Nano Viv Terracotta Tubes - Erin Pottery

[GardenTheater]

Originally Posted by dougbraz

have you tried this type of pot? They work great!

IMG_2457 by dougbraz, on Flickr

I like the "automatic" watering setup.

[Rivka]

yeah the guy around here that makes swamp sticks does slip casting and is aware of the porosity needs, so im hoping her chimes in and might play with the design with me

[Rivka]

yeah and I'm particularly interested in hanging mounts, i have small kids and a limited amount of surface areas for orchids. hanging them in windows or even from the ceiling of a greenhouse sounds so lovely

[Wireman]

I'm going to try something like this. I've worked with ceramics for years, so I'm pretty confident in getting this to work.

You're going to think I'm crazy for the species, Coelogyne fimbriata, and the type of clay, stoneware, but I have an idea. I'm going to bisque fire the stoneware only, no vitrification, and I've stratched the surface to make more surface area for the roots to adhere to.
I know Coelogyne have really sensitive roots and hate having them disturbed, so I've made a pocket to fit the pot it's currently in so it can climb out of the pot and move onto the mount. I might wrap some Sphagnum around the mount to additional moisture retention.
What do you guys think?

[Rivka]

Sounds fun, don't know a lot about that type of orchid. I would aim to have the pot do all the watering and skip the spag. Why make yourself deal with an extra layer? I figure it would cause extra hassle.

Though I do love the idea of completely populating a mount with grown moss cover first, so pretty.

[Wireman]

Didn't think of doing that. I could probably make the watering cup much deeper. I grow live Sphagnum like no tomorrow, so I think it would look awesome to have Sphag. molle or another colorful species growing on the mounty beneath the orchid.

[Rivka]

if you have good experience with growing spag, they you could probably make it nice, i just wonder ho much misting or surface watering it would need. does spag attach to mounts or does it always need to be held down?

i would want a moss that would spread and stay low, so that it would just cover the mount and be a good surface for orchid roots.

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[Wireman]

Okay, the water bowl has been moved to the bottom, so much more hydration now.

Most of my Sphag samples are wild collected (legally and with someone that has permits) and most are species identified. S. compactum is a slow grower, but stays really low and carpets. It's also more resistant to drier conditions. It feels really cool too, very thick. S. molle would be a good contender, too. So yeah, I'm pretty good at growing Sphagnum.

[Rivka]

Sound cool!

[SG in CR]

I haven't read through this entire thread, and maybe someone has already suggested this. Has anyone tried adding sawdust to the wet clay mixture? It would aid in getting additional porosity. I've heard they do the same for certain bricks for making them lighter and more insulating. When the clay is fired the sawdust would burn/carbonize leaving small voids in the finished product that might aid in getting water through it.