OK, who was it was using chopped coir rope? Idea!

[bil]

OK, someone had the bright idea of using chopped coir rope when you can't get orchid substrate that has it incorporated.

I sympathise, as I have bought sample bags of orchid potting medium, sieved them to remove all the dust, and ended up throwing half the pack away.

Anyway, I was impressed by the devious mind that would come up with that, and the idea had been wandering round the back of my mind, when it bumped into something else.

OK the pics are 1. a home made (natch) hose reel. Now you just can't buy a rationally sized one here, and having to wind that much hose onto a tiny reel each time is a pain, so I made this. It's flat steel welded and screwed to the wall, and it's quite easy to lift off the 4 loops. The loops are protected from any sharp edges by short lengths of plastic tube split lengthwise and popped over the supports.

The problem arises when you look at the second side. On that side of the garden we sometimes use a 50 metre reel when I need to wash cushion scale off the grapefruit trees when the fruit is too close to ripe to use pesticides.

So we end up with 50 metres of hose sprawled over the garden, which is a tripping hazard. Plus, lying there it is subject to UV degredation, so even if I went to all the trouble of making a honking great hose reel the length of a wall, the hose would still degrade.

Then I had the idea. If you look carefully at the pic, the hose is there in full sight.

[bil]

Spotted it?

It's in the dustbin.. You just put one end at the bottom and then carefully coil it around the inside. A decent diameter dustbin is best. I had to coil it round twice to get it in there. However, it is easily moveable (ever tried moving a loose hose about?) Blasphemy is the least of it!

Now here's the idea.

Take the plastic orchid pot, and a length of rope. Coil the rope around the bottom and all the way up until you reach the top. If you like, you can use a hot glue gun to add a small drop of glue to hold the coil together. I just wouldn't fix it to the pot.

Then, let's say it's an oncidium type, and you want fine bark. If you take the time to sieve all your bark before use, you can divide it all up into coarse (phal) size, and fine and medium. The dust can be used as an organic additive to your houseplant mix.

So, you pour medium into the bottom, and then pot the oncidium into fine bark on top of that.

That should allow air into the base of the pot, while the root layer holds a bit more water. Added to that, the outside layer will hold a lot of moisture without turning the heart of the pot anoxic.

[nicola]

Hi Bil,
I am honored to have had such a stimulating effect.
I really like your idea, in a way is the opposite of what made me think of cutting the coconut rope.
I use the rope to make mounts, I coil it at the outside of glass bottles, fixed with hot glue.
I leave a piece on top, which I insert in the bottle. (Like a wick)
When it is very hot I fill the bottle with water, this allows to keep the rope, moist for a longer time.
Looking at the remaining pieces that were too short, I figured the idea to cut them.
However, the idea of using the rope, inside the pot seems excellent.
The next time I will have to re-pot, I give it a try.
Ciao Nicola

[bil]

Originally Posted by nicola

Hi Bil,
I am honored to have had such a stimulating effect.
I really like your idea, in a way is the opposite of what made me think of cutting the coconut rope.
I use the rope to make mounts, I coil it at the outside of glass bottles, fixed with hot glue.
I leave a piece on top, which I insert in the bottle. (Like a wick)
When it is very hot I fill the bottle with water, this allows to keep the rope, moist for a longer time.
Looking at the remaining pieces that were too short, I figured the idea to cut them.
However, the idea of using the rope, inside the pot seems excellent.
The next time I will have to re-pot, I give it a try.
Ciao Nicola

Glad you spotted it. I couldn't remember who had said it. That cooling idea is quite smart too. I had the idea of having a big canvas umbrella/tent over where I sat, and running a small bore pipe to the top where it would dribble water onto it so as to keep the canvas wetted, but not dripping. Evaporation should cool the air underneath so it fell on you, keeping you cool.