I grew Cattleyas in wooden baskets of coarse fir bark for years with great success. My orchids spend most of the year outside in hot summer temperatures, and the fir bark held a good combination of air and moisture with daily watering. It has not worked so well in recent years because the quality and chunkiness of that fir bark has become more and more difficult to find. Now it tends to contain smaller pieces with way more inner bark and debris, and less of the corky-textured outer bark. This restricts air flow and also breaks down and becomes compacted more quickly.
I have tried Orchiata bark since then, but even the coarsest grade has not been very coarse, which is the main reason I quit buying it. Another problem I had was that it does not retain moisture very well, at least not when used in wooden baskets.
Three years ago, I first experimented with course pine bark mulch or "pine bark nuggets" from Lowe's, and have been using it as the main base of various media combinations ever since. This makes an extremely inexpensive orchid medium, but it's tedious to sort through a whole bag to collect the suitable pieces from all the rest. I go for the firm pieces of outer bark, saving both large and small chunks. Then the rest of the bag is used as regular mulch around trees and shrubs, just as it normally would be.
I rinse and steam the pine bark for about four minutes in a large pot just in case of any pathogens, bugs, or eggs that might be present, but have not worried about resin. If I find a piece with a visible resin deposit when I'm potting an orchid, I'll put that piece on the very bottom of the basket or maybe just break off the resinous part. Otherwise, I have not worried about resin because I have not seen any sign that the Cattlyeas have a problem with it.
One of the pros of pine bark it that it is much more rot resistant than fir bark. A con is that, like Orchiata, it does not hold moisture long enough in my growing conditions. I have been dealing with this by adding various things. I've tried mixing in some coconut husk chips or including a top layer of fir bark or even a bit of Sphagnum moss. I have found that what suits one orchid well may not suit others well. Even different orchids of the same species can have different preferences.
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