Pots suitable for Catts.
 

OK, so far my catts in the small pots are doing fine, but as they grow, they will need bigger pots, and therein lies a problem.

The pots I use here are really good, as they are much closer to cylindrical than most, and aren't too tall, so there is less tipping problems, both with orchids and other plants.

My problem is that even tho they are shallower, with increasing diameter comes increasing depth, and with depth comes an increased risk of root rot. I love the teak baskets, except for the problem when it comes to repotting, of roots breaking.

Ideally, I would like to find a nice stable plastic pot with diameters of 20 to 30 cm, but which only have a depth of 10 cm or so so that the medium will dry out quickly and not hold too much moisture.

I'm in the UK, so a European source would be best, but failing all else, I'll ship them in from the US if I have to.

So, anyone with any ideas please?

I have a few suggestions. Since you favor plastic, I won't delve too much into discussinge terracotta pots (which is what I use for most Catts).

For any pot, you can use inert materials (such as styrofoam packing "peanuts") to take up much or the space in the bottom, leaving only a zone at the top of the pot (your 10 cm) for bark, etc.

I also sometimes use a net pot from a hydroponics store inserted as a liner inside a terracotta pot or plastic pot (an air space is left between the net pot and the inside of the other pot).

You can invert a small net pot inside the bottom of a larger plastic pot before you pot up the Cattleya. This functions like an "air cone" type pot.

Any of these options will keep the bottom of the medium in the pot well-aerated and help prevent root loss. Other than that, re-pot when your potting medium starts to decompose a bit (and before it decomposes a lot).

Yeah, I appreciate the advantages of terracotta, but I can't find anything that really fits what I am after.

I am looking at some sites selling plastic trays, about 25 x 30 or 35 and 10 deep would be ideal. There is one in faux rattan, but I worry about roots growing thru the holes in the sides.

I love the Rand Aircone clear plastic pots, especially for my Catts. They are translucent, square and very sturdy and re-usable. They have a built in cone with air slots in the centre. Because they are square, they seem much more stable for top heavy plants and fit nicely on shelves. They come in a variety of sizes from small 2 inch as far as at least 6 inch. Maybe larger-I am not sure. Quarter Acre Orchids in the U.S is where I order from and Tindara Orchids in the U.S also has them. I'm not sure of European sources. They are quite easy to find in N. America.

They are not real shallow but if I think they are too deep, I just add some Leica balls in the bottom. Most the time the roots fill the pot with no problem. The depth usually suits the rootballs of my Catts.

What you describe sounds like what are called bulb pans (in the US).

---------- Post added at 11:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 AM ----------

Also look at bonsai pots, they are squatter than tall.

Now that's a great help. Never heard the term bulb pan before, but it does look as if I shall have to ship them from the US, if they will, because so many companies don't ship to Europe.

You may look in garden centers or in shops that stock equipment for cacti growers. If you have to use a bigger plastic pot, often styrofoam chunks or a small inverted pot inside the pot or drilled holes in the side and bottom are helpful for aeration inside.

Before you spend money on overseas shipping, call shops that specialize in bulbs (tulips, amaryllis, Narcissus, crocus, etc.)

Yes, bulb pans, also azalea pots (deeper than bulb pans, but shallower than standard pots)

Using styro, or other inorganic material in the bottom of pots can be helpful.

Here's a nice site for plastic boxes. You can type in dimensions, and they will show you what they have.

Box Finder

There are several choices in the 9-11 cm depth and 30 - 35 long and 20-25 wide.

I quite like the clear version of this.

Buy Strata Plastic Storage Tray | Buy Book Storage Tray

I've been pondering this myself and have wondered if a plastic pasta strainer bowl would work...? Might be able to find them really cheap at Salvation Army or Goodwill stores.
I love repurposing things!
I was also looking at something called a spider skimmer for doing some mounts.
So, you can tell I love orchids and kitchen gadgets!

Well, I like coming up with solutions to problems, whether using kitchen gadgets or whatever.

OK, now here is a question. If I have overlooked anything, do please tell me.

