Ludisia discolor

[Helen]

I have been reading that Ludisia needs to be kept in spaghnum and kept wet all the time. I'm afraid to do this because you would think the roots might rot...Does anyone else have any experience with this orchid? Thx

[Lagoon]

Yes you can if that's what you want Helen - It also depends on your conditions as any other orchid would.
They like to be kept in a moist free draining media. They thrive on high humidity.
I have use peatmoss with sponge rok. Another mixture used with success is small bark combo'd with chopped up sphag.moss

[Helen]

Gloria, I kind of like the small bark and spag.moss combo idea. Maybe I'll try it to see how it works out. I don't mind watering more often if that's what req'd, but I'm not too comfy with the wet spag all the time.
Thanks for your valuable input. Much appreciated.

[justatypn]

Mine grow in strickly sphag moss. I water every other day only if the moss feels a bit dry to the touch.

Bark will obsorb only so much moisture, I like the combination but my thoughts is that it would be feasible to water every day with combined medium. Can't say I have not thought of trying it

[Shadow]

When I had one I used the mix of small bark, sphag and charcoal.

[Lagoon]

Sphag has a bad rep becuz I think it's not understood. Old tired sphagmoss will stay very wet for a long period of time. If this is the case then it's simply broken down and time to renew it. Bark will turn into a soil like soggy mixture. So any media can have it's down falls.

I grow my catts in chopped sphagmoss with add large perlite (coarse sponge rok) grown in clay. This mix does stay moist for a few days ... After that it's like any other mix, it dries out completely.
For repotting, or renewing media -- If you use the above mixture and it's time to repot - this mixture will actually fall out, this makes repotting very easy without the damage of root breakage.

I'm not trying to talk anyone into using sphag, I'm just saying not to be affraid of using this media, just keep it fresh and airy.

Cheryl, I would think living in Florida sphag would be a great choice

[ceejae511]

When I bought my Ludisia it was in some kind of potting mix (by this I meant SOIL).....it stays moist all the time, and it has not rotted - I've had it since last September, and it has bloomed like crazy. It is in a light cabinet. I think it may be getting too much light though, some of the leaves turned red -- although this may be what they do when they get old, I'm not sure.

[Helen]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my Ludisia question. I now have lots of valuable information to process and make a decision. I think for now I will leave it in it's original sphagmoss because it looks new, and nice and green and see how it goes. I may consider a combo later. It's great to hear from others who have tried different medium...

[Tindomul]

I keep mine in the rather wet substrate of my orchidarium. The substrate is first 4 inches of aquarium gravel topped by coco-earth topped by 2 inches of bark mix for orchids. I lightly covered the Ludisia and the Macodes jewel orchids with the bark, and a few months later, non have rotted and the Ludisia has bloomed for me and continued to grow post bloom.

[Shadow]

Nice orchidarium there! What have you used to decorate the backwall?