Property News · September 18, 2022

Get growing with rock wool, an old tip newly learned | James Wong


Rock wool has been used for decades but tiny cubes of it, in place of compost, proves a revelationI am lucky to have met a big group of plant science geeks from all over the world through platforms such as Instagram. So, recently, when I was offered the opportunity of a botanical road trip with my mate Rogier van Vugt, head of horticulture at Leiden Botanic Garden, about 25 miles south of Amsterdam, to visit tiny, niche growers and rare plant collectors across Europe, I jumped at the chance. Yet, to my surprise, the most amazing fact I learned from the experts we met was not about some top-secret plant cultivar or a closely guarded growing technique, but probably the simplest of all ideas: a new take on an old growing media.Stepping into the private glasshouse of Xavier Garreau de Loubresse from the nursery Select Orchids, I was faced with species I had only ever seen in textbooks: bench after bench of rare orchids nestled in among exotic aroids. Systematically set out in neat rows of clear pots, all these plants were set off by a perfect emerald carpet of velvety moss that entirely covered the growing media. It was only when I picked them up to inspect some of the most delicate flowers did I see what was beneath the surface. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Get growing with rock wool, an old tip newly learned | James Wong

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