What is there to stop me making wooden trays for Catts?
I was thinking, use a 1cm ply that is wbp, water/boil/ proof or marine grade. Make a tray 10 cm deep, say 20 wide and 30cm long. Make one end project 10 cm below the frame so that it stands on a slope. Like a bed with no legs at the foot. Then, cut a slot at the base, for drainage.
Plant the cat at the foot of the bed so that it is growing uphill. To give it firmness, fit a couple of small screws one at top R and one bottom L, and tie fishing line to one end, then spiral the wire round and tie at the opposite corner.

I reckon the planter would last a couple of years, and if it falls apart, remove the head end, make a new planter that is bigger, and pop the old planter plus roots onto that.
I also thought that if the bark breaks down, you could stand it up, and wash all the bits out, putting new bits of bark in among the roots, which would presumably bond to the plywood bed.

Now. What have I overlooked please? Input both pro and con would be appreciated.

I'm relatively new to the orchid world...so I'm no expert...but I love the idea of making wooden slatted bed frames for the chids, and it sounds like your construction plan has a good "out" for when the time comes. And, power tools are fun!
If I had the wherewithal to bring your plan to fruition, I would!! But I don't. So a strainer just sounded easy...LOL.

I agree with some of the previous posts. Bulb pans or azalea pots are shallower than normal pots. Azalea pots are available in more sizes than the bulb pans. When I use plastic azalea pots, I usually drill a few extra holes around the sides of the pots to allow for faster drying.

Well, I like the teak baskets, but you would rip half the roots off, repotting or have to put the old basket into a new. The sloping 'bed' has the advantage that it offers a good surface for the roots to meld to, and no holes for roots. The drainage slot would be wide, and because the old pseudobulbs would be at the bottom, the plant would grow uphill and away from the drainage slot. Plus, if the medium is washable out, there is no need to repot, just wash 'n go. Ahaha.

I can't as yet see any down points, but that may be because I am so new to orchid growing. So, if any of the more experienced techie growers read this, I would really appreciate feedback, good or bad.

I grow most of my cattleyas in wood baskets with large chunks of cork as the only media. It works for me because I grow outdoors in South Florida. You do not need to worry about overpotting with baskets. You can put a small orchid in a basket with room for many years of new growth. You also don't need to worry about overwatering if you use large media like I do. Because you leave an orchid in a basket for many years, you don't need to disturb the roots and the orchid can get very large. Even when the plant grows out over the side it will just start growing on the outside of the basket. The only down side to baskets are that the orchids require more frequent watering, it's more difficult to stake the flowers in baskets but it is possible and the baskets will sometimes rot. it is difficult to remove a plant from a basket but it can be done by removing the wires that hold the basket together and removing each slat separately, cutting only the roots that are necessary to cut. The goal is to leave the plant alone for many years.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...res-convex.jpg

I tell you straight, that is one damn fine Cattleya.

If I manage to grow one like that I shall be very, very pleased.

DITTO!! :clap::clap::clap:

I found that packing peanuts/styrofoam bits were so light that my pots tended to tip. What worked wonderfully was cheap marbles (like for the game). They're heavy and allow air and water flow.

Thank you for this tip. I am planning to repot soon and was going to use styrofoam. Your idea is better. I was just sending some old marbles to Goodwill, I will fetch them out of the box. Thanks!

Pots for Catts.
 

You could always take up a pottery or ceramics class and make whatever size pot you desire.

Bulb pans
 

Try getting some from Holland, but really if you ask for bulb or Azalea pans at a garden center, you might find some.

Fear not bil. It's a matter of compensation. I have some catts potted in quite deep plastic pots. A bit of media wastage on my part - but no issues. If the media is airy enough ... such as using suitably large sized scoria pieces (which is what I choose to use), and if air flow is good through a good drainage pot, then everything will be great - provided temperature is good too.

Another thing I do is to use relatively large diameter scoria pieces at the bottom of the pot. Eg. fill the bottom quarter or third of the pot with big pieces of media. This can help with airing.

SP, I do that too, the larger piece at the bottom.

I don’t really understand why, lol. Is it because they would theoretically have larger spaces between them and thus more air? It’s one of things I’ve always done, never really confirmed lol

DC ----- extremely nice to hear that you do that too! I did that due to observations - as in watering pots with relatively small diameter scoria pieces, and later inspecting the scoria inside the pot by digging down and removing scoria --- just to see how wet it would be after a while.

