Orchid compost

[DannyK]

Any recommendations of a good brand please?
Local Dobbies are selling Westland, which is bark and clay granules.
The stuff I bought from them before not very good as seems to be all bark and dries up too quickly. Would the addition of perlite improve water retention?
Anyone seen the silly prices on eBay? Almost cheaper to get an Uber to the Garden Centre!

[burnie]

The stuff I use is Westland, and yes it does dry up, but the plants don't seem to care, I just water every Thursday and are a few years old now and flower well. I do give them a feed when I notice new flower buds, but other than that it's just cold tap water.

[Plot70]

I found a patch of them growing in the brick clay topping over coal mining waste.

[ameno]

Assuming you are growing Phalaenopsis (moth orchid), which are the kind most likely seen in supermarkets, garden centres, etc. then the "compost" is meant to be all small bark chips. That's what they need. In fact, the test for if an orchid needs repotting is when the bark chips have more than 50% rotted down into actual compost (I say "repotting", but you pot it back into the same pot, just with fresh "compost".)

Orchid compost isn't meant to retain water. Retained water kills them. Moth orchids are epiphytes in the wild: they cling to tree branches in rain forests. A growing medium of bark chips mimics this most closely (it's also why the pot is clear, as the roots are used to getting some light). The roots themselves are highly absorbent. They need watering again when the skin of the root turns back to pale grey (it goes grey-green when it is holding water), which is usually about once a week, although may be less often in winter. Never let them sit in water for more than maybe an hour.

[ameno]

The stuff I use is Westland, and yes it does dry up, but the plants don't seem to care, I just water every Thursday and are a few years old now and flower well. I do give them a feed when I notice new flower buds, but other than that it's just cold tap water.

Same here. My oldest one I've had for about 15 years now. To be honest, I rarely even feed them, and they still seem to flower at least once a year. All six have flowers coming at the moment. They're on a cool windowsill with filtered sunlight, which they seem to prefer.
To be honest, as long as you get the location right, they seem to thrive on neglect. I don't really water them as often as I should and I almost never feed them, but they are still doing well. By comparison, my grandmother managed to kill all but one of hers by overwatering them.

[DannyK]

Have a lot of moth orchids which seem to be ok, thrown out after initial flowering and passed to me.
Also have some miniature cymbidiums.
They are throwing lots of arial roots and I need something for air layering that holds water to encourage roots so that they can be severed from main plants. I need something that stays damp
Stuff I've got now is 100% bark and water goes straight through and doesn't give enough humidity to encourage arial roots. Will give Westland a try when can get to garden centre.

In the Philippines they are tied to a coconut husk which is tied to a fence or tree but no feasible in kitchen!

[burnie]

I have taken my first Keiki from our plant, it's in it's own pot and after a couple of months it seems to still be alive, I guess this coming summer will confirm that, the leaves are still green.

[ameno]

Have a lot of moth orchids which seem to be ok, thrown out after initial flowering and passed to me.
Also have some miniature cymbidiums.
They are throwing lots of arial roots and I need something for air layering that holds water to encourage roots so that they can be severed from main plants. I need something that stays damp
Stuff I've got now is 100% bark and water goes straight through and doesn't give enough humidity to encourage arial roots. Will give Westland a try when can get to garden centre.

In the Philippines they are tied to a coconut husk which is tied to a fence or tree but no feasible in kitchen!

Moth orchids should grow plenty of aerial roots all on their own as long as they have sufficient humidity. They don't need a moisture retentive growing medium, and using one is likely to do more harm than good.

As for the baby plants, do you mean the ones that sometimes grow on moth orchids from the top of an old flower stem? If so, again, they don't need anything to encourage them to root. They will grow roots all on their own while attached to the parent plant, then can be detached once they have four or five roots.

If you're having trouble with giving them enough humidity, the answer is misting them daily with water, not giving them damper compost. I have mine in the kitchen, too, though, and they get plenty enough humidity as it is, so I would have thought yours would be fine (unless perhaps you have the above a radiator?)