Drainless pots for soaking!

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

Water is H2O. Roots generally green up when watered and I've noticed they green up extensively when exposed to soaking rains. Aren't they absorbing oxygen via the water? Soaking - for +-10 mins, not overnight, is similar to soaking rains? When the pot is removed from the soaking, the water in the pot is replaced with air. As the roots and bark dry, more air is introduced? The same would apply to any media?

Not disputing any of that, but I don't think it provides anything over normal air exchange through the spaces between medium in pots. Plants (and other forms of life) take in oxygen to the extent they are metabolizing sugars or fats. There is nowhere to store excess oxygen in an organism. They only take up what they are using.

Humans carry only about 4 minutes' worth of oxygen in our blood, which is why we can't hold our breath very long. A normal human breathing supplemental oxygen anywhere near sea level, as you see athletes doing on television, gets no benefit at all. Oxygen bars are fun experiences only, and provide no benefit. The blood of a person with normal lungs and heart breathing air at sea level is already fully saturated with oxygen and it isn't possible to pack it with any more. Plants are in the same situation with regards to oxygen.

[rbarata]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Not disputing any of that, but I don't think it provides anything over normal air exchange through the spaces between medium in pots. Plants (and other forms of life) take in oxygen to the extent they are metabolizing sugars or fats. There is nowhere to store excess oxygen in an organism. They only take up what they are using.

Humans carry only about 4 minutes' worth of oxygen in our blood, which is why we can't hold our breath very long. A normal human breathing supplemental oxygen anywhere near sea level, as you see athletes doing on television, gets no benefit at all. Oxygen bars are fun experiences only, and provide no benefit. The blood of a person with normal lungs and heart breathing air at sea level is already fully saturated with oxygen and it isn't possible to pack it with any more. Plants are in the same situation with regards to oxygen.

I agree with this under normal conditions.
But it's possible to increase the oxigen levels in the organism in order to create some reserve. This is a well known technique used in free diving (apnea) as well as in underwater fishing and allows one to increase the time underwater.

Anyway, going back to the topic, I think the coarser the medium, the larger the qty of air inside it 'cause the voids are larger.

[orchid-asmr]

as most of you have said i do soak for my waterings and i do so for about 30min to an hour. i live in so Cal so it isnt the wettest place in the world. Sometimes I will just run them under some water but that only keeps the roots green for about 15-20 min then its back to bone dry! so to save a little time i just soak and have had no issues.

but yes i reuse some containers like most of my smaller orchids and juveniles are in cream cheese containers. its not pretty but gets the job done well
but i have trouble finding larger ones. the restaurant supply sees like a good idea so ill check it out!

---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 AM ----------

everything you said is excatly what i do! except i try to treat my tap first since i dont have the luxury of having a RO system.

[estación seca]

If you can collect rain, try and do that. I know it hasn't rained much recently.

Smart and Final has 1-quart/liter plastic food containers for not much money. They are sold in packages of 25. I use those for semi-hydroponic containers after drilling holes with a Dreml tool. S&F also has smaller sizes.

S&F doesn't have larger containers, but you can order them online from a plastic molding company. Think ice cream tubs. Lids, which we don't need, are generally sold separately, which is nice.