I noticed that when scoria pieces are relatively small, and we fill up a relatively large pot with it, then the scoria in the pot (such as at in the middle of the pot) can get quite wet. A slurry kind of wet. I was guessing that air-flow through the media could possibly be reduced or even stopped when in this particular wet slurry-type state for long times.

I figured that it might be necessary to set up a thick enough layer of scoria at the bottom of the pot to help with airing and drainage.

This definitely aligns with your interpretation of the situation - bigger pieces of irregular shape media - should allow for larger gaps for air to get through.

excellent! I appreciate you sharing that experiment as i have just never thought to confirm it.

i even do it for my terrestrial plants in dirt...always a few big rocks at the bottom of the pot to keep things from getting stagnant

ok so reading this thread, and as a new comer to cats. I am wondering why you don't put air holes in your plastic pots so the air moves freely?

just a question because i don't know. Is this bad for catts?

thanks! melannie

---------- Post added at 11:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 AM ----------

Hi so i have just read through this thread, and i don't really understand why there is so much worry about root rot with catts. i understood that they are terrestrial orchids and thus could even be grown in potting soil. Do they need all that much air around their roots?

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I am new to orchids and new to the catts i particuliar as i just bought my first one! I just love her though she is gorgeous and a beast! i hope i can keep her alive and make her flower again.

Thanks!

Melannie

This is indeed done by some growers. It certainly will allow air to get into the pot more in a growing area having good air-flow. One consideration could be - whether roots eventually grow out of the holes - possibly making it hard when (if) it comes to repot time.

Cattleya type orchids are not considered to be terrestrial orchids. They don't normally grow in soil. Under certain suitable conditions, it wouldn't be surprising that at least some cattleya orchids could grow purely in fairly fast draining sand.

One of the important aims is to prevent the roots from getting starved of oxygen. Roots need oxygen to survive. And the roots also need enough water to get into the roots in order for both roots and orchid to survive. Adequately oxygenated water provides roots with the needed oxygen.

Growing purely bare root orchids without watering won't work well with every grower - as survival would then depend on the suitability of the environment. So growers usually need to have some input with watering.

An airy enough growing medium that retains some water (after watering) in a pot that has both good drainage and adequate number and size of holes (such as at the bottom of the pot) helps to avoid water stagnation in the pot - especially when the orchid is grown in an area where air doesn't move much (or at all), and still-air environments can invite certain unwanted fungal growth.

When media (eg. spaghnum) is used that can get waterlogged/saturated and can potentially lead to stagnant regions inside a pot (and causing roots to be starved of oxygen), then it will be up to the grower to choose (if they can) a watering method that avoids root suffocation. This could involve choosing a suitable amount of water to add, and knowing how long to wait between watering.

It's all about control.

If the grower knows what needs to be controlled to keep orchids healthy in general, and if they can keep important quantities (suitable growing temperature, suitable light level and light duration, water intake for orchid, adequate oxygen intake into roots, adequate nutrient supplement intake, adequate moving air-flow around entire plant - leaves, stem, media, roots and all) under control all of the time, then that gives the orchids excellent chances of staying healthy.

Where things can go bad is - for example - cold climate countries, where the orchid might not have suitable systems in place for staying healthy when it gets too cold, and lighting level and lighting duration gets low. Or when air is still for a long time, and possible fungal/bacterial activity starts up. This is all assuming that the plants already get adequate supplements (fertiliser etc).

First of all, there are NO stupid questions (except the ones that don't get asked) There is so much about orchids that is different from other plants!

Cattleyas not only don't generally grow terrestrially, they are among the very dominantly epiphytic orchids. My own experience with these is, the less medium the better (with high humidity and lots of watering, they are happiest mounted) For my own plants, I have found that in many cases they grow slowly until they reach edge of the pot, once they outgrow the pot they grow much faster. (That tells me that they really didn't want to be in a pot) More and more, I use baskets with large bark. (Volcanic rock works well here too) It is a compromise between what the plant would REALLY like and what I have to do to give it adequate moisture in my less-than-ideal environment. So... they need excellent drainage, and a wet-dry cycle. If, when you water, you water thoroughly, letting the pot drain, you pull air into the root zone (very important) while flushing out salts from fertilizer and the water itself, and other junk.

diameter of bottom scoria pieces?
 

How large is the diameter of scoria pieces that you use at the bottom of the pot?

