Growing in Orchid Bark/Mix

Robisburning

Robisburning

I have noticed the hot peppers I get from say a garden store are always really healthy and vigorous looking.  I suspect they are probably foliar fed but also noticed that they are in a very bark rich medium,  I looked around and found an orchid mix that seems to fit the bill:
 
http://www.daltons.co.nz/home-gardening/retail-products/specialty-potting-mixes/orchid-mix
 
Has anyone tried growing in straight orchid mix?  I grow in ground mostly and was thinking about digging ~3 gallon hole and filling with orchid mix and planting straight into that.  I think the orchid mix would be a great deal more free draining and aerated than my current soil.
 
when i was pricing orchid mix it was like 40$ a 2 cu ft bag. So, screw that. 
 
It's cheaper to find a fine pine / fir bark mulch(kinda tricky to find) and add lime / peat moss / perlite and make a 5-1-1 mix(google it).
 
     I wouldn't recommend digging a hole and backfilling with potting mix of any kind. Even if your mix drains well, if the soil around it doesn't your hole will fill up like puddle when it rains.
     It's a common mistake people make when planting trees and other plants. They try to improve drainage by adding coarse, loose material to the planting hole. All it does is create large voids that either hold water and drown roots, or form caverns when dry and desiccate roots.
     Instead of that, I would either incorporate the orchid mix into the soil to amend it, or build a raised bed and use whatever you want for a soil.
 
OKGrowin, I have a big pile of mulch from little trees taken down last year in my back yard.  Perhaps I should just use some of that.  It is late about halfway through the growing season here so I am looking to amend the soil or find a growing medium I can drop a fruiting plant in and have it boom.  I will certainly google the mix but as I would only be planting 1 or 2 more I don't want to end up with tons of bags that will have to sit for a year. 10 gallons of orchid mix goes for about $10USD here.
 
I completely understand dash 2.  I actually have a few large raised beds and got a few cubic yards of 'ready to go' garden mix.  Unfortunately nothing has done well in that mix which has meant half my peppers are not growing particularly well.  It seems the garden mix was just not broken down properly - I guess by this time next year it will be ready.  Anyway that is why I am trying to find a ready to go solution.

I hear you Proud Marine Dad.  I have only had my house about 15 months.  My worm bin is only a couple of months old so I have only had one tray from it.  I do have a few compost bins in process now.  Everything is lining up well for next year to be honest.  This season I have been disappointed by a few superhots not being true and It would just be great to finesse the season by getting a couple of store bought plants podding up
 
They want the mulch very fine @ no bigger than 2 cm pieces, mix that with some of your existing mix and maybe it does better. Did you check PH on your mix? did you use good ferts?
 
With the raised beds which were performing badly I mixed through my worm castings and covered with a 2" layer of the mulch.  I was thinking even if it didn't pull through for this season it should be in a good position for next year. I did check the pH and found it was slightly acidic, around 6.  I gave it a top dressing of dolomite lime. I have not used any fertilizer on it. My mulch is probably larger than what you describe but with a large mixture of particle sizes, it went through a 6" chipper, some parts might be 2" long but they would be the exception rather than the rule.  I do not have a pH on the mulch but it has lots of worms through it.
 
I have used the garden-x potting mix from palmers for the last few years (first year growing peppers but not first year growing in general)
Its about $12 for a 40L bag i think. It looks very much like what the plants come from the store in, has a high bark content..
my plants seem happy as! my tomatoes go insane in it
 
Robisburning said:
With the raised beds which were performing badly I mixed through my worm castings and covered with a 2" layer of the mulch.  I was thinking even if it didn't pull through for this season it should be in a good position for next year. I did check the pH and found it was slightly acidic, around 6.  I gave it a top dressing of dolomite lime. I have not used any fertilizer on it. My mulch is probably larger than what you describe but with a large mixture of particle sizes, it went through a 6" chipper, some parts might be 2" long but they would be the exception rather than the rule.  I do not have a pH on the mulch but it has lots of worms through it.
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You want your soil to be acidic (around 5.8-6.5 is perfect) chillis prefer acidic soils to maximise their potential ... no need to add lime to soil that is 6 pH for chillis
 
I did try growing fatallis in containers with pure miracle grow orchid potting soil mix. Honestly it dried out too fast, drained too fast, was expensive, and even though the plants turned out ok, and had strong root systems, I wouldn't buy it again because of the cost. The same potting mix did work great for sprouting seeds though.. definitely outperformed peat.
 
Home Depot sells straight orchid bark, but if all you need to do is aerate and amend the ground soil, you could find plenty of cheaper aggregate.
I agree with whoever said mix in compost. And if you can, get a soil tester from home depot, then you will know exactly what you are starting with.
 
Robisburning said:
Awesome, will check it out.  Might buy 2 more hot peppers and do a side by side with garden-x and orchid mix to see which is best.
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Kings Plant Barn on botany road had the best selection by far of superhots out of everyone i checked out. (probably 100+ plants id guess)
Check them out if you don't mind a little drive.
Am interested to see your results!
 
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