I got an Olla! Hang it or Prop it?

[SundayGardener]

My T5HO fixture had issues so into the shop I went, and naturally I came out with more than I brought in...I was surprised to see ollas for purchase. You definitely can't leave them in the ground over winter here and I've never seen one before. But I had read on OB about people using them as mounts and here we are.

I rinsed it and filled it with water to test it, and it seems to be puddling at the bottle. The sides are evenly moist, but the bottom drips.

Do those of you who use these as mounts usually hang them? It seems a bit drippy for that.

I'll play around with it a bit before I try an actual orchid on it. The plant I had in mind has been more active with its roots than I thought and is firmly rooted into its basket. Would Tolumnias or Twinkles do well on a clay mount?

[Paphluvr]

What the heck is an oila?

After cleaning my glasses I was able to find it with a Google search, but I don't have an answer to your question. Sounds like an interesting concept.

[estación seca]

O-LL-A

The double LL in Spanish is a single letter, pronounced like a Y would be in English.

In English it would be pronounced:
"O-yah".

It means "pot" as in a cooking pot or a water storage pot.

In Mexican Spanish a flower growing pot is a maceta, pronounced mah-SAY-tah.

What we call cowboy coffee in the US is in Mexico called café de olla.

The ollas used by gardeners are low-fired clay pots with a wide mouth, narrow neck and bulbous base. They can be buried in the ground and filled with water to provide a longer water supply to adjacent plants in dry areas, and they were used as such pre-Contact.

Members here on Orchid Board have used them to mount orchids. As I recall people with ones that drip invert them in a dish of water, which wicks up the clay to the orchid. You need to use very pure water or minerals build up on the exterior of the olla and degrade the clay.

[camille1585]

After searching for old threads about ollas, people who want to use these indoors (where you can't have things dripping) set the pot in a dish to catch the water, and they need to empty the dish a couple times a week.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Paphluvr

What the heck is an oila?

Seriously? You didn't know what an olla is? I'm amazed! I'm shocked! And I was EXACTLY
in the same boat! LOL

Thanks for the pronunciation, ES! I wouldn't have had a clue.

[SundayGardener]

Oops, sorry for the confusion! I didn't know what an olla was, but I do spend idle time going through old threads and I knew that people have used them for orchids. I think Ray also proposed a method of making your own, with unglazed clay pots and sealing caulk. I've also seen them compared to Cool Logs (? if I recall the name) which people in beastly hot climates (as I consider them) use for cool growing orchids?

I only use distilled water and that's what filled it with. But regular flushing might be needed if it hangs on to fertilizer? I think perching it over a dish will be great. Right now it is just sitting amongst my hanging plants. Maybe it would be a good choice for a bulbo, with some moss. Like a lot of beginners, I'm unnecessarily fascinated with the potting options and strategies for orchids. I'm keeping mental notes on what hasn't worked, and when something does work, it's such a shock that I don't think I'll ever forget!

UPDATE: When I first bought the olla, I actually said, I'm not sure that roots will ever adhere to this thing, the clay is too smooth. Now having revisited the OB Olla Chronicles, I see this among other issues caused people to abandon their olla experiments. So I'll save my orchids from experiments and find another use for the olla. I think it is basically a chia pet (but those typically have textured clay).