Algae and clear pots

[mnguyen110]

I've noticed some algae growing on the inside of my clear pots. The orchid/pots are grown outside under shade cloth.

Any solutions?

[escualida]

I don't think this hurts them in any way.

[WhiteRabbit]

Algae doesn't harm anything, tho it can clog drainage holes/slats. I don't usually bother about it. I do hate how it looks tho, and defeats the point of the clear pots - I like to have my clear pots in cache pots th prevent algae. Physan should kill the algae, but won't by itself remove it from the pot.

[Ray]

Algae only becomes an issue when it develops so heavily on the top surface of the medium that it clogs up airflow to the root system, which likely won't happen between repotting jobs.. Other than that, it is just an aesthetic issue.

If you simply don't want it there, you may drop the clear pot into an opaque one for growing (you can still lift it out to check the roots), or you can do a periodic drench with an algaecide (every 4-6 weeks is fine). Ones known to be effective are chlorine bleach (one ounce per gallon), Physan (1 teaspoon per gallon), or something like Zero-Tol or Oxi-Date, which are hydrogen peroxide that has been stabilized for horticutural applications. I don't think drugstore H2O2 will be al that effective, as it decomposes so rapidly.

[RosieC]

I get it a lot when growing in Lecca, I just ignore it.

Yesterday I removed a couple from their pots that had algae on the sun facing side, the roots on that side were far better than those on the other side where there was no algae. It could be that the sun was helping both the roots and the algae, but it certainly showed the algae wasn't hurting the roots.

[mnguyen110]

What a relieve, thanks everyone!