I've read it too, but I think it's nonsense. I've never grown it in
anything other than milled _Sphagnum_ (not great results), or sand/peat
(good results) which is what Paul McMillan uses with great results.
Right now I have them in a 5 gallon pail: the top layers are sand/peat,
the bottom is sand/gravel/rocks, and the middle layers grade smoothly
between these mixes.
>ping soil i use is the one recomended for mex pings by the ping
>study group. by volume: 2 parts corse perlite
> 3 parts corse vermiculite
Thanks for this info, Kevin. Does the Ping study group suggest anything
for European-hibernaculum forming species? I am trying some _P.longifolia_.
For now I have them in a pot of vermiculite, with a thin top covering
of sand so I don't lose the hibernacula...
In the spirit of experimentation, I've ordered some Osmunda from Mellingers
to see what that stuff is like. Orchid growers have loved this for a long
time, but I guess it's too expensive now. I'm hoping I may be able to use
some of it for a few epiphytic _Utrics_. I've never seen the stuff!
#125 grit sounds kind of small. The builder's sand I use is called #30
mesh size. Have you seen the white sand used in hotels for cigarette
ash-trays? It's the same thing. Granulated sugar or salt is a good
analogy.
Thanks for that information about the diatomaceous earth. I was unaware
it was made of silica! I would have thought the shells were made of Calcium
Carbonate, like the rest of the reef-builders in the ocean...
>I had outside made it (except some _P. caerulea_ when the leaf mulch blew
>off). I did have frozen and burst pipes too.
****** ***** *****
Hah hah hah! :) (sorry)
But I left Chicago for a reason!
B