Soils and layers
Orchid bark (fir/pine bark)
Chunky bark chips that keep a mix open and airy.
What the simulation uses
- Holds water
- 30 % by volume
- Water it keeps after draining; the rest runs down to the drainage.
- Pore space
- 80 % by volume
- Room for air and water between grains; low means roots suffocate when wet.
- Weight
- 240 g/L
- How heavy a litre is.
- pH
- 4 to 5.5 pH
- How acid it keeps the soil.
- Mould risk
- low
- How much fresh food it gives white mould; high-risk soils fuzz over in the first weeks.
- Breaks down in
- 2 to 5 years
- How long it lasts before rotting down to fine soil.
- Nutrients
- low
- Plant food it brings.
- Presses down to
- 72 % of its loose depth
- How far pressing can pack it, keeping its weight.
Description
Fir or pine bark chips, acidic and slow to rot thanks to their tannins. It is a classic medium for epiphytes. Fresh bark can feed a white mould bloom, and over two to five years it crumbles into fines.
Also called pine bark, fir bark, bark chips.
Estimated, where sources were thin: porosity/AFP/pH/CEC from recalled Pine bark literature, not fetched.