Paph Sanderianum Culture?

[The Orchid Boy]

I got my glazed pots from a Lowes. I had noid phals in boths and the roots shriveled when they touched the sides. A picture would be nice.

I know a potter(?) in Mexico that makes all sorts of glazed and unglazed pottery. He has unique methods of getting his clay and his glaze all natural.

[GirlGoneWild]

We have a Lowes not too far from us. I've never seen a glazed pot in that store that I'd trust putting an orchid in. They seem, well...cheap, I guess.

Oh, wait, there WAS one glazed pot I bought there, but that was because it was specifically advertised as an orchid pot. It's very hefty and seems to have the glass coating on it from what I can tell, and it has notches in the sides for air flow.

I haven't put the oncidium in it that is meant for it yet because the oncid is currently blooming like crazy and I don't want to interrupt it, but it's so overgrown in its current pot that as soon as the blooms fall off, I'm putting it in this "great for orchids!" pot from Lowes.

I'll report back the results of my experiment.

In the meantime, give me a day or so and I'll post some pics of my favorite glazed pots.

[The Orchid Boy]

I got those glazed orchid pots with slots for air flow and I wish that they worked for me.

[The Orchid Boy]

Picture of my sanderianum....

[GirlGoneWild]

Looking good! So the glazed pots with the holes from Lowes are the ones that shriveled your orchids? Hmmm....well, I only bought one of them, so I suppose I could always put a clear plastic pot inside of it or something and just use it for decoration.

If you search around, you can sometimes find pots that are glazed on the outside only. I have a bunch of these that I use for my larger NOID phals...they seem to work just fine. I don't worry too much about the texture of the glaze if it's only on the outside, because the roots don't touch it then.

But that's a bummer that the Lowes pot with the slits shriveled your roots. I'm going to have to figure out what I want to do about that Lowes pot then. Was it a square pot, by any chance? With a little drainage tray at the bottom? (I'm hoping perhaps we might have bought different pots...LOL)

Anyway, your sandie looks very happy...it has more leaves than mine and appears to be in a bigger pot. Is it in a 4"?

I''m still working on getting those pics uploaded of the pots I like...we're having a busy weekend here. I'll get them up when I can, and I'll keep my eyes peeled at the stores for similar pots. Hopefully I'll spot them at Home Depot or WalMart or something!

I'll get back to you soon!

[Paul Mc]

I use those exact same pots, but only as decorative holders to balance the weight of the orchid in plastic pots. I used to plant directly in those pots, and lost many. In my opinion, they are only for decoration and to help increase humidity.

[GirlGoneWild]

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

I use those exact same pots, but only as decorative holders to balance the weight of the orchid in plastic pots. I used to plant directly in those pots, and lost many. In my opinion, they are only for decoration and to help increase humidity.

Thanks, Paul. I was hesitant to purchase the pot in the first place because I don't really trust the glazed pots at Lowes, but I needed something stat to keep my giant Sharry Baby from topping over. It had a gigantic spike on it and HUGE pseudobulbs and it just kept tipping in its 4" plastic pot. I didn't want it to end up falling over and smashing its spike. So I bought the white one at Lowes. Right now I just have the oncid (still in its plastic pot) sitting inside it to keep it from toppling, but after it finishes blooming I was planning on repotting it directly into the Lowes pot. I'm glad I got word that this is a bad pot to use...I'll make sure I put another pot inside it when I repot.

This whole thing makes me a bit annoyed at Lowes for advertising these pots as "GREAT FOR ORCHIDS!!" Although I suppose if killing them is your goal, Lowes is right on the money.

I do use some pots that are glazed on both the inside and the outside; I've got about 30 plants in them, and they are all doing fine (I didn't get any of those at Lowes though). I'll have to upload a pic of the glazed pots I use. Unfortunately I bought them at a "bargain outlet" store, so I can't really tell you where you can find more. But my Sandie is actually in one of these 3" glazed-all-over pots, and it's loving it, so obviously not all glaze is terrible. I guess it comes down to what the chemist in the other thread said...the pots need to be completely coated with glass once they've been glazed to keep the chemicals from leaching.

I'll post pics soon of the pots I use. Thanks for your input, Paul!

[Paul Mc]

Actually, they are for orchids, lol... And they are great for them decoratively and for stabilization, and Also for air flow. We just don't generally pot orchids directly in decorative pots. If you do, I've noticed the medium doesn't dry out evenly which causes problems, and some orchids attach to the sides, even the glazed, and/or get so tight inside with all the roots that you end up having to break the decorative weight holding pot just to get it out. I hope that explains their use a bit better. We like to use unglazed porous clay or plastic as pot choices, then slip those pots inside something more decorative for showing.

[GirlGoneWild]

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

Actually, they are for orchids, lol... And they are great for them decoratively and for stabilization, and Also for air flow. We just don't generally pot orchids directly in decorative pots. If you do, I've noticed the medium doesn't dry out evenly which causes problems, and some orchids attach to the sides, even the glazed, and/or get so tight inside with all the roots that you end up having to break the decorative weight holding pot just to get it out. I hope that explains their use a bit better. We like to use unglazed porous clay or plastic as pot choices, then slip those pots inside something more decorative for showing.

Hi Paul! Thanks for weighing in! As far as orchids adhering to the sides of pots, I've actually found the opposite to be true...I've seen numerous orchids "glued" to the sides of unglazed clay pots...granted, this was usually in the case of grocery store or "home improvement store" phals that friends have asked me to "save." With those, I usually have to go around the inside edge of the pot with a butter knife just to detach everything that's become glued in one sticky mess to the clay. Of course, that could be the grocery store's fault, and probably is...for packing the sphag too tightly in the first place, and for neglect and overwatering.

I tend to stay away from sphag in general here in Pennsylvania, because anything potted in sphag needs to be in an unglazed clay pot to dry out properly, but during the damp seasons here, I end up getting mold and fungus growing all over the sides of the clay! My growing area begins looking like a science experiment if I have anything in sphag in a clay pot. The fungus and mold just LOVES the clay, but it doesn't touch the glazed pots at all.

I've found I get best results with bark mixed with LECA pellets in glazed pots. The drier substrate balances out the fact that the glaze doesn't allow as much air flow, and we seem to have found a happy medium where I'm not constantly fighting fungus, yet my plants have enough moisture to be happy. I've never had any plants glue themselves to the sides of a glazed pot, so I actually greatly prefer them over the unglazed kind, which get moldy and sticky very fast (and have caused the "glue" effect).

I imagine a lot of it has to do with growing conditions and climate.

So, are you saying that the glaze itself isn't the problem here? The decorative pots aren't going to poison my roots? It's more of a factor of air flow and maintaining proper moisture levels that causes them to not work out for people? That would be great news, because I've developed a system that works GREAT with glazed pots. I also have an "air base" that I will be putting in the bottom of this particular pot, since it has one of those silly drainage trays that doesn't really allow air to flow in from the bottom...so I know root rot won't be an issue.

So if the glaze itself isn't a problem, then I'm going to go ahead and pot up my Sharry Baby in the "Great for orchids!" Lowes pot as soon as it's done blooming!

Of course, please correct me if I'm about to kill my plant... LOL

[The Orchid Boy]

The square Lowes pot was fine for me except when the orchid roots touched the glaze.

GGW, yes, the sanderianum is in a 4"x4"x5" pot.