New dendrobium phalaenopsis orchids are SO BIG!!! How do I keep them?
 

Hey everyone!

I am really curious to know what you prefer to do to keep big orchids in check.

I bought two dendrobium phalaenopsis orchids from seattle orchid - amazing service as always - and they are gargantuan. (PS there is a $10 sale on den phals until midnight on April 24th, 2015- Friday!!)

Hands down, these den phals are the biggest orchids in my entire collection - they're just monstrous!! And they are probably only having their first-ever blooms!

So, being so big and top heavy, I really don't know how to keep them from toppling over.

Here are my ideas and my problems with each one:

-Somehow weigh down the pot
I don't have much in my room to weigh the plant down. I have some clay pots, but they are weighing down other bulky orchids I have, and I don't love how clay pots look.
I also don't have any more heavy rocks.

-Put the pot on a stable base that won't topple over
I don't have powertools to make an X base- any ideas?

-Hang the orchid from the wall somehow
I like this option the most, HOWEVER I live in a dorm room and I am not allowed to use nails, so I worry if I used sticky wall-hooks, they might be insufficient to support the orchids' weight.

Well, let me know what you guys think!

I don't have any suggestions (sorry...) but congrats on the new additions :D

Bungee cord, duct tape, Velco the pots to furniture? Are you willing to move furniture to accommodate the plants' light exposure?

Perhaps you should stick to small/miniature plants until you have more space.

---------- Post added at 07:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:24 PM ----------

Sorry, that sounds like an old biddy admonishing a youngster. I suppose it might be ;)

Heavy/real pots.
You can get glazed terra cotta in any color/pattern. Cachepots, etc.

It is one of my favorite groups of orchids to have!
How tall is it?
As much as I love them, I got rid of all the taller ones but one favorite.
It was just a big burden to carry them around and water.
I will definitely try them again when I have a sun room or something.

I use heavy decorative pot and the tall orchid in a plastic pot slide inside it.

I'm afraid stick wall-hook won't hold up the weight and you might end up with some mess in your room. and possibly damaged poor orchid.

The great thing about these dendrobium hybrids is that there are so many shorter varieties that stay around one foot or so.

Dendrobium Cherry Dance is among my favorites although there are just soooooo many.
One day when you visit dendrobium nursery, you will be in for a treat! :)

Get another banana hanger and make it a kokedama.

Mount it on a conical or pyramidal mount (anything with a wider base to stand firmly on).

Repot into something wider (bonsai pot, teak basket, etc)

How sturdy are your curtain rails? A hanging teak basket might do the trick. If the plant tends to tilt the basket, just use other hanging plants as counterweight (just make sure the rails can handle it).

Not the prettiest solution, but get an old chopping block or a similar piece of wood, screw a couple of hooks or loops to it, and use steel wire to clamp the pot down.

Why not a decorative ceramic cache pot? Prettier than terracotta pots and they have the added bonus of hiding ugly plastic pots. I use them for my top heavy orchids.

Haha, it's not exactly a size problem, just an organization problem. These will be my only den phals - but I did not realize they'd be this huge!!
The light exposure won't be a problem. I have an entire south-facing windowsill clear and open still, but I am under the impression that they like sort of high oncidium light?



Time for a new adventure with big plants!

What I use is a wide, shallow pot, and softwire the orchid to the bottom. The pot diameter needst to be pretty wide if it is tall. You can also put a few rocks in the bottom of the pot.

Stable base: feet of foam. Styro forms from craft stores (or cut your own from a slab). Basically a flat with a hole for the pot.

*gritting my teeth just at the thought of cutting styrofoam*

---------- Post added at 02:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:16 PM ----------

You can do that with a cardboard box, too.