I use 1.25-2” pieces at the bottom and .5-.75”pieces in my main mix

Hi Fran. For large mature catts, I just use scoria having minimum of roughly 10 mm diameter and up to say 15 mm. The bag of scoria I buy is really like a mixture. Some pieces could even be larger than 15 mm.

If you're happy that the scoria pieces will have a good chance of providing a satisfactory path for air to flow among and around the filled pot (of scoria), then that's the main aim. It's mainly for my smaller sized plants that I put in bigger pots - where I might put some large size scoria pieces to create a thick enough bottom layer - to prevent drainage holes getting blocked, and also to prevent having all small-sized (eg. 5 mm diameter) scoria in a relatively big pot ----- as I noticed that thick layers of relatively small diameter scoria rocks can result in a slurry mix ..... very watery --- that could just stay like that too long in the pot, and suffocate roots.

Usually - if there's no need to have different sized scoria for different layers, then that's great - and convenient. But sometimes - if you feel that something could help avoid some unwanted conditions, and it makes sense to change things up a little - then that's great, especially if it appears to be workable and effective.

DC appears to be doing something similar too sometimes, like having bigger sized pieces to create a bottom layer for assisting air-flow, or preventing a slurry condition in the pot.

thanks!
 

Thanks so much to roberta and Southland for responding to me. I think i must have confused cymbidium with cattalaya, being so new to the hobby, i can't seem to keep all their names straight! I truly appreciate the detailed explanations. I am worried about my catt now as i really have no idea what I am doing. LOL i live on the mediteranean coast in france so it gets HOT here in the summer and pretty cool in the winter, but our apartment doesn't have good airflow in doors and the pot it came in is plastic with no holes in the sides, only the bottom for drainage. Hopefully it will all be ok until she is done blooming, then i will decide what to do for a new pot as I understand it is a good idea to repot all new orchids as they often have pests in their pots and dead roots. do you all think that is wise?

thanks! Melannie
thanks, Melannie

You can wait until it stops blooming. The ideal time to pot a Cattleya is when is is just beginning to make new roots. But for a plant in a not-wonderful container in old medium, you can go ahead... it is getting close to spring when new growth and roots are likely anyway. In the summer you can put it outside if can. The heat is not a problem if you can protect it from the hot mid-day direct sun, and it will appreciate the fresh air. During the colder months it will be fine inside with good light. If you have it in a pot and medium that provide good drainage and dry fast, the lack of air movement inside is less of a problem.

Melannie -
I just had a thought... are you certain that your plant is a Cattleya? Since you asked the question on this thread we have all been giving advice about Cattleyas. But you indicated some confusion on the ID. Can you post a photo of the plant? Then we will know whether we are giving the correct advice. (If the plant has a tag with its name, it is easier, but a photo could at least make sure that we were in the right place... a Cymbidium has very different needs than a Cattleya)

It sounds to me like if one uses the proper variety of scoria sizes, then there is less need to worry about over potting a small plant. Is that accurate to assume?

Hi Fran! Absolutely right with your assumption. If we just so happen to not have a pot of the recommended size for the orchid, and filling a large pot with scoria of a relatively small size might create unwanted conditions (like accumulates too much water for long time, and cutting down air flow around some roots), then using scoria of other sizes (eg. bottom one-third to one-half of the pot being really big pieces, while the uppermost layer can be relatively small size pieces) is a way of overcoming the issue.

But - if we can have pot sizes matched to the orchid size (eg. diameter of pot and height of pot - eg. shallow/short pot), then using one-size (or similar size) scoria pieces is just fine (and convenient - since then our pot doesn't have a mix up of various sizes - which could become a consideration for re-useability of the scoria for future unpotting and repotting work.

rePot me is a company that makes plastic pots with slats or narrow perforations in them, in many sizes. I use them for all my orchids, especially Catts, and they work very well in terms of drying out the medium quickly. Amazon sells them, I think ebay does too.

Has anyone ever cut ~1-1.5” off the top of the larger Rand aircone pots and used those for Cattleya?

I haven't but can't see any reason why it wouldn't work. Another approach... create your own "air cone" by inverting a small pot, or even better, a small plastic basket, in the center of the pot to create an air space in the middle of a large pot . However you approach it, the goal is to reduce or eliminate the soggy airless zone in the middle of a big pot. If you can find them, "bulb pans" are pots that are wider than they are tall, which also work well.