Hi, I just bought this p.Panduriforme which arrived planted in sphagnum moss. I am not confident about keeping the moss at the right level of moisture and would like to plant it into the media I mix myself (pine bark + universal soil + peat moss + perlite). However, I couldn't get any of the moss out of roots - I couldn't even tell where the roots are as they seem identical to the moss.

I will really appreciate help on how I should go around this situation. I read on this forum that there were instances of root rot development when people transplanted without removing the moss first. Or is it just a coincidence?

Panduriforme is a hemi-epiphyte in nature. It can start out either on the floor of the forest or up in the lower understory on host plants. It should not have any problem being transferred with some of the moss into a porous mix. If you can demoss SOME that would be good, but sometimes, its not possible. I would mix its substrate more toward the bark/perlite/ potting soil (lighter on the potting soil) mix and leave out the peat myself.

Thank you very much, Gina. It makes a lot of sense, I will do just that.

Hi @Gina1960, I just wanted to share an update on the plant and thank you for your help.

I did just like you showed me in another post and planted it into a mix of chunky bark, perlite and a little soil. Managed to get rid of a lot of moss once it dried a bit. So it seems to like it in the mix, the leaf unfurled and there is a new growth on the way. I decided to use the same mix for anthurium clarinervium as well as a couple of other philodendrons and alocasias I have. So far so good! It dries out very quickly though - do you think I should add a little sphagnum peat moss into the mix in couple of months? I'm just worried that they will get too dry

This mix was kind of arrived at by growers so that it could help #1 epiphytic plants have a really porous mix and #2 address the fact that most people who grow aroids as houseplants tend to overwater on a normal basis. I would just water a bit more TBH. I never mix sphagnum into my personal mix, because in the greenhouse, I water on a daily basis in summer. The temperatures out there can be 90+ from sometimes in March through mid-November and the plants all just suck the water up. But my situation is quite different from yours. I would say you will just have to tweak and experiment a bit to find what works best for you are your plants.

The aroid mix that people are using today is derived from something called ABG mix which was developed at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for use in their terrarium and vivarium displays. It was adopted by aroid growers, but everyone has their own take on it. Some people mix powdered Dolomite into theirs, because many of the epiphytic plants grow on Karst in nature. Some people substitute pumice or crushed lava rock for the perlite. Some people use fine fir bark, others prefer coarse. Some people mix in a soil-less potting mix, others don't. Some people mix in LECA, some don't. It kind of depends I think sometimes what people have available to them on the market where they live. People tend to experiment and see what works best.

Also, a LOT of people never take their plants out of moss. Some people grow their stuff in nothing but moss.

Hello, just remove all sphangum you can than put it in bark+perlite+few peat in different proportion then give some rooting hormone and if you can add some light. In interior plant have less light so suck less water as Gina pointed out. If you use only sphangum you could risk too humidity can cause mold, is much better bark. In summer if you put plant outside you ll have to water daily but is better than risk rot. You can use also more peat h4 if you put fan near plant .

Tito, are you italian?

Gina why you don t like peat? drain more thab normal soil. I know if richer than normal soil but if you balance feeding and treat it like a rich soil doesn t give problem. I use it in proportion of 1/5 1/6 more or less depending on aroids, for terrain plant also more. Jungle soil is really rich

It tends to compact. I just don;t personally like it. I used to use it in Heliconia and other Zingiberales potting but never use it with aroids

i agree it tends to compat but in proportion of more than 1/5 but if you use few doesn t happen if mix with corse bark. Coco is really good for some anthurium but if you keep plant in house give problem of white mold lot of times. Leca alterate ph is better just for wallet I prefer perlite, for seedlings i prefer vermiculite because keep more water but guarantee less aeration than perlite, and both have neutral ph.

I never pay attention to stuff like pH. I just use what works best for my watering habits, works for me

Franci said:Tito, are you italian?

Hi, no I'm not, but it's the name of my dog 😊

Thank you for your advice. I have all my plants in the mix similar to what you use, with 20% peat. I noticed that some of the pots are taking longer to dry than others with the same quantity of potting mix - but I think it's because they got a funny quality bark and perlite leftovers from the bottom. I actually have a lot of peat - I think I haven't even used 2% out of initial 80 liters I bought.

Gina1960 said:This mix was kind of arrived at by growers so that it could help #1 epiphytic plants have a really porous mix and #2 address the fact that most people who grow aroids as houseplants tend to overwater on a normal basis. I would just water a bit more TBH. I never mix sphagnum into my personal mix, because in the greenhouse, I water on a daily basis in summer. The temperatures out there can be 90+ from sometimes in March through mid-November and the plants all just suck the water up. But my situation is quite different from yours. I would say you will just have to tweak and experiment a bit to find what works best for you are your plants.

The aroid mix that people are using today is derived from something called ABG mix which was developed at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for use in their terrarium and vivarium displays. It was adopted by aroid growers, but everyone has their own take on it. Some people mix powdered Dolomite into theirs, because many of the epiphytic plants grow on Karst in nature. Some people substitute pumice or crushed lava rock for the perlite. Some people use fine fir bark, others prefer coarse. Some people mix in a soil-less potting mix, others don't. Some people mix in LECA, some don't. It kind of depends I think sometimes what people have available to them on the market where they live. People tend to experiment and see what works best.

Also, a LOT of people never take their plants out of moss. Some people grow their stuff in nothing but moss.

Thank you for the feedback, you have managed gathered all the different ways to grow plants into few paragraphs And I apologize for not replying earlier, I have just resumed my studies after a year long break and am struggling with discipline.

What is your take on dolomite? I just bought a bag an was wondering if it's possible to incorporate it into my plants without transplanting?

I have been told it can be used as a light top dressing and watered in

We have Dolomiti mountain, made of dolomite, here in Italy but no aroids on them exept arum italicum. Apart joke, Gina have reason as usual it s just a top dressing i think for slow down evaporation.

Gina1960 said:I have been told it can be used as a light top dressing and watered in

Thank you very much, I will try that.

Franci said:We have Dolomiti mountain, made of dolomite, here in Italy but no aroids on them exept arum italicum. Apart joke, Gina have reason as usual it s just a top dressing i think for slow down evaporation.

Arum italicum is such a beautiful plant! What are your thoughts on growing it as a house plant?

I think dolomite is used as a micronutrient fertilizer as it's basically Ca and Mg.

It has a lot of advantages. Most of the people i know who use it mix it in to their soil mix when they first pot up. I always forget, though, and end up sprinkling some on top

I was just repotting few of my plants but forgot to take the bag of dolomite inside to let it defrost, plus I didn't have time to find any reliable source on how much to mix in. So I decided to top-apply it later. Gina, is there a ratio of how much I should sprinkle or, for the future reference, how much I should mix in? Also, should I consider the fact that our water is quite hard due to calc?

I have asked these questions myself. And never gotten really good answers. Most of the directions on the bags indicate mixing into a large area of ground, not into mix for potting plants. Also there are 2 different kinds...there is a pelleted form which is a slower release and a powdered form. Our water is also hard, I am not really sure Dolomite is necessary here as our water is well water and filters through the limestone layers of the Florida aquifer. But when I do use it, I only sprinkle like a scary teaspoon over the top of the entire container and water it in well