Yeah !!! Got space liaoz

No space? Throw the dead plants away - no need to keep souvenir. Can't resurrect most of the time. Also do not recycle the mounts - it's like recycling needles - euuuu so unhygienic

Potting mix

Always wear PPE


3 layers at least. But then I still end up with clay in my lungs, black spittle and a face like the clay face guy from fantastic 4

had to take a nong nong shower after the 6 hour operation.

All ingredients prepared in advance over a 3 week period with the company of a "manipulative bastard" usu I prefer jewel in the palace.

I'd be called Lord of the Sieve for some reason


Clay had to be sifted:


To remove the bonus stuff:


Sift until sweat:

What with a baker actually sweats into the flour eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Very injury-proned me. Too much breaking down to do. Luckily this time no blood filled blisters


Ingredient list:


Mix:


And Taaa-Daaa


Mixing very important. For more info, visit this website to learn more

Ooops I did it again

Had a massive repotting session some time back but only managed to get the photos up recently.

Overdid myself for the grad-present-in-lieu-of-a-holiday-trip. Either I spend on the trip or spend here.



I wonder if niveums will be the "in" things for brachys a couple of years down the road. I also wonder if Sugar Suite will do well here or not - since mama emersonii is a very ridiculously difficult one to handle along with vietnamense.

Repotted the olde godes from last year. Hopefully will flower for the coming CNY



If cup too stiff, cut notches to make for easy peeling:


This roots even have the imprint of the bearings along the plastic cup


Nice root balls:


brachys are best potted individually because of their very weak root-leaf joint breaks easily - one of the ways of propaging brachys is to take the top cutting and inserting into potting mix and wait for 2-6 months for new shoots to appear. Very similar to propagating saintpaulia. A bit drastic but it's really difficult to separate brachy clumps.


Finished the whole crapload.


Luckily had company towards the night:

Destemmed LFS

After a day of sitting in front of the computer, I find destemming sphag rather therapeutic although it is sooooo tedious. I hope to pass the whole tinnny bag full to DSB to see whether it's gonna be the next tedious manufactured potting mix or not.

Luckily I had episodes of a manipulative bastard to keep my eyes busy while my fingers are working away stripping the stems.



Better change the name LFS to SFS (stem-full sphag)


I think the resulting stuff can stuff pillow liaoz

TMD slug damage

You got to kill them all Poke'em slugs







Dunno how the slug got into my balcony. Stupid things leave all the slime in the crown and made my leaves look jungle-like. Sianz0.5

OJ's opinion on topical plant applications (white oil)

Not suitable for minis yyy?
- White oil is a very thick emulsion that acts as an occulsive layer to block out air when sprayed on to pests and can be used prophylatically to prevent infestation from sucky insects. But then hor, the layer will be quite thick. Also amazing insects can still suck under the thick oil coating - so by the time they die, they also suck finish. Mini orchid so small only got limit things to suck.

- Since layers need to be thick - especially at junctions of plants where thick layers may form, plant chao tar easily.

My protocol:
- If possible, apply diluted surfactant onto affected area to wipe out most of the insects. recommended are chloroxylenol and stearic acid based detergents
- Next apply a systemic pesticide such as dimethoate to kill of the insects
- Q2Weekly prophylaxis using neem emulsion. Neem emulsion acts as appetite suppressant on insects - doesn't work on caterpillars because no appetite centre in brain.

How to make fluffy sphag granules

This may scare some people - so it is easier for me to make and give away rather than teach =p

Sphag courtesy of Dr SexaeButt. NZ sphag AAA grade. I prefer the "lousy" China sphag - easier to cut and remove the stems.

This is the first time I'm using AAA NZ moss to granulate - usually use the cheaper China moss. So far the results are good with the sundews and it is incorporated into the my paph potting mix as a binder for the fine powder ingredients to prevent rapid settling.

Pictures span 2 weeks +

Start with your dried sphagnum moss


Pick through the sphagnum moss to remove the exposed stems or litter such as pine needles or grass blades.


All the rough bits here. For Chinese moss it would be easier to pick through the moss when it is wet as the contaminants would be plumped up to pick.


Placed into a covered container for soaking.


I usually use distilled water. Not endorsing the brand - any distilled water will do. Tap water tends to be harder and contains a lot of minerals - may cause algae growth.


Add enough water to soak. Some would advise using just enough water to retain the tannins and other substances found within the sphag - good stuff for the plants being grown but I usually wash these out when growing terrestrials. Epiphytes would be a different matter to prevent algae growth.


Soak covered for a few days to make sure the moss is thoroughly hydrated.




Next step after soaking the moss, get ready cutters and a tray. Some people may want to cut the moss dry - but I find it more cumbersome as the moss will be moving about and flying everywhere as you cut it. Wet moss cut easier and stay in place better. On the other hand, easier to sieve out the fines (<1mm)

Protect your fingers if you do not want to introduce extra iron into your potting mix.


Grab a handful of your moss and squeeze out excess water.


Mould a handful of moss in your hand to facilitate cutting.


Snip away. I tried a blender in the past but ended up with either a slurry of mush or very unevenlyt cut up moss.




You will get fragments of moss like so:


A heap after 2 episodes of Jewel in the palace.


As the first cuts tend to be very coarse, go through another round of snipping if you want a finer mix for terrestrial potting or as a germination mix. The moss tips tend to be missed, so look out for those to cut.


After 4 episodes:


The water contains a lot of tannins (may inhibit growth of certain plants). Tannins may help prevent algae though.




Change water.


Add back the moss for rinsing




The cut up moss tend to be foamy as there are air pockets in the moss.


Gums start to come out as you cut and resoak - so the moss starts to stick - good for binding fine powders.


Geh-poh in my midst.


Soak the moss for another few days to allow further leeching.

The mixture will start to smell like molten plastic after a few days' soaking. Rinse and wash with a 1mm sieve. - No picture for the safety of the camera.

Remove the excess water. You may want to allow the moss to dry out partially before passing through another sieve - if not you'll end up with pushing out water instead of passing out moss.


Very lumpy moss - may cause compaction on watering. Air pockets are desired in most potting media.


When granulating, store the moss in a bag to prevent addition water loss just in case you can not complete sieving in time. Dry sieving of moss will end up with very fine flakes.


Use a 5mm sieve to sieve the wet moss


Use your hand to pass the moss through the sieve.


You will get granules like so:


At the same time, remove any missed out stems.


As the granules are fragile, move them about with a fine stiff stick. You may store it moist or air-dried until they become crispy and changed colour.


If you are using for binding purposes, store the moss while it is still moist.

If using as a straight media for sundews, you can store this dry. To reconstitute, add sufficient into a cover container, add a bit of water and shake. Repeat until it is moisten sufficiently. If too much water is added at one time, the dried moss will float up.

Alternatively, add sufficient water and allow the moss to rehydrate overnight - but there is a danger of adding too much water.