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It’s finally time to repot and you realize that your supply of orchid bark is low. Just a quick search on Amazon and you’ll soon find out that there are so many different types of potting media (and I’m referring only to the bark types), that you’re tempted to go with the cheapest.
Please don’t do that.
Orchid bark has ranges of best to worst and not always will you get what you pay for. In most cases, the price is the main indication of good orchid bark, but not always. I decided to buy 5 of the highest-selling orchid barks and test them one by one.
The best orchid bark is not going to be the same for all orchid growers.
If you want the full explanation of this video in writing, go to https://orchideria.com/best-orchid-bark-mix/
On Orchideria.com, you can find more in-depth guides and all the access to our information, tutorials, guides, and much more... all for free!
Happy Cultivating!
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0:00
It's time to repot your orchid and you go to look to see if you have all the materials and guess what
0:06
You're missing bark. So you look online to see what kinds of barks are out there, what's the best, what's the cheapest, what holds up
0:14
But there are so many kinds. It's daunting, actually. So in this video, I decided to review..
0:25
Better Grow. Miracle Grove, Repot Me, and Orchia
0:37
I'm going to be comparing them to mystery brand here, which really doesn't have a brand name at all
0:45
So what is the best bark? We're going to find out. So Repot Me is one of the most famous brands
0:57
They're also one of the brands who has the most famous brands. who has the most number of variations of potting mix
1:04
So, for example, this one is specifically for symbidiums. This one is for phalanopsis
1:11
And not only these two, they have 17 other types of potting material in them
1:18
So out of all the brands that you have, these have the most variety
1:23
I will tell you right up, well, hello. So somebody's missed our videos
1:29
But this one, which is the Phelanopsis Monterey Dark Imperial Orchid Mix
1:36
In this one, we're going to have a medium Monterey pine bark, hydroton, New Zealand moss, which is AAA
1:43
The quality of this moss is excellent. And it's also going to have large sponge rock, which is this white one right here
1:51
Now, Repop Me will have two kinds of brands, no matter what type
1:56
you buy like if you're buying for phalanopsis they'll have the imperial and they'll have the
2:00
classical the difference between these is that the imperial one was created after the class their
2:07
quality is excellent you are paying for what you get but they are the most expensive so if you can see here
2:18
the bark inside here is smaller and there's not that much spagin moss i mean you can see
2:25
you can see right here that there hardly is any sphagnam moss so if you live in a hot and dry climate
2:36
don't buy this do not buy this because your orchids will dry out too fast they won't retain
2:44
enough water that they need and they'll your roots are going to turn all brown and crispy on
2:50
you if you live in a climate that is extremely humid and
2:55
cool. This is perfect for your phalanopsis because it's going to evaporate quickly
3:01
but your client is already human. So even though it evaporates, it already keeps that moisture inside
3:07
the pot. So that is perfect for what you want. Please note that the bark chips are smaller. So if you
3:15
have a huge phalanopsis or a cattlia even, this one will probably not hold it as well as the other
3:24
mix. This one is the dark imperial, but you can buy a gold version, and that will have virgin chips
3:30
from Portugal in it. And the dark version has chips from Orchiata pine, which comes directly from
3:39
New Zealand. So the quality on here is excellent, but the price, I paid the same thing for this
3:46
as I did for this. And in here, you can repot two orchids, about five inch pots
3:54
This you can pot a heck of a lot more So take that in consideration Whoa sorry take that in consideration Just a note on this if you want to buy Repot Me I would strongly advise to stay away from Amazon
4:09
And I am an affiliate for Amazon, but the price on Amazon is a lot higher than if you go straight
4:17
to the Repot Me store and buy it there. And I am not affiliate with RepopMe. And so it's a pretty
4:24
big difference in price. I think I paid like $25 for this on Amazon and then I saw the same thing
4:31
on the RepotMe direct website for 19. The next brand I'm going to talk about is Orkiada Bard. Now these
4:40
come in three different sizes as not size of the bag but size of the bark chips. So make sure that
4:46
