Dendrochilum

[bobc]

Hello the Group! Great to see ya's. I'm not sure if I spelled the genus correctly. I have a D. magnum that just doesn't thrive here. I've had it for years. It's in bark at the moment. I'm gonna switch it to sphagnum. I can't seem to figure this plant out! Am I keeping it too wet? Too dry? Too dim? Too bright? Wrong tag? lol. I switched a Lockhartia and a Maxillaria to osmunda fiber, and that was the ticket for them. I can't find osmunda any more. The stores I got it at before no longer carry it. Is tree fern fiber a similar product? Just curious, they didn't have that either. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and ideas. Bob Campoli - Philadelphia, Pa

[Steve]

Hi Bob. I can't be specific about Dendrochilum culture because I haven't figured mine out either. Both of my species have bloomed but they don't really seem happy. I've had quite a few plants over the years suddenly do much better in Osmunda. Some plants certainly didn't like it but if a plant isn't doing well in bark or CHC that's what I try. Tree fern fiber is kind of similar to Osmunda but plants don't grow the same in them. Tree fern, for use in pots, is a bunch of very stiff, loose fibers. I never had anything thrive in tree fern fiber. I think the big difference is that Osmunda holds some moisture and tree fern drains and dries quickly. Perhaps a person living in the humid south would have better luck with tree fern and find Osmunda to stay too wet?

Steve PS My supply of Osmunda is a huge 6 cubic foot box I ordered from Tropical Plant Products certainly over 10 years ago. I'm going to miss it when I have used it all up. I rarely use it in a big pot. Trying to not use it up too fast.

[v_coerulea]

Osmunda is a Genus of several species of fern. Tree fern fiber comes from one of the tree fern species mostly Cyathea.The massive root system of any of these can be chunked, shredded, or layered (slabbed?). Tree ferns are much larger and can make bigger slabs. Osmunda, being much smaller is not economical for slabs. Anyway, being an organic substance, like bark, it's going to break done sooner or later. The amount of moisture and heat determine the rate of degradation. Use loose, shredded fiber mixed with Spongerock in small clay pots and it's going to last a long time. Reverse all of these and it's probably going to break down as fast as any other organic. I find Jim's Orchid Supplies in FL is probably the cheapest for buying slabs. Then I can cut it as I like with a nice sharp machete. Tin snips work. A rolling pin breaks a lot of connecting fibers for easier shredding. In any case you're going to make a mess and end up with some fern fiber. Substitutes are being tested since the use of tree fern has consideranly diminished the resource. Try epiweb as an alternative. Check

for what it is and another story on osmunda-tree fern. Gary

[Ray B]

to get more detailed, osmunda is the root system of the fern, while tree fern is the "trunk".

As osmunda breaks down, it actually feeds the plant, but mostly nitrogen. Tree fern does not.