4 replies to this topic

[Milos Sula]

Hi ,
i have tried many times pine bark in nepenthes media, but the growth was poor. Please have you similar experience like me ? I have not used exactly bark from pinus pinea, but from other pinus species. Is there any difference between pinus barks ?

regards
Milos Sula

[Gareth Davies]

Yes, I used orchid bark... and it was the worst mistake I made on my Nep-growing learning curve. Over time, it breaks down and turns to compacted mush, causing death to the unfortunate plants growing in it.
Everyone has a different mix, but I learned to hate the stuff!

[christerb]

Hi,

I use a orchid soil (bark/coco chips) mixed with peat moss and perlite on my plants, and they seem to do alright. It is difficult to know if they can grow better, since I haven't done any comparisons.

However, I was a bit apprehensive when beginning using bark in the mix, since I had read that when fresh bark decomposes it uses up nitrogen. This could in time lead to nitrogen deficiency, unless fertilizer is added.

However since I am hardly knowledgeable in this area, someone else might know better about this.

Regards,

Christer

[Dicon]

I have always used orchid bark in my mixes with no ill effects, there are however many different brands and some are better than others.
As with all mixes, I believe much depends upon your watering regime.
My lowland mixes tend to have less bark in them than the highland mixes.

[Peter Hewitt]

Dicon, on 16 April 2012 - 18:22 PM, said:

I have always used orchid bark in my mixes with no ill effects, there are however many different brands and some are better than others.
As with all mixes, I believe much depends upon your watering regime.
My lowland mixes tend to have less bark in them than the highland mixes.

I find that bark is OK when used as a small part of the overall mix, but terrible when it is the main component. It does break down to the point where it holds too much water and becomes a mushy mess.