What can I put in this vase, and what can I put my phals in?

[Frangipani]

Hello orchid lovers!

Boy am I glad to have discovered this forum.

I have a couple of questions, and I'll start with the easiest one:

I have two phalenopsis orchids, both into their second time flowering (second time for me, I mean), which is the best I've ever managed so far ... I'm just wondering - do they have to stay in these ugly clear plastic containers? What other options are suitable for phalenopsis?

Second question: as part of a design course I was doing, I designed a sort of vase, inspired by orchids that I had seen growing outside on trees in Thailand. It is not a proper vase though. It is basically three triangular pieces of glass, laser cut into interesting (I think) shapes, which do not meet at the sides or at the bottom. My idea was that I could put an orchid into it, and let the roots grow out of the sides. It should also drain very well, since there is nothing to catch the water at the bottom.

I tried this with one plant, but it died even though I sprayed it quite a bit, but I wasn't really sure what I was doing, and I'm thinking that it might have been the wrong plant to try it with. So my question is - what type of orchid can I use that will truly take its nutrition from the air? I would like to have something that requires very little earth or bark, because the "vase" won't really hold it.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks in advance,

Daniel

[Vanda lover]

Try an ascoenda, or some other small member of the vanda tribe [depending on the size of the vase]. Put a little Sphagnum moss in with it to hold some moisture, and give it a good soaking. Any orchid that you grow this way will need to get it's humidity. If you put the plant in bare root, you will need to water every day. If it has moss, about every 3rd day in summer and once a week if indoors in winter, with mistings in between. These plants need lots of light, but bloom often.

Nancy

[Call_Me_Bob]

as for your phals in flower, you cold get a cache pot. jut a decorative pot that you can sit the plastic pot inside. the cache pot doesnt need drainage, as long as you take the inner pot out to water, and let it finish dripping before putting it back

[RosieC]

That's just what I do. All my plastic pots are inside a pretty decorative pot.

In the UK you can get some decorative pots specially for orchids which hold the plastic pot off the bottom so it doesn't sit in any water that dripps out, otherwise as Bob said you need to make sure it has finished dripping so it's not left sitting in water.

With orchids it's a good idea for the cache pot to be big enough that it's not tight on the plastic pot, so that there is air flow possible inside. I've had problems when the company that makes my favourite ones changed the design to be narrow at the bottom, it noticably affected how well my orchids were drying and the health of their roots as a result.

[Vanda lover]

I agree. It's good to have the clear plastic pots so you can see the roots, and a cashe pot works great. I always put a little gravel in the cashe pot for extra drainage.

[Call_Me_Bob]

i usually only keep my chids in a cache pot when they are in bloom and need displaying

[Vanda lover]

Me too, actually. Or if the plastic pot is top heavy.

[RosieC]

Cache pots are great for top heavy plants. Most of my orchids are in the house and while they are most of them get a cache pot. In the summer a lot more go into the greenhouse or outside and I don't bother with them on those, it's only the ones in the house that I bother with.

[Call_Me_Bob]

same, top-heavy plants get a chach pot. soetims ill just use a clay pot with a hole, so i dont have to worry about draining

[BobInBonita]

Back to your glass vase idea - check out the sticky on growing vandas in glass vases in the vanda alliance forum. A lot of info on how to grow bare root in glass. You should be able to adapt the ideas to your custom vase.