add styrofoam to mix?
 

Howdy! :)

This may sound stupid, but hear me out :blushing:

I like my sphagnum, moss, but I would like to make it a tad bit airyer (?)... well so that it doesn't compress when being watered.

so, what if I added small styrofoam chunks to the mix? I bought a lot of annuals over the weekend, so I have TONS of those styrofoam trays, and I wondered if I could put them to use. I know somepeople use perlite in their sphag mix, so I wondered whether or not this would work...

Thanks!:)
Cam

I've never done it before but I have for sure heard of others breaking up styrofoam (regular white kind) and using it in their mix. Usually people just break up packing peanuts but it all works the same. And just so no one corrects me (i know that you already know this but some people may not :) ), never use the biodegradable kind for obvious reasons. :biggrin:

I've seen and heard of people using styrofoam in medium. It's worth a shot. Some Neofinetia I recently bought from a Japanese dealer had styrofoam popcorn in it.

styrofoam tends to float and work itself to the top of soil mixes but I doubt it will with sphagnum.
Nick

I think I'm in the minority when it comes to styrofoam. I don't like it. Especially for finely rooted plants like Oncs. The roots grow right through the stuff and it's a booger to get off without breaking the roots when it's time to repot. Just my :twocents: .

Terri...I haven't used styrofoam myself so much, but, is it really that big a problem if roots do grow through it? It can't absorb or accumulate much in the way of salts or break down, can it? An honest question, and would love to hear whether or not this is the case.

No it's inert, so won't carry anything with it. It annoys me more than anything else. :lol: I like nice clean roots when I repot.

:biggrin: I hear ya. Thanks, tho!

I have used it in mixes for a long time. If you tend to over water it can be layered with Spag. like a parfait . Gin

Funny you mention it because i just changed my Phals to a 3:1 mix of sphag and large styrofoam chunks. I'll tell you how it goes. My most successful Phal used to be in 3:1 Sphag and large rocks. I substituted foam for the rocks because of weight and i think it should work well. I'd only use foam on large rooted things like Dends, Phals and Cats.

By the way i DID buy a pack of the peanuts at one point, and they DID biodegrade in front of my eyes! (luckily i tested them first before i potted them all up LOL). So now i have a pack of useless peanuts, but at least i won't be in need of packing materials for a long time.