Repotting Series II - Orchid Media Formulations

Repotting is one of the key
ingredients to successful orchid growing.
For most beginners who have never repotted an orchid, this task could
be exciting, overwhelming or even down-right stressful. On the
other hand, the seasoned growers can find repotting to be a
dreadful chore if they have go through several hundred plants every
year. We hope that our Repotting Series guides will help
you begee a better orchid grower.If you have not read our first guide of this series, Repotting Series I - When to Repot an Orchid, we regemend that you take a moment to do so and get a better understanding on when it is most appropriate to repot your orchid.Which Orchid Media Formulation to Use?Below are guidelines that you can follow in selecting and preparing your orchid growing media or mix. If you decide to follow one of our regemended orchid mix formulations, we suggest that you experiment on a few strong plants for at least a year before changing the orchid mix for your entire collection.1) Type of Orchids. Knowing the growth habits and cultural requirements of your orchids is imperative to picking the right media. If there is a lack of cultural information on an orchid, experiment with a few plants on different types of growing media until you find out through careful observation on what is best for your orchids.General Guidelines:Standard Cattleya and Laelia - Medium (1/4"-1/2") to Large-sized bark (1/2" or larger), can be used alone or mixed with a gebination of varying ratios of large-sized charcoal, coconut husk chips (CHC), volcanic rock, diatomite or expanded clay pebbles.Regemended ratio: Formula 1 = 3 parts volcanic rock/diatomite, 2 parts orchid bark, 1 part CHCFormula 2 = 3 parts volcanic rock/diatomite, 2 parts orchid bark, 1 part charcoalFormula 3 = 2 parts volcanic rock/diatomite, 2 parts orchid bark, 1 part charcoal, 1 part CHC