

[justatypn]

I imagine if you learned the water retention capabilities of anything (well ok, mostly anything), it would work with the right watering schedule.

Weebl, you said it the formula for growing orchids.

Oh btw, Aboard, take a few minutes and please introduce yourself in the "Break the Ice~Welcome" thread...glad your hear and jumping right in....here at the OB we like it

[smweaver]

I think they tend to grow in just about anything. I've grown Cymbidiums successfully for a number of years in a variety of mixes (basically, whatever happens to be available in the garage whenever I decide one or more of the Cyms needs to be repotted) and I can't think of anything that's really caused them to make too much of a fuss. I just refinished the annual repotting chores for the Cymbidiums about a couple of months ago. They're all making new roots very well in a mix that's mostly coarse coconut chips, with some coarse bark, chopped NZ sphagnum moss and a small amount of medium grade treefern fiber. I've read that the plants do well in fine grade and/or terrestrial mix. But I've had very good results with a coarse mix. Even though the coconut chips are large and coarse, they still hold a lot of water. The addition of the sphagnum moss also keeps the root system consistently moist; the additional bonus to the coarse mixture is that there's a lot of air that gets to the roots as well. I think that as long as you crock the pots well to ensure good drainage, and manage your watering schedule well, you'll find that Cymbidiums aren't hugely picky about the contents of the mix itself. This, of course, is just a personal observation from my own firsthand experience. Good luck!