i had to look up the proportions of my soil mix..
very roughly: approx 5 parts peaty soil mix (i use African Violet mix or houseplant mix), 5 parts perlite, 3 parts small bark (i use half small coir-chips). or 35%, 35%, 21%.
sometimes i increase perlite even more , especially when not using bark/chips for small plants.
i use regular small perlite for very small pots and plants with very fine roots. otherwise large size perlite. when i was able to get small orchid bark i bought that and mixed with half small size cocochips. but now i can't find it locally or it is quite expensive, so i mostly use coco-chips. but they need to be soaked in Cal-Mag prior to use or cal mag fertilizer need to be used for a month or so since they absorb it initially.
quote:
Because of its high cation exchange rate, coco coir stores and releases nutrients as needed, but it tends to hold calcium, magnesium and iron. This means you'll need use specific coco coir nutrients to boost Ca, Mg and Fe levels.
but bark absorps Nitrogen while decomposting so you also need to use higher formula for fertilizer, soak too overnight and it changes Ph in mix while coir is neutral.
i also cut peaty mix with coco-dust by half usually since coco-dust prevents caking of the mix (peat cakes awfully when dry or old) and also it holds more moisture then peat while allowing more air to the roots.
i like to buy AV mix since it also has some perlite already ..about 10% may be? and it is acidic, which most of my tropicals prefer.
i grow a lot of Aroids and i started mixing (but doubling the perlite part for wicking) after reading on this very informative site:
http://www.exoticrainforest.co...
http://www.exoticrainforest.co... or Growing Anthurium species.html
quote from anthurium mix:
30 % Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Soil combined with 20% high quality peat moss, 40% orchid potting media that has hard wood, charcoal and gravel mixed with 10% Perlite™ that is combined and mixed thoroughly with a hand full or two of cedar mulch along with finely cut spahgnum moss. The idea to include charcoal is to increase drainage but also to take advantage of the tiny air spaces in the charcoal for growing beneficial microbes. It helps with water retention, as well.
http://www.exoticrainforest.co...
quote from philo mix:
soil mixture composed of approximately 30% soil, 20% peat, 40% orchid bark with charcoal , 10% Perlite and some finely cut and shredded sphagnum moss works well. We also make our own compost and add it in place of some of the peat and bark when available. We often add extra hardwood or aquarium charcoal to help purify the soil and sometimes volcanic rock.
there are other links on IAS site :
http://www.aroid.org/links/
i am posting so many links since you asked for some reading. you seem to know a lot already, so i don't know if that will be useful. but it's great info.
