best type of orchid pots
 

Hello, I'm an orchid beginner. I have 3 varieties and I am constantly stressing over them! Sooooo different from growing a regular houseplant in potting soil! I'm wondering what you all think is the best type of pot to use? I've seen plastic ones with holes, terra cotta with extra drainage holes, wooden slatted baskets, and pretty glazed ceramic ones with holes. Is any one better than the other??

Depends what you are growing and where.

Terracotta can build up salts, and slatted baskets dry out quickly, it all depends. Me, I use wide shallow plastic pots I make myself from cutting down pots. Everything I can put on a mount hangs from the ceiling..

Probably 70% of my orchids are in terracotta pots. Most are just standard terracotta, but a few have the extra holes. The other 30% are variously in plastic or something else. For me, the types of plants that I grow (mostly Cattleya alliance an Phalaenopsis, with a few others), and my growing conditions, these work the best. But, what works well for me may (or may not) work for you.

Tell us the type of plants you grow, very generally where you live (e.g. California desert, northern Illinois, etc.), and your growing conditions (windowsill, under lights, indoor-outdoor, etc., type of potting medium, and whatever you know about your water quality). This will help us make better suggestions for you. When you have made more than 5 posts, pictures of your plant's pots and roots will also help.

I live here in Ohio where we have dim, cold winters and summers that are completely unpredictable weather-wise so I grew all but the miniature orchids in red lava rock and basket pots. The miniature orchids (i.e. Lepanthes) are mounted. Clay pots worked well, too, for me, but I like seeing the roots.

Pots & Containers, Page 2

As you can see, there are many options:
Pots & Containers

What works best will really depend upon your growing conditions. If you live in a warm. bright climate that has lower humidity, you will probably want to keep more humidity trapped in the air between your medium and thus opt for a solid plastic pot. If you live somewhere that has dim, damp, cold winters, you will want better air-exchange.

Thanks for the links, Leafmite- I might need to go shopping now:)

I am in southern Maine and have mostly NoID Phalaenopsis hybrids. I'm currently using slitted clear plastic pots although I do have quite a few still in the soft plastic pots from the grower. I use a fairly standard orchid mix and add in a bit of sphagnum moss to hold a little moisture as I tend to be absent-minded about watering. I like to see the roots, and let them photosynthesize.
I do like the ceramic pots, but with the plastic ones if my plants stick a lot of roots through the holes, I won't feel bad having to destroy the pot come repotting time:D

I understand about destroying the pot. I have had to cut quite a few pots to free the roots when re-potting. I don't mind destroying the plastic pots but it is so troublesome and I am always worried about cutting a root! :|

When I grew inhome, I was very partial to 6" and 8" terracotta bowls.
Example:
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...psnmg4glpv.jpg

With the low humidity that goes with inhome growing, especially when you're getting zapped all the time in the winter, the large surface area of the medium and the pot's ability to absorb and hold water help to bring humidity to the plant's personal space. When salts begin to build up on the pot, let it soak a bit in vinegar and scrub it with a stainless steel pad. Make sure you get the vinegar thoroughly rinsed and soaked out of the bow when your done. I always kept a few extra of the 6" and 8" bowls so that I could change them out when they became unsightly or broke.

I'm certainly no expert, but I have a good number of plants in the Aircone pots ( - Aircone Pots ). They are slightly opaque and I would prefer that they be a bit more clear, but, so far, I like them because I can tell when things need to be watered by how much condensation is on the pot wall. Also, I more or less control how quickly the plants dry out by my potting media. For moisture loving plants, I like to use more sphag and medium grade perlite... maybe a 1-1-1 ratio with bark. For those that like to dry out, like catts, I use maybe a 1-1-2 sphag, perlite and bark. I tend to fuss over my plants, so I go with faster draining stuff, but if you're forgetful, you could go with more moisture retention in the media.

The only down side I have encountered so far is that larger plants like to tip over in them as the pots are very light. I've countered that by putting lava rock in the bottom to weigh them down a bit. You could also probably use something like those decorative glass beads.

