What are soft potting media and hard potting media for orchids?

Today I will introduce the soil used for orchids, to see if anyone has been using it wrong. If the soil is right, orchids will flourish and bloom abundantly! A few days ago someone asked me what soil is best for orchids, and whether our common garden soil would work?

For questions like this, I believe there must be many beginners who do not know. Just yesterday I was chatting with a grower who used garden soil for orchids, and I found that his orchids had all turned black. I told him that orchids need potting media, not nutrient soil.

Is potting media the same as nutrient soil? And what exactly is potting media?

Actually, potting media is not nutrient soil. It should be said to belong to plant fibers with relatively high air permeability, such as a combination of pine bark, peanut shells, sunflower seed shells, seaweed and other materials. These things are collectively called orchid "potting media."

So what is soft potting media?

Soft potting media is made by mixing leaf mold, orchid stone, perlite and other materials in a certain ratio. This kind of soil has very high air permeability and excellent results, and is suitable for orchid growth.

Soft potting media is suitable for advanced growers. Generally, it needs to be mixed by oneself, and finished products are relatively rare. You need to buy various materials, but this potting media has very long-lasting fertilizer effect. Used for growing orchids, it can basically last 2 years without changing the soil.

What is hard potting media?

Hard potting media is orchid soil made from various barks and shells as materials. This substrate has very high air permeability, but its water retention may be a little worse. Also, the fertilizer retention time is not long. The advantage is that when watering frequently, it is not easy to accumulate water. The soft potting media mentioned above, on the other hand, easily accumulates water.

Choosing different potting media affects the watering frequency. Because soft potting media has strong water retention, in summer you can water once every 5 days. Hard potting media has poor water retention, so you can water once every 2 days. When watering, supplementing with good organic nutrient solution can make orchids grow better.

In this way, for beginners, you can first use hard potting media for half a year, then switch to soft potting media. This may be better. Of course, some people use potting media version 2.0, which is mixing soft potting media + hard potting media in a certain ratio. This is also fine! Then the watering interval is about 3 days. Remember to also spray the leaves, which is more beneficial to orchid growth.

Alright, that is all we will say about orchid soft potting media and hard potting media. I hope everyone likes it!