Where to transition after S/H
I have a pretty mature Phal showing very aggressive root growth, and I’m considering moving it into a basket. It has grown extremely well in S/H and needs a bigger pot, but I repotted it last summer, and I don’t really want to repot it every year, so a basket might give it a bit more room to grow in between the slits.
I’m trying to sort out the best medium to use for this that would cause the least amount of setback. I pretty much have been able to transition plants planted in any media into S/H, but the opposite is not always true.
I've always used bark for plants in baskets, mostly Cattleyas, but also Phalaenopsis. I water often, but I like the freedom of S/H if I skip a watering or two. My instinct is that tight Sphagnum Moss would maintain some of the qualities of S/H, namely constant even moisture, feeding, and airflow, but not sure how it will perform in a basket in dry Los Angeles. It would also make this plant have a different watering schedule, which is annoying.
The basket I have in mind is a rounded basket from Orchid Mate. I've thought about placing a dish inside the basket, at the bottom, to act as a reservoir and keep the plant in LECA inside the basket, maybe lining the basket with some Sphagnum to reduce evaporation but still allowing for the roots to peek through, which they can't do in a plastic container. My concern, of course, is the LECA drying too quickly and potentially dehydrating new root tips.
Any recommendations or experiences from moving a plant from S/H to a basket?
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