I bought a few like that in Miami at the huge Tamiami Show..and they were in the $25 dollar range. I should have known that plants that come in from foreign countries can't have ANY media on them and what ever had been in media has to be absolutely clean to pass the Agriculture dept. standards. Mine are all on life support , hanging in plastic bags under the bench.

Ooh, that is tough news, both for Darcy and Lindsey. Hope they make it.

Yeah...me too. I am totally new to the whole bare root concept. I bought one this fall from local folks at Phelps Farm..and it took right off. But these poor imports, who knows how long they languished in a box , in a warehouse..on a boat...then shoved into little plastic cups filled with sopping sphagnum to give the illusion of an established plant. Two of them even had flower buds on them and another was in bloom!

Shoot, I fret over my plants being in shipment for three days.............I'm worse than a mother-hen.

It is truly rare for me at an Orchid show or Open house to pick up an Orchid potted up in Sphagnum. The last time I did that, I asked to vendor to take it out of the pot and show me the roots. He did! They were fine in this case.
Sometimes young plants are sold potted up in mixtures of small bark and chopped Sphagnum, I am not thrilled about those either, but I have made exceptions.
So, walking around the vendor tables, I walk right past those tables where the vendor has the table loaded up with pretty plants in Sphagnum, knowing very well I need to repot them or mount them, asap, thus disturbing them.
There are reasons I don't like Sphagnum - in my hands this stuff kills the roots within a few months. And on a couple of occasions I bought a plant wrapped into fresh Sphagnum, only to discover at home that the vendor had wrapped fresh Sphagnum around old Sphagnum and there was not a live root left.

Sometimes, when I have a tiny seedling failing, it will come out of its fine bark mix and go into 100% long-fibered sphagnum. I can save a fair amount of those that would otherwise perish. They need longer-term moisture. But I know when and when not to water those. Dealing with seedling is a whole 'nother ballgame though.

You are certainly correct, seedlings are a total different story!!

So are Bulbos.

Jim

Are Bulbo supposed to be difficult growers, Jim? The few I have had have grown beautifully, but perhaps I simply have more easy-to-grow varieties.

Yes, same question.

Yes, they can be difficult. Paul Phelps uses clear plastic pots with no holes in them. Then, about 3/4 of an inch from the bottom, he punches holes all the way around. In this way, he has a reservoir in the bottom of each pot. Then he pots them in orchid moss. Those that I have potted in bark are dead within a year so I am trying it Paul's way. So far so good. I give them Phal. type light. Bulbos and Miltonias
are a nightmare for me. I'm about to add Stanhopeas to that list. They are another water lover.

Jim

Oye!....I have sooooo much to learn..regarding buying plants at shows where the options are limitless!

Ahhh, good to know, Jim!

Perhaps my media has promise then. When I got my plants, knowing they liked moisture more than the average orchid, I added approximately 50% chopped up long-fibered sphagnum moss to the standard orchid media for those Bulb. My Bulb. plants seem to like this so far. I tend to grow my orchids more on the dry-side, particularly when they are inside. The sphagnum moss idea was all I could think of to alter the drying out that is so common with my plants. I have also begun to add the chopped up sphagnum with some of my tiny seedlings, and this seems to work better than the fine orchid media I have been using. Time will tell. I am, and probably always will be experimenting.

Hmmm... I will have to go check what mine are planted in. Tomorrow. In the daylight.