Anyone Use Clay Tubes/Tonröhren?

[naturalistSean]

I'll be putting in an order with Schwerter in Germany. I was considering adding a clay tube pot. Here it is: Tonr?hren rot - 7 x 12 cm - Orchideen der Schwerter Orchideenzucht

Do any of you have experience using these? Are they worth it? Too wet? Too dry?

I've other plants mounted on cork bark and one on a clay slab but would be interested in a mount that doesn't need as frequent watering.

[Ray]

If they are for mounting externally, and kept full of water, they are another version of a Cool Log that was sold here for a while, then mostly dropped.

If the fired porosity of the clay is correct, it will stay evenly moist. If it the clay is too dense for your environment, it will be dry, and if the porosity it too coarse, it’ll drip.

In all cases, the surface will be cooler due to evaporative cooling and that’s also where all the mineral deposits will be.

[WaterWitchin]

I was gifted a terracotta wine cooler (Thanks DCoconuts!) to experiment with when I wanted to give that idea a whirl a ways back. Your log looks similar. DC drilled me holes as seen on the top of your log and I hung it. It worked really well, with some caveats. My advice/opinion after experimenting:

• Choose a plant that doesn't mind cooler roots.
• Use RO or rainwater only to fill it and/or water it.
• Prepare to not mind algae growth on outside. I chose to add living moss to add here and there over the algae.
• Start your mount on the lower half and let the plant choose where to place its roots as it grows larger.

I just filled with water around once a week and had it hanging in an area where my automatic misters are.

[naturalistSean]

Thank you Ray, Thank you WaterWichin. I appreciate your learned input.

I poked around online and found a video from Miss Orchid Girl with an older version of this tube. I was also alerted to a similar product called DOOA Terra Base that some people seem to like.

Plants I am considering for this are Aerangis rhodostricta, Tolumnia scandens, or Leptotes bicolor.

Incidentally I have a Dendrobium tetragonum on a clay plank from the same company presumably made of the same material. It seems to grow well although I've not yet convinced it bloom! I think the algae looks okay. I'll attach a photo.

[Roberta]

That Den. tetragonum looks quite happy. It may want to get a bit cooler in winter to inspire blooming. So putting it closest to the window might do the job. I have noticed that a whole bunch of Dens that supposedly have a "winter rest" really don't particularly need - or even want - drying out, but benefit from several months of cooler nights. (In the case of Den. tetragonum, nights down to 4-5 deg C or thereabouts if you can manage it might help trigger blooming. Even 10 deg C could be helpful)

[3rdMaestro]

I don’t know for sure how a tolumnia would do on that, as they like to dry out between waterings.

[estación seca]

I would put the Leptotes on it, but not the Angraecum nor Tolumnia. They like to dry between waterings.

[Roberta]

My Leptotes also seem to like to dry between waterings... I'm growing one in a basket in the GH as part of the "project" but the rest of mine are really happy on mounts outside, with very little moss - so they are quite dry between waterings.

[naturalistSean]

Well, this is seeming like less of a good idea by the minute. Thanks for your advice Roberta, estación seca, and 3rdMaestro.

I suppose another concern is that the tube is rather small and I wouldn't want something too large on it.

Any ideas of what you believe would work on such a thing? Something that tolerates being moist all the time. Perhaps a mini-phal or something along those lines?

Roberta, thanks for the advice on the D. tetragonum. I've had it for a couple of years and it has developed a bunch of new pseudobulbs in that time. Right now I'm waiting for it to finish growing a couple more before moving it to the cellar where there is a south facing window. Light from the south and colder environment I hope will work to produce flowers. I've been keeping it in a makeshift terrarium lately (a very large glass vase with a glass plate on top). It seems to respond well to that. Might as well attach a photo. I've another big vase like this and was thinking the tube, if I even get it, could go in there to keep the humidity high when things are dry in winter.

Edit: sorry for the not-so-good photo. Also, the window is clean, that is condensation on the outside. It's getting cold at night here in the alps.

[3rdMaestro]

Just a suggestion, but maybe something from oncidinae types could go on your clay tube? In my personal (and somewhat limited) experience, they seem to enjoy regular waterings. I almost always end up underestimating how much water they really want.

Edit: With the exception of tolumnia. I’m not really sure why those are considered oncidinae. I mean… they don’t even have pseudo bulbs. Taxonomy is strange….