>What was your soil mix? I have bad rotting problems when using any mix
>w/peat for the Mexican pings (the exceptions are _P.ehlersiae_ and
Hmm. Well I use a mix of 2peat/1sand/1perlite. Call me old fashioned, but
I hate to get completely away from a peat or _Sphagnum_ based mix.
I spent an afternoon this weekend with a crazed orchid grower. This
fellow grows only pure species, the more peculiar the better. Many of
his mature flowering specimens could fit inside a _S.flava_ pitcher.
I'm not up on orchid growing, so we spent the day doing a variety of
things. The most extraordinary was the time we spent transplanting
seedlings from flasks to other flasks. This involves sterile fields,
agar, fume hoods, etc. Not gardening by any stretch. Anyway, he had a
variety of very interesting soil media. I saw ``rock-wool'' for the
first time. The stuff looks like furniture stuffing, or some kind of
insulation. Apparently inert and soft, in general it was much like much
like cotton balls. There are hydrophilic and hydrophobic varieties.
Although it is interesting, I find it very unaesthetic.
Barry