Congratulations Gary, you discovered sliced bread Twice, no less! This is exactly how they grow in nature and I grow most of mine the same way. My Cattleya types are all mounted. This does not mean they are hanging on branches, it means the roots are exposed to air like the plant you described. 1) The classical mount, a tree branch. Stick the plant on it and never touch it again. I have some who have been on the same mount approaching 15 years and may well resemble the plants you saw. 2) Wooden or plastic basket. Difference between growing them ON a basket rather than IN a basket is that my plants are growing in EMPTY baskets. Works exactly like the tree branch except the wood has been rearrange to look like a basket. Again, once there, I never touch them again, may put the whole thing in a larger basket when it's time or just let them ramble on. 3) Plastic or clay pots. Mounting plants on our conventional plastic pots only requires you to refrain yourself from adding bark or coconut. Put the plant in a small pot without medium. Often I add a few large rocks, 1 1/2" to 2" size to stabilize it and give the pot substance to keep it from falling over. When the plant rambles over the edge, drop everything into the next size pot, also empty. The roots will fill all available space. I have a huge BLC which was last potted in 1988 by the previous owner which is about 2' x 2' x 1' in size. After 25 year, I suspect the bark in the 6" pot it's in, is probably slightly deteriorated but who cares. All of the above plants grow similar to what you are describing and cannot be over-watered. Never need to be repotted and offer a painless, satisfying and somewhat effortless way to grow them. During the heat of the summer, they need to be watered more often, once a week does not work for them. I usually water them every 2 to 3 days unless we get into the 90s in which case I water them every day. Tap water is all they ever get with a little fertilizer added every time. I do have a potting bench, but almost all of my epiphytes never need repotting. A variety of plants, Bulbos, cloud forest plants, terrestrials and a few others do better the conventional way and need to get repotted as the sphagnum moss deteriorates. Stanopeas, Lycaste, Angola for example, also don't like the empty pot treatment, they are in something. In the end, the best medium to plant most epiphytes in is air, that's what their growth media is in nature and you cannot go wrong with it. It also never deteriorates and you don't need to repot. We are so brainwashed that plants need to be in a pot with their roots covered with something, we don't give that method a chance. It works extremely well. Nick

Oh my gosh! I was in HD the other day. I knew I needed another bag of soil. I joined an extra swap so I'm sure to be short. I just dreaded going out to get it. They have the same set up here and NO ONE comes to help you. The bags are so darn heavy when they are frozen. So, I decided to skip it until I had someone come with me shopping. I just picked up some little things I initally went in for. But, don't you know it, I got to the registers and it was ALL self-check out! I was so PO'd as was everyone else in line. I would have left if I had to lift the bags up to the scanners. The cashier just stands there and watches you, what's that about? I've always thought their customer service was lacking but to not even offer a check out person? And, LOL, they had some of the self-check outs closed (why?) so you have to wait in line while everyone fumbles with the machine anyway!

I've concluded I was not clear in my orginal post about who, EXACTLY, to contact at ProMix to locate the product. The best way to find ProMix locally is to talk to your state's FIELD sales representative. Don't get off the phone until you have spoken to that person because he or she is the only one who can tell you ALL the places to find it locally. The phone rep at ProMix should both connect you and give you a direct dial number to your FIELD sales rep. The computer search function on the ProMix website is incomplete. It only lists retailers who meet certain volume requirements. Likewise, speaking to a PHONE representative at ProMix will not get you the answers you are looking for. They are very courteous, but don't have the retailer names that a FIELD representative does. Your FIELD representative can also give you the names of local greenhouses who use it and may be willing to sell it to you. I might add that MY field rep was very glad to hear from me, and was intrigued by the idea of Winter Sowing. He was a former greenhouse grower and was pleased to hear that someone felt so strongly about his product, even if it was to sow in milk jugs. I just happened to do a cost comparison this weekend and will share. 1. ProMix BX, available in Oklahoma City at Estes Chemical. A 2.8 cubic foot bag equals 79 liters equals 83 quarts. At $14 per 2.8 cubic foot bag the price per unit comes to $5 per CF, $0.18 per liter, and $0.168 per quart. 2. Miracle Grow Potting Mix, available in Midwest City, OK at Home Depot. A 2.5 cubic foot bag equals 70 liters equals 74 quarts. At $12.47 per 2.5 cubic foot bag the price per unit comes to $4.99 per cubic foot, $0.178 per liter and $0.168 per quart. 3. Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Mix, available at Sam's Club Oklahoma City. A 1.8 cubic foot bag equals 50 liters equals 55 quarts. At $12.47 per 55 quart bag the price per unit comes to $6.23 per cubic foot, $0.22 per liter and $0.204 per quart. (BTW I would not use this for winter sowing) For me, the ProMix at Estes and Miracle Grow at HD are the same price per CF. I don't care for sticks and stuff in my mix, so I'll go with ProMix. I've included a link to convert volumes for comparison. Here is a link that might be useful: Volume Conversion

I have studied growing in containers quite a bit...and there is a lot of info available under the "container" section, and elsewhere. Some of the contributions from certain gardeners is very good. One of the primary downfalls of many container mixes is: they do not drain well because of the size of medium used in the mix (over-simplification). Have you ever noticed the bottom 2 inches of your pots loads up with "muck"? There are a couple of reasons for that. I actually "custom" mix to eliminate/reduce this common problem (in addition to using a wick). As stated above...you can really empty your bank account buying supplies if you are not careful. Oftentimes, I buy inexpensive (larger quantity) bags of cactus mix to supplement my other ingredients. I am not sure what your ideas/purposes are...but it is a good thing to pay attention to what you are using for a soil mix. It can make or break your whole planting experience. Some folks plant in crap...and then they spend a small fortune on seeds, plants, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, etc....and still fail. I do not mean to rant...but rather help some folks avoid trouble and disappointment. With good intentions...I see people put rocks in the bottom of their containers, use "moisture control" mixes, add native soil to the mix, and do all kinds of stuff that shoot themselves in the foot. Kind of sad. goodluck, and keep asking... PS If you are just temporarily re-potting to a larger pot prior to garden plantout...just save yourself some money/time and use "regular" MG potting mix or like product. Not sure what your plan is. haha