New pot - Is it too big?

[Jennyfleur]

Ha ha, Hedge, you beat me to it (so I've just edited that part out!!)

Also, and I can't speak for those who grow S/H, but for other potting media (like bark and s/moss) if you use a pot that is too big for the roots, it won't dry out quick enough and so things like root rot, due to over wetting and lack of air-circulation, become a major problem.

[LuizaG]

I used my husband's drill. After all the other instances when I made holes with a metal thing heated in the fire... this was a better, cleaner and easier solution even if it required a bit of strength as the Tupperware was thick. The holes look better too. On the other hand I have no soldering iron so I am saved from the fumes

I could not find a smaller pot, in fact I could not find a pot at all (all have holes in the bottom and that's no good for S/H) that's why I bought Tupperware from the kitchen storage department in a store. There was nothing else better than what I got. I found it to be too much trouble to cut it shorter so unless it damages the plant in any way (I do not think it does) I am not bothered that it will not flower soon, it is still recovering after me almost killing it so it is still far away from flowering. It needs a good root system first and more leafs

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Hedge

Many orchids will not flower unless their roots are quite confined...

Can someone explain a scientific basis for that? I have heard that a lot, have experienced it too, but an orchid growing on a tree has its roots spread out, unconfined, for literally meters and meters. The same is true of plants on mounts - they're certainly not confined.

You think perhaps it's a matter of stability ("grabbing hold" of the pot), rather than "confinement"? That's my only guess at this point.

Concerning S/H pot size and phals, I recommend taking the opposite approach and typically put them in pots as big as their leaf spread. I have found that when I do that, any aerial roots that were wandering outside of the smaller pot tend to sink themselves into the medium, which I interpret as another stability thing - think of them as "guy wires" stabilizing the rather top-heavy foliage on a relatively small base.

Jennyfleur is on the right track with media based upon organic components: As most of the evaporation from a pot is from the top (plastic) or top and sidewalls (clay), and stuff like bark does not wick liquids well, piece-to-piece, you end up with a soppy center "core" (inside the root mass) that can suffocate the roots, and certainly decomposes more rapidly, becoming dense, exacerbating the problem. Due to the relatively fast-wicking nature of most brands of LECA, coupled with the fact that it will never decompose of become compact, that is simply not an issue in a semi-hydro pot.

[LuizaG]

That new root does not seem to want to grow down but wants to go up ..... Is there a way to convince it otherwise?

[Ray]

Make sure the top of the LECA stays moist.

[Hedge]

Originally Posted by Ray

Can someone explain a scientific basis for that? I have heard that a lot, have experienced it too, but an orchid growing on a tree has its roots spread out, unconfined, for literally meters and meters. The same is true of plants on mounts - they're certainly not confined.

You think perhaps it's a matter of stability ("grabbing hold" of the pot), rather than "confinement"? That's my only guess at this point.

I think in a pot, we supply an abundance of all life's requirements, where as in the wild soils may be poor or short of one nutrient and in the case of an epiphyte, the roots are processing air and rainwater to gain nutrients. I know that's not very scientific, but it holds for cacti too - pot up too big in too rich a compost and all you get is vegetative growth. Connie, where are you??

[ardera]

Originally Posted by Ray

Concerning S/H pot size and phals, I recommend taking the opposite approach and typically put them in pots as big as their leaf spread. I have found that when I do that, any aerial roots that were wandering

So I have a question. When repotting a non-phal, would you recommend a pot that is the same size as they are already in, considering the old roots will die off, or sizing up?

[beanluc]

Originally Posted by LuizaG

That new root does not seem to want to grow down but wants to go up ..... Is there a way to convince it otherwise?

Don't bother to try. Aerial roots are an important part of the plant's respiration. It's fine the way it is.

Good luck

[LuizaG]

Originally Posted by Ray

Make sure the top of the LECA stays moist.

I keep my eyes on it and spray it every day for a little extra moisture.

[LuizaG]

Originally Posted by beanluc

Don't bother to try. Aerial roots are an important part of the plant's respiration. It's fine the way it is.

OK, I shall give up and let it be. I am so desperate for some new roots inside the medium but there is a new one branching from an old root and growing pretty fast ... hopefully the old roots will not die due to the transition from bark to S/H. The only new one growing from the crown want to be aerial.