For what it's worth, I had some NoID phals in regular, glazed ceramic pots last winter and watered them every week when the top was bone dry. My apartment humidity was in the teens (thanks, wood heat). They still got root rot because of water build up on the bottom. I've solved this by filling the bottom 1/3 of the pots with inorganic material. I used packing peanuts, but probably will use lava rock in the future. Now, they only need to be watered every 10 days, even in the 90F heat we've been having. Going with a regular pot may be a good option for you if you're forgetful, and just doing slight modifications to make it more orchid friendly.

I need to repot a lot of plants, right now the Phals, has anyone used the plastic pots that are a mesh. I think hey are called net pots used in hydroponics. My plants are primarly in green plastic pots, with a good Phal. mix, I am having root decay from being too wet, but my greenhouse is actually too dry, I discovered spider mites on a few plants the other day. I want to get a mist system and, or a fogger to up the humidity but don't want to have soggy roots in the pots. The mesh pots would probably solve the root problem but what about repotting if the roots come out the holes. I am in a quandry, please offer your advice, I need help.

What are your Phals potted in now for media? I can't imagine Phals in medium bark in a dry greenhouse getting root rot. Maybe it is your media that needs changing. Myself I really like clear plastic pots with an abundance of drain holes. I use a lot of the aircone square pots but also round clear ones. I find many of my orchid roots do really well in them. And I can see what is going on in the root zone. In nature, many of the orchids are growing on trees and the roots get sunlight and photosynthesize also. They turn green when wet. So that is my preference. If I have a top heavy one, I put it in a wider, squatter pot or set the plastic pot in a decorative or regular terra cotta pot.

I have a few of the net pots but for Phals I would worry that roots would soon be sticking out all over. Then when re-potting time comes, you might damage a lot of them if you try and remove it from the pot.

Re top-heavy plants- I've been putting marbles in the bottom of the pots:) For the really small pots, like for mini phals, I used some aquarium gravel. It really helps!
Re net pots/roots- I should think that if it needs a larger pot, it wouldn't hurt anything to just leave the old net pot inside the roots, if you can't get at it; or cut as much as you can without worrying about damaging roots and just leave the rest. I haven't used these myself but it's inert material so it should be ok.

I just prefer to use wide shallow pots so that they can't tip over. Plus, the medium needs to be able to breathe easily and not retain water in the gaps between media particles. So with the thick root epiphytes, I use 2" bark, and with the thin ones a finer bark.
If there is a real risk of it drying out, my suggestion is NOT to mix sphagnum in with the bark, but to place a couple of balls of moss in amongst the bark.
That way there is a reserve of moisture that doesn't risk clogging the interstitial gaps.

Thanks, Silken, they are in a bark,sphagnum moss[ not too much] charcoal, perlite and a few clay beads. The bark was the last bag I was able to get and I think fir bark is not as good as it used to be, it is rotting very quickly.

It is not usually dry in my greenhouse, right now everything except the Phals.are outside, so not much watering in there and it just gets dry and not very humid. Usually we have abundant rainfall here, 40" to 50" a year but the whole region is short about 6". I have had only 2" since the first of June so I don't have the usual humidity. This is why I am considering the mist and fogger and want to get the plants into pots that will be good in that environment. I have looked at the clear pots but somehow they seem odd, I don't know if they just look odd because we usually see plants in green pots, or not. rePotme has some like them that are green but they want ridiculous prices for them. I have to buy pots, I should get some of the clear and see how it goes. I have always been able to grow my plants well but between the root rot and the spider mites or what ever they are I am frustrated. I have never been a overzellous waterer, I usually error on the dry side.

I have been reading the threads and culture info where ever i find it and the board has convinced me that I need to do the clear pots with the slits and the cone so air to get to the lower medium in the pots.
I also think I am going to use more of the clay in my mix this time as well. Thank you for helping me resolve this in my mind.

I really appreciate your input, Thanks

I'm asssuming the perlite is in small beads/powder? That will just choke the interstitial holes. The whole point is to keep airflow at a maximum.