What is the difference between different types of soil when growing orchids?

Orchid potting medium has always been a topic of concern for orchid growers. Which potting medium is actually best for growing orchids? In fact, there is no uniform conclusion. In the early days of growing orchids, Haoshe Farmer also tried various different potting media, with both successes and failures.

The first time I grew orchids, I did not consider the importance of soil at all, and at that time I had no concept of orchid potting medium either. I just went to the vegetable garden and dug up some soil, then planted them directly in the pot. Later, when it rained, the whole flower pot was dripping wet, and after a few days without rain, the potting soil tended to crack. Before it even made it through summer, the orchids were gone.

The second time, I went up the mountain to dig soil. This time I was more careful and took soil from a mountain where orchids grew, feeling that since orchids could grow there, the soil should be good. But I overlooked the difference between mountain ground and flower pots. As a result, the orchids grew very well in the early stage, but later the same problems as with the vegetable garden soil appeared. Perhaps the management was still not up to par.

Later I used rotted pine wood shavings from the mountain. This stuff really does grow seedlings well, and you can water it freely or leave it unwatered for a long time. Its structure makes it very easy to absorb enough water, while the staggered spaces help drain excess water. The drawback is that its fertilizing effect is neither sufficient nor long-lasting.

Even later, I mixed mountain soil with rotted pine wood shavings. This solved both the water problem and the fertilizer problem, and only then did I truly begin using orchid potting medium to grow orchids. Of course, because rotted pine wood is hard to find, I switched to pine bark, and the effect was also quite good. Overall, it felt just a little bit worse than rotted pine wood, perhaps because the degree to which they release beneficial substances for orchids is different.

In fact, there are many other potting media as well. Orchid growers who are interested can do more experiments themselves, and they will definitely find the potting medium that suits them best.

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section.