Darwinara basket or mount?

[Jenn4a]

I have a Darwinara (rainbow) that I bought after it finished blooming; it has a new growth starting.
It's currently in coarse bark in a 3.25- 3.5" pot.

I want to put it in something that I won't have trouble taking it out of when it gets multiple growths.

Would a wood vanda basket, plastic hanging basket/pot, or a mount be best? I don't know what size would be good either. 4" or 6"?
I can put in a little spag, or even big chunks of LECA if needed, but I read that they are fine if misted daily.

I plan to either hang it from the top, or mount it on the side of my setup with the phal in it. The humidity stays higher in there In the summer he can go outside.

THANKS

[Fairorchids]

These plants can be grown either way (pot, basket or mount). Unless you are familiar with growing mounted orders, which require more frequent watering & misting), I would recommend that you go with either pot or basket. If it is in a 3.1/4-3.1/2" pot, you should not go any larger than 4" - whether pot or basket.

Most Vandaceous plants send roots out in all directions. It is usually easier to remove overgrown plants from pots (in baskets they run roots in and out of every opening).

I grow in a greenhouse. There I use a mix of spaghnum & bark in my baskets. For 4" size I use about 70% spaghnum and 30% bark/charcoal. For larger baskets I use a higher ratio (& size) of bark & charcoal.

For my Neos & Neo hybrids, I generally use 3" net pots or 4" baskets. It has to be a very large & bushy plant before I go to 5" net pots.

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[WhiteRabbit]

I agree that it would likely be MORE difficult to extricate one of these from a basket, than from a pot.

[Jenn4a]

Thanks! I'll definitely use a pot, probably a slotted 4" clear one.
Right now it's potting in coarse bark, and there's both millipedes and earwigs in it.. A lot of tiny black specks flush out of the pot when I water, so I'm wondering if the bark is decomposed.

I want to try to repot with LECA, and some charcoal. and maybe perlite?

[Ray]

Those produce a lot of growths, and a larger, multi-growth specimen is a sight to see! I would not recommend against removing growths until it is HUGE.

(Let us not forget that a "huge" plant will still take up less room than a standard phalaenopsis.)

[Jenn4a]

Originally Posted by Ray

Those produce a lot of growths, and a larger, multi-growth specimen is a sight to see! I would not recommend against removing growths until it is HUGE.

(Let us not forget that a "huge" plant will still take up less room than a standard phalaenopsis.)

Thanks,
Sorry if my wording made it seem like I was planning to remove the growth. I'm not planning on dividing until it gets unruly.. which will be at least a couple years or more. I just didn't want to use something that would be more difficult to remove all the roots from.

I'm not too worried with repotting since I'll be using a 4" clear pot with mostly inorganic medium. Isn't it usually easier to repot with leca, charcoal, and perlite than bark mixtures?

[Ray]

For what it's worth, I have a few vandaceous plants doing quite nicely in Air-Cone pots containing EcoWeb cubes.