New Mount- Spagnum/Epiweb Substitute???

[MattWoelfsen]

I have not used either product. Perhaps Ray Barkalow can opine? Isn't Inocucor a systemic anti-pesticide? It seems to cover quite a lot of maladies.

 

[Lanmark]

Both products are live microbial agents which combat disease-causing fungi.

I asked Ray. He said he was going to try the Inocucor on the Phal he has planted in the Scrubby Yarn to see what the results would be.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Faul smelling stuff isn't pathogenic, I don't think. They are obviously living on dead material.

 

[gonewild]

Faul smelling stuff isn't pathogenic, I don't think.

Keep thinking. Maybe not pathogenic but on the other hand maybe toxic or chemically detrimental to plant growth.
But then again maybe pathogenic, as smelled with Erwina.

 

[Ray]

FWIW, the "musty dishrag" odor has disappeared from my phalaenopsis pot, even before treating it with the Inocucor product, and it has not returned.

 

[naoki]

Ray and Mark, doesn't it dry out kind of really quick? I used the fat polyester yarn (shown in the photo of message #7 in this thread), which is different from Mark's around the time Syntec came out. There was a paper who tested "Synthetic moss" with Phalaenopsis to understand the acidification of media. I contacted the Chinese researchers, and tried to obtain the material, but it was a dead-end. Then I found the thick yarn at Jo-ann's. I wasn't paying too much attention, and it was drying way too fast, so I wasn't successful with Phalaenopsis pulcherrima. But the low water holding capacity could be good for orchids which should get dried quicker. After seeing Matt's and Mark's comments here, I used it as the "top moss" for some Neofinetia (the base, Koke-dai, is still real sphagnum moss).

 

[Lanmark]

It does dry out very quickly, naoki, but this is what I like about it. I have always had the best success with my Neos when they get frequent wet/dry cycles. I have rotted more roots than I care to think about in moss mounds (even hollow ones) which stay damp for days at a time as they ever-so-slowly dry until the next watering cycle.

I have had great success using the plastic Neo domes covered with only a very thin layer of moss over the roots. I have also had great success with growing my Neos in baskets with no media whatsoever.

This yarn dries quickly, yet it does hold moisture for a day...just not too much.

Ray, I have also noticed that the stale, musty odor in my yarn mounds has now started to subside. I guess it was just a temporary thing. The plants in the yarn mounds seem to be doing just fine.