you're buying which one that you want and I'll list them over here. The three brands are
4:54
classic power and power plus and these are going to be the size of the bark chip
5:02
There is only bark in these. There is nothing else. There's nothing added to it
5:07
There's no sphagnumos, no pearly, no charcoal, anything like that. It is pure bark
5:12
So even though they do have the three sizes, I find those three sizes a little bit too small
5:19
So if you're going to buy just on sizes, make sure you upgrade a little bit
5:24
but the idea is that the classic is for the seedlings. The power is for the in-between phase
5:31
like from two to four years where they're still not adult orchids. And the power plus is for
5:38
adult plants, mature plants that already have strong roots in them. Now, orchiata is excellent for
5:46
pest control. They treat their New Zealand radiatabark with special treatments to control the
5:53
bacteria to control the mold. You will not find bugs in here. You can get it a little bit on the
6:01
moisture side, depending on how long your supplier has had this on the shelf. Now moisture isn't really a
6:09
problem because you can just lay it out in the sun, but you do not have to boil this or soak this
6:15
actually with the repotmy brand before. You also did not have to soak it. It's good to give it a little
6:21
shift, but both these brands so far do not have dust in them. They do not have particles that are
6:27
breaking down. By the way, since I haven't made a video in quite a long time, it would really help
6:33
if you like this video or if you commented or if you shared because YouTube probably thinks I
6:39
gave up. I didn't. Thank you so much for everyone who sent an email, a text
6:45
Instagram, a Pinterest message. I really appreciate it. If I have not written back to you
6:54
right again, I probably lost the email in these months that were kind of hectic and I didn't mean to
7:00
Let's get on to the next bark. The third brand I'm going to talk about is BetterGrow
7:06
Now, BetterGrow has, and listen other brands, please listen. They have a resellable bag
7:15
Isn't I mean, awesome. They did that right. I wish cereal would have resellable bags too
7:21
Look at this. It's resellable. I mean, look at that. I can close the bag again. Awesome. Just right there
7:30
I love them. The other thing about BetterGrow is that they have all kinds of stuff included in their orchid bark
7:39
So they will have charcoal. They'll have purlite, sphagnum moss. But here's the thing
7:45
They have peat moss in here. I do use it for terrariums like in backgrounds because they make an awesome looking background
7:53
But for the inside of my orchid pot I don want peat moss Pete Moss is going to turn into a mud cookie brownie type thing and it awful because it doesn absorb well it does absorb water
8:10
but it just turns into mud and then there's no airflow, there's no circulation inside that pot
8:17
and BetterGrow does use chunky peat moss. There are four types of orchid bark on bed
8:25
better grow. As for for Chiata, there's just one. There's just one that is simple bark. There's one for
8:32
the phalanopsis, which is this one right here. There is one that has an all general orchid
8:39
potting media that has more items in it, which you can see right here. And there's another one for
8:46
dendrobriums. Now the one for dendrobriums is a little harder to find, but you can find it still
8:51
So this one is excellent because of the price. The price, I mean, you can't really be $8 for this
9:01
And it does hold up quite well. The cons of this is the dust
9:06
There is so much dust in here. You will have to sift it
9:10
You'll have to drain it. I recommend soaking it for at least one day for that material can absorb the water
9:18
So it will need a little more extra hand. handling if you can put it that way
9:29
Miracle grow up. With all due respect, stay away from it. This is super cheap
9:36
I think I bought $5 for this whole bag. This is just the bark
9:43
It's the coarse blend, and you can find finer blends. But when I think of coarse blend
9:48
I think of thicker chunks that have more, structure to them that have rougher edge on them because they're for bigger rooted orchids just
9:57
like phalanopsis they're not going to be for your fine little rooted orchids for that choose another
10:01
one probably the orchiata would be the best for your finer root orchids but miracle grow just
10:09
had so much dust in there that it was already broken down also miracle grow please treat your
10:18
orchid bark I mean how do I say this nicely, I have lost count of people saying they open the bag and there's fungus gnats inside the
10:30
