The Orchid Garden

comments on Sunshine media

Question:

I purchase Sunshine at my local garden center.  #4 is the faster draining soil less formulation. I use Sunshine products all the time.   You don’t have to worry about introducing fungus gnats. But I’ve never used Sunshine to pot my orchids.  Go to any orchid growing book and do whatever they recommend.  I use a mixture of redwood bark, shipipine peanuts for the epiphytes and redwood bark, shipping peanuts, a little soil, slow release fert. and charcoal for the terrestrials.    

Response:

writes: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Sorry to kick off a possible religous war, but I haven’t seen anything on this since I hooked up my account. I’ve recently purchased a Phal. at a orchid show that was potted in something called Sunshine potting media, mix #4.  The person who sold me the plant swears by it as the best thing since meristemming.  However the person at the cashier counter seemed to think that the plant should be repotted out of the stuff right away. What are the views of the net about this mix, and where does one get the stuff.  I’ll be happy to post a summary of any responses I get.

There will probably be as many different answers as replies, except I personally am not familiar with that particular mix.  My phals are in NZ spagnum, and repotted once or twice yearly as a rule.  Others of my acquaintance (local) use Promix BX; some mix their own using Promix BX as a base.  In short, you use what works for you, given your climate, watering/feeding habits, etc.

Response:

writes: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Sorry to kick off a possible religous war, but I haven’t seen anything on this since I hooked up my account. I’ve recently purchased a Phal. at a orchid show that was potted in something called Sunshine potting media, mix #4.  The person who sold me the plant swears by it as the best thing since meristemming.  However the person at the cashier counter seemed to think that the plant should be repotted out of the stuff right away. What are the views of the net about this mix, and where does one get the stuff.  I’ll be happy to post a summary of any responses I get.

You are correct about a potential religious war regarding the pro’s and con’s of peat based mixes (including Promix, Sunshinemix, and a host of others).  There has evolved almost a cult of persons preaching the wonders of these mixes.  These persons promote them primarily on the basis of quick plant growth.  There are, here in Florida (and others places in and out of the US), several large commercial concerns who grow Phalaenopsis, Dendrobiums, and other genera exclusively in this type of media.   Peat based mixes are inexpensive, flow well through automatic potting machines, are readily available, and are very good at buffering nutrients, thereby making them constantly available to the plants. Some growers claim almost atronomical growth rates and, of course, to a large commercial grower, this equates to $$ in the bank, especially in the highly competitive Phalaenopsis and Dendrobium markets. As always, there is a down side to use of these medias.  While professional growers with large greenhouses dedicated to a single genera can regulate their watering perfectly, most of us are not in a similar position, and peat based mixes are usually not very forgiving. Especially for beginning growers, purchase of an orchid potted in a peat based mix is often disastrous, with a rotted root system possible within days after the plant is shipped from the commercial nursery, and of course, death of the plant quickly following. My advice to growers of epiphytes who would be more interested in plant longevity than in quick plant growth would be to use mixes which don’t hold excessive amounts of water and to attempt to pot so that all plants within a single area can be watered at similar intervals – it is very difficult to water one plant daily and the one next to it weekly with any great regularity. I appreciate this opportunity to get on my soapbox one more time.  I have based my opinions on this subject on the experiences of dozens of customers who have brought me dead orchid plants purchased from ‘Home Depot’ types of outlets, plants which are nearly always potted in soggy peat based mixes. Bob — Davidson Orchids  -   Florida’s Suncoast’s Largest Orchid Supplier 3605 Palm View Road                     info Line…(941) 722-9308 Palmetto, FL  34221                   order Line….(800) 883-9308 Catts, Dens, Phals, Vandas, etc.        FAX Line….(941) 721-0363 –Seedlings : Blooming Plants : Flasks : Lab Services : Supplies– see our Webpage   http://www.usa.net/venger/davidson/davidson.htm

Response:

Sorry to kick off a possible religous war, but I haven’t seen anything on this since I hooked up my account. I’ve recently purchased a Phal. at a orchid show that was potted in something called Sunshine potting media, mix #4.  The person who sold me the plant swears by it as the best thing since meristemming.  However the person at the cashier counter seemed to think that the plant should be repotted out of the stuff right away. What are the views of the net about this mix, and where does one get the stuff.  I’ll be happy to post a summary of any responses I get.

Response:

Filed under: Dendrobium Orchid

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