A day late, but as they say, better late than never!
While on a Panama Canal cruise several years ago, my wife and I visited a commercial orchid "farm" in Costa Rica. There were acres and acres of plants, all under huge, open greenhouses (only roof shading). This grower ONLY grew plants for their flowers and shipped those flowers all over the world. Every single plant was grown in coconut shells. At the perimeter of the property were piles of coconut shells, perhaps 50' wide and 10' high. I asked why they used shells and the "guide" said that their orchids grew well in these shells but the main reason was because the shells were free!
I have not gotten those shells yet, Kate. Perhaps they will come in on Monday.
Speaking of growing orchids, has anyone found a suitable substitute for Douglas fir bark? This has now become so terribly expensive, particularly when you add in shipping, that I need to find something that will replace it. Lowe's sells a good, clean grade of cypress bark (mulch), but it is not in chunks like the fir bark and there is really no way to truly grade it as fir bark is (fine, medium, large). I stocked up this summer on Douglas fir bark, but with so many plants, I am sure I will run out of this in the spring. I see that a couple of large orchid sellers, one is Carter and Holmes, no longer sells Douglas fir bark and has substituted cypress for that. I don't know if they have a source that does something special to make it more suitable for orchid growing.
