What kind of pots do you use and why?

[cbuchman]

Like many others, I pot mostly in clay for aesthetic and practical reasons. I like the way they look and they are less likely to tip over. Since I summer my orchids outside on benches, I find that the wind does little damage to the heavier pots. I also like that clay pots dry out faster.

That said, I also have a few teak baskets, and a few clear plastic pots for Phals. When I have a plastic pot, I fit it into a clay pot to maintain a uniform look and provide stability. I’m just getting started with S/ with a couple of clear hard plastic cups (the kind used for picnics) and punched my own holes in them.

Clay pots can be a pain to clean, but once or twice a year, I do a mass cleaning of used pots including sterilization. I’d love to run them through the dishwasher on the hot cycle, but my husband would be horrified. So I scrub and dip in a bleach solution.

[dounoharm]

i use a little bit of everything.....but i really like the net pots lately, i love seeing the roots coming out of the sides....i also use a lot of the old style clay pots when i can find em with the large slots up the side....the newer ones with big holes and the fine slits dont attract me...i use a lot of plastic as well as it is easily available and practical....i really dont like the clear pots as the tend to algae up inside faster than what i like.....tops is the old clay pots!!

[Gage]

I have used just about everything, and still use many different things. Since I have Vandas that get watered every day, I prefer to mount or pot everything else that is outside in something that I can water frequently or daily (plus unpredictable rain) without fear of overwatering. So my first choice is mounting to tree fern or cork, and then wood baskets with a media that dries quickly, and then clay pots which are great for all of the reasons mentioned previously. I like the baskets because they break down and lose media as time passes, reducing risk of root rot, and to repot you can just drop the whole thing in the next size up. Most of my Phals are indoors, so they get clear plastic pots with sphagnum moss and a lot of styrofoam in the center.

[Cym Ladye]

For Cymbidiums, I use nothing but black plastic from 3" to 3 gallon. If I want a decorative look on the patio, I set the black plastic pot into a large, red clay pot, elevating it off the bottom.

Unglazed clay dries out far more quickly than plastic, is much more difficult to sterilize, is more expensive and breaks. Hence, for me, the cache pot usage.

Cym Ladye

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

For Cymbidiums, I use nothing but black plastic from 3" to 3 gallon. If I want a decorative look on the patio, I set the black plastic pot into a large, red clay pot, elevating it off the bottom.

Unglazed clay dries out far more quickly than plastic, is much more difficult to sterilize, is more expensive and breaks. Hence, for me, the cache pot usage.

Cym Ladye

I agree. Cyms like to stay moist and clay dries too quickly.
i also use deep plastic pots for cyms.

[pipsxlch]

I use exclusively for my potted plants red unglazed clay- I do have many (and ever increasing) plants in baskets and on mounts, mostly cedar but some plastic mesh. I grow outside only, I live in an area that is often quite hot and humid, and find that over-retention of moisture is a bigger issue than not enough even though I'm not a generous waterer- Nature is around here. I found that plants which struggled in their original plastic pots throve when moved to clay.I prefer the azalea shallow kind where possible, and of course slotted. I grow mostly hardcane dendrobiums and cattleya alliance.

I've always grown my vandas in baskets, and have started moving my myrmecophilas and encyclias over- they really seem to like it, so the catts will be tried out also. I think the dens will stay in the clay since they're so top heavy, unless they get naturalized.

[RosieC]

I use plastic pots for most things, with outer decorative cache pots when they are in the house.

Like others I find clay dries too fast, I do use it on Masdies and Restrepia with moss, because I want the moss to dry faster and the cooling affect of evaporation helps the Masdies. I have also put a Catt in lecca and clay this year, not sure if it was the right move yet, but I had trouble with it and wanted to get the roots drying quickly. It needs watering every day as a result, I might get fed up with that.

My cyms and cyps are in plastic each of which is set in a large wooden tub with gravel filling the gap between the two. I do this for both stability outside when it's windy, and to give some side protection from cold to the cyps which stay out all year.

Everything else in the greenhouse is in plastic, and everything in the house is in plastic with cache pots. It seems to give me the right watering rate for most things.

[tarev]

I use different kinds of pots, clay, glazed clay, white plastic, wood, black fabric geo pots. One thing for sure, the pots have to drain very well.

Advantage of the white pots, you can easily see the roots, but I do like the clay/glazed ones, since they are heavy enough not to topple down with the bigger orchids. The fabric ones, allows good air circulation, but I just cannot see the roots at all, but it seems the orchids are enjoying it, as long as they are happy good enough for me. The wooden type I have I got from a pet store, not the square slotted wood type used often for vandas, but a more rounded wood container with hollow core, so you can put the orchid inside, my dendrobiums and a phal loves it.

[lepetitmartien]

Clear pots, not clear pots, glass vases for phals, watever plastic pot I can circumvent for S/H, mesh pots for stans…

[Vanda lover]

Originally Posted by lepetitmartien

Clear pots, not clear pots, glass vases for phals, watever plastic pot I can circumvent for S/H, mesh pots for stans…

Glass vases for phals? Do you have them in vase culture?