Anyone using coconut husk for phals?

[Jennyfleur]

Hi OB,
Some of my phals are coming up for a re-pot in a few months and, while I'm happy with their progress/ performance in bark, I wondered if anyone has tried coconut husk chips? or a combo of bark and coconut?

The reason I ask is because I'm wondering if coconut would degrade as quickly as bark?

[RosieC]

People used to say that it degrades slower, but that is not my experience at all. It seems to degrade much faster and goes quite dense when it does.

I remember someone else saying the same, I think it might have been either Gin or Sonya but now sure now. I still use it mixed with bark because I have it, but I don't favour it these days.

It's better for water retention if you want to slow drying, but I would say if you use it be prepared to repot every year as opposed to every two years with bark.

[silken]

I seem to hear of others using it and liking it but I used to get moldy areas in the pot and root rot when I used it. However the greenhouse is cool in winter and I seemed to have a over water/root problem at the time so it was likely my own fault. Some say you have to rinse it numerous time to make sure there is no salt in it. Unless you buy some that says it is thoroughly rinsed.

[Oscarman]

I have heard that it lasts longer. Also needs to have 3-4 good soaking and rinsing with rain water to remove any salts.

I am about to start using it for my phals as I move them to a mount/basket set up. Thinking I will use CHC, charcoal and NZ moss.

At some point I tried chc on all types of orchids I had at that time, just when I discovered it at local tools store.
So far it was good for:
- cattleyas potted into clay pots with chc - I let it go totally dry before watering again and maybe they are a tad underwatered, but seem to do good and grow roots like crazy (catt. forbesii):



- paphiopedilums in both clay and plastic pots(sorry don't have a picture);

-vandas in clay pots with just a handful of chc making sure roots are still exposed(vanda brunnea seedling):



However I didn't like it much for phalaenopsis because I couldn't tell when to water and since they are not as tolerant to underwatering as catts or to overwatering as paphs, I put them back to sphagnum moss.
I find the sphagnum is easiest to tell when it needs watering, but bark and chc are too deceptive.
I am getting my chc in bricks that you need to expand with water and was soaking it for couple days in tap water changing it many times.
I think it is true about slower degrading, but you still need to change it quite often because it tends to collect salts from the waterings and it might be bad for some chids, for example paphs. I change chc for paphs very often, like every 6 months so far.

[Jennyfleur]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks everyone x

[Bud]

I use coco chips together with bark, lava rock, charcoal, hydroton, treefern shards and sponge rocks on my Phals...they seem to be happy

[tucker85]

I don't believe in trying to fix something that isn't broken so when you say you're happy with the way your phals are growing in bark, my suggestion would be to stay with what's working for you. Having said that, I grow all my phals in coconut husk chips with a little charcoal and a little sponge rock. That mixture has worked very well for me but I grow outdoors in South Florida so my conditions are much different than yours. Some variables could be the quality of the CHC available to you compared to the quality of the bark you can get. I haven't had any problems with CHC breaking down and since I grow in clear plastic pots it's easy to tell if the medium is wet or dry by the color of the roots and the weight of the pot. I rinse my CHC two or three times before using it but the stuff I get is high quality and doesn't have any salt problems. Again though, why change if you're happy with your results using bark.

[Jennyfleur]

Originally Posted by tucker85

I don't believe in trying to fix something that isn't broken so when you say you're happy with the way your phals are growing in bark, my suggestion would be to stay with what's working for you. Having said that, I grow all my phals in coconut husk chips with a little charcoal and a little sponge rock. That mixture has worked very well for me but I grow outdoors in South Florida so my conditions are much different than yours. Some variables could be the quality of the CHC available to you compared to the quality of the bark you can get. I haven't had any problems with CHC breaking down and since I grow in clear plastic pots it's easy to tell if the medium is wet or dry by the color of the roots and the weight of the pot. I rinse my CHC two or three times before using it but the stuff I get is high quality and doesn't have any salt problems. Again though, why change if you're happy with your results using bark.

Ha ha! It's all Rosie's fault She put me on to a site earlier to buy some sphagnum moss and they have a min order of £10, so I was looking around for things that could make up the amount! So, it was a question out of curiosity perhaps more than anything, but it's been interesting reading people's experiences/ opinions/ replies

[WhiteRabbit]

I mostly use CHC - it should last longer than bark, and haven't had trouble with mold or other fungus - I'm confused when people have fungus problems with CHC because it is my understanding it is resistant to fungus. Even in plants that stay quite moist, I've had no issues. That said - I have found I do better with either bark (nice chunky bark!) or sphag for Phals - I don't know why, but there it is.