bag. It comes all full of moisture. It comes full with a musky, moldy dirt smell. And I like the
10:40
smell of earth. This is not the smell of earth. This is a smell of something that has been in
10:45
a bag for way too long and it really needs a treatment process. So if you're going to
10:51
If this is the only thing that you have to repot with, it's not going to kill your orchid
10:56
but sift it, boil it, put it out in the sun to dry, spray it down with fizaan 20 or any
11:04
fungicide, bacteriocyte or any other product before you use it. Also, on the website for Miracle Grow
11:12
they say they recommend that you repotch your orchid every six to 12 months. Why? Does that mean that
11:21
their potting media only holds up six to 12 months is that it's going to break down in six to 12
11:28
months because no orchid likes to be repotted in six to 12 months even pure sphagnomoths can hold
11:34
the cheap pure sphagnumoths can hold out to a year now if you get the more expensive sphagnum moss
11:40
you can hold out the five years so why does this break down in six to 12 months so yes it's
11:46
cheaper yes it works if that's the only thing that your market has
11:51
Go for it, but treat it. Prepare it. Put it out in the sun Boil it I mean get rid of And open it outside because it probably come with fungus gnats and I mean customer service on Miracle Grow is excellent I will give them 10 for that
12:11
They have answered every single question, but I don't like their answers. I mean, I wish I did
12:17
but I really don't. Their answers kind of leave, you know, because they said that mold won't
12:23
hurt your orchid. Uh, yeah, it will. So treat it, use it. It, it will break down quicker. So keep that
12:32
in mind. And to the last one, my mystery mix. I bought this. It doesn't even have a name brand on it
12:39
I don't even know who makes it. I bought it off Amazon. It just said orchid bark. There was no
12:44
description whatsoever. It was $8 for this. So it is kind of, it is in a resellable bag. I will give
12:53
you that. But as soon as I got it, there is so much moisture in here. And that can be a good thing
13:00
and that can be a bad thing. I mean, moisture means that it was either two things. It was treated
13:06
recently. It was bagged recently. So that means this is fresh. Or that mold is already growing in
13:14
here and the bacteria are already providing gas exchange and that gas exchange is creating
13:18
water droplets and and all the rest. Bark size, it is extremely small. It's already starting to
13:27
break down. You can see a heck of a lot of dust in there. So can you go with these mystery brands
13:36
I mean, I wouldn't just because the same price of a mystery brand, you can buy Miracle Grow
13:44
And if you spend an extra $3, you can buy better growth. It's worth a
13:48
a shot if you want to try it, but I wouldn't, I would not repot an orchid that I had that are
13:55
already expensive and something that is dubious. So stay away from the mystery brands. I mean
14:02
if you are the owner of this brand, I am so sorry, but make your bark chips bigger. Yeah, this is
14:12
is going to degrade and hold a lot of water. So again, if you live in a dry
14:18
place, pick the smaller bark pieces, that's going to hold the moisture a lot longer. And you might
14:25
be wondering, which one do I use? And I really do not like to give my personal opinions about brands
14:33
because my growing conditions are different than yours. I mean, I do have drywall in here and
14:38
carpet and my air conditioner is on or my heater is on all year round. So my conditions are
14:44
extremely dry. They're dry, but I have a heavy hand in watering
14:48
So I have to pick something that works with me, but I will tell you one thing
14:54
If I just had to go with one brand from here on out, or kiata, it holds up to its name
15:03
You do not need to treat it before. It's never, ever come with any kind of mold or bugs or moisture or anything like that
15:13
I am not sponsored by them, so you have my honest opinion here
15:17
and not that everything else was a lie, but this is really honest
15:22
So Orchiaida, go for it. I do have a link in the description, and that yes is an affiliate link because I get an extra cup of coffee if you actually use that link to go over to Amazon
15:34
If none of these brands are in your area and you're wondering what you can buy
15:40
check out this video up here that talks about Orchid Bark. I did it sometime in the past, but you will know what to look
15:47
look for in a good bark and if you want to know what other kinds of potting media to use look
15:54
at this video over here thank you so much for watching and happy cultivating
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