Phals in S/H - a few root questions

[JeffreyR]

Originally Posted by Ray

As far as aerial roots are concerned, I'd have gone with a pot of sufficient diameter to permit them to enter the LECA...

I did read last night on one of your posts here that you often use pots as wide as the overall leaf span of the plant. Some of the phals I am looking at (and one that I just put in S/H) have 8-10" leaves and spans as high is 18". Would I really put such a plant in an 18" pot, having taken it from a 4.5" tall / wide container? If so, does the pot also have to be correspondingly tall, or can I stick with relatively low, but wide, pots and still expect good results? The wider pot will certainly make distributing the LECA around and within the plant roots easier!

Re the areal roots, am I waiting for them to naturally dig in and root themselves, or am I putting them into the substrate myself when I repot the plant?

I'll be moving to a larger S/H pot for some of these plants. I knew that I COULD, but didn't know that I SHOULD use the bigger pots, and will now fix that while I've got the supplies ready and the plants are not settled in and attached to the LECA.

Thanks again to everyone for the help.