Strange potting?

[blackvine]

All, I decided to begin using 3 parts sphag to 1 part coconut chips plus a shake of charcoal to pot my Catts in. Reason? I grow indoors and water once a week and that did not seem to be enough for my Catts potted in bark only. So, I made the change, but used these net pots. Well, a) they look sort of weird to me with the sphag poking out of the holes and b) I wonder if net pots defeat the purpose of letting them dry more slowly so that water once a week is OK? I grow in a small room with two good sized windows wide open in summer - humidity is 60% - 70% in summer and about 50% - 60% in winter, with a humidifier. Does anyone think sphag should or should not be used with net pots???

[Cym Ladye]

I would guess it all depends on how hard you compact the moss....

[james mickelso]

You will find that the problem is the inner part of the moss won't dry out fast enough and eventually the roots will begin to rot especially when it cools down. Moss is ok at first but starts breaking down quickly and stays soggy while the outer part seems dry. And CHC also retains a lot of moisture,. Remember that you are watering the roots and not the media. The only water that really matters is the water that soaks into the velamen.

[RosieC]

I think the key is how evenly it dries. Nothing wrong with sphag in a net pot as such, but the chc may hold water longer and dry very slowly and if that's in the center may cause the center to dry too slowly compared to the outside moss (which is open to the air). The danger is if you don't realise the center hasn't dried.

[Leafmite]

Maybe putting styrofoam peanuts in the middle will solve the problem. If the net pot is small, it should dry quickly...my angraecum leonis dries in a day. I really love sphagnum moss now that I am using it for a few of my orchids. I do grow the cattleyas in straight lava rock and net/basket pots/vanda baskets but that is really just because I hate repotting. Good luck with your experiment!

[Brooke]

I don't think anyone can tell you exactly what media or what type pot to use because even inside, everyone will have different temps, differing amounts of light and different air movement.

What I do know is you picked a moisture retentive media and a net pot which will dry out very fast, particularly a net pot that small.

Net pots are an excellent choice for something that needs a lot of moisture but still needs air to the roots i.e. Coelogyne, Bulbos, Masdies.

Your Catt will also get very top heavy when it grows and a net pot will need to sit in another pot to keep it upright.

Brooke

[blackvine]

Hmmm. I had 3 of these little catts in bark only which seemed too dry. Leafmite, you gave me an idea - maybe I'll put bark in the middle and sphag/chc on the outer edges. And, yes, I now realize that the roots will grow out of the net and I'll need to ease them out (read: destroy them) when I repot. Not too cool. Maybe I'll just use the clear pots. Dang. I bought about 15 net pots and now not sure I want them!!

[gnathaniel]

Looks fine to me, I grow a good number of Laeliinae in net or clay pots with sphag and various additives, most like to be plenty moist as long as gas exchange is adequate. If roots are all twined through the net when you want to repot, just cut the pot off or else knock out most of the old medium and put the whole thing into the new pot, it won't hurt anything to have the plastic still in there.

[james mickelso]

I agree. When it's time to repot, just cut the pot away from the roots. I like the net pots.