Quick question about orchid bark

[Stitchpunk]

Possibly aimed @Tom

here is where I am ordering it from http://www.tuckersorchidnursery.co.nz/accessories/orchid-bark/
I'm not sure whether to go for the #2 or the 3FB, what do you think? The 3FB sounds almost more like coir but I don't think there is a photo of it.

 

[dannylozano10]

Is that the cheapest place online?

 

[Stitchpunk]

Is that the cheapest place online?

For me down here in NZ it probably is. The garden centres etc usually only have 1 grade (the coarser stuff.)

 

[Tom]

You want fine grade, but they are calling that staff pine bark. You only want fir bark, not pine.

 

[Stitchpunk]

You want fine grade, but they are calling that staff pine bark. You only want fir bark, not pine.

Ah, good point, thanks. I'll have to change my plans then. It hadn't occurred to me, but now that I look I'm pretty sure all the orchid bark will be from pine because we have a pine logging industry. The breeder says she uses peat, I assume something like this http://www.yates.co.nz/products/pot...ers-and-mulches/yates-hauraki-gold-peat-moss/ , what do you think? Otherwise there is this which I assume is the same as the coco coir talked about on the forums http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-livin...ies/soil-mulch-compost/auction-1019049409.htm

 

[Tom]

Ah, good point, thanks. I'll have to change my plans then. It hadn't occurred to me, but now that I look I'm pretty sure all the orchid bark will be from pine because we have a pine logging industry. The breeder says she uses peat, I assume something like this http://www.yates.co.nz/products/pot...ers-and-mulches/yates-hauraki-gold-peat-moss/ , what do you think? Otherwise there is this which I assume is the same as the coco coir talked about on the forums http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-livin...ies/soil-mulch-compost/auction-1019049409.htm

If your dirt from outside seems good, you can simply use that too.

I figure all the babies I raise are eventually going to go live out side on that same dirt anyway, and their outdoor sunning enclosures are on that same dirt too.

 

[Stitchpunk]

If your dirt from outside seems good, you can simply use that too.

I figure all the babies I raise are eventually going to go live out side on that same dirt anyway, and their outdoor sunning enclosures are on that same dirt too.

we're on clay with maybe a foot of topsoil. I could mix a little of it in with the coir maybe, but I want to avoid a substrate that turns muddy (which is possible given our humidity levels.) I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the outside enclosure yet, but I've been contemplating getting a big planter box on legs and putting some drainage holes into the bottom...I don't entirely trust our topsoil not to have residues of asbestos and other building materials.