Phal with huge roots - too tall! How do I manage them?

[Mountaineer370]

As aliceinwl mentioned, repotme.com has a good selection of larger pots:

Big & Tall Plastic Pots

Also, Dollythehun and roberta came up with some good ideas. Thinking outside the box -- or the pot, as the case may be -- might help you come up with alternative container ideas for your big Phal. I, too, would be very reluctant to cut roots unless they are clearly less than healthy.

[fishmom]

I have had good luck finding different shaped and larger sized plastic containers looking in the storage department of places like the Dollar Store. A Dremel too, a soldering iron, or an Exacto knife will all make holes tht you can arrange to your taste.

[twinkie]

Oh thank you for the suggestions. I'm looking for a tall ceramic pot with holes but may have to do plastic and find a pretty outer ceramic. I'm finding there's not a great selection of tall ceramic pots with holes online but I'll keep looking.

[fishmom]

You can drill a hole in ceramic with a masonry bit, if you are careful.

[Pippa]

Can you repurpose a plastic container? Maybe a large plastic drinks bottle with holes punched in the sides?

I have a Phal 'York' that sounds identical to this - it has pretty big flowers and leaves, but the roots are HUGE and as fast as I repot it, it produces more roots and pushes itself upwards. I'm convinced one day I'll come home and find it walking around the kitchen, it is so keen to move!

[twinkie]

Originally Posted by Pippa

Can you repurpose a plastic container? Maybe a large plastic drinks bottle with holes punched in the sides?

I have a Phal 'York' that sounds identical to this - it has pretty big flowers and leaves, but the roots are HUGE and as fast as I repot it, it produces more roots and pushes itself upwards. I'm convinced one day I'll come home and find it walking around the kitchen, it is so keen to move!

BUAHAHAHAH! Right? You can't see it in the photo I posted but the roots showing have definite more than 45 degree angles up further along. This was a grocery store 'rescue' plant that they had let get sunburned in the entrance to the store, last lonely runt phal with two big burnt patches but two nice blooming spikes. Little did I know it was gonna have the mother of all root systems. Part of my 'issue' is that I like things to look 'nice' so will have to do a 'burn holes in a plastic pot' thing and then sleeve it with pretty. I don't know why pot makers assume we want wide squatty pots when we go to 8", 10" etc no increase in height. Would be nice. Tall ceramic holey pots seem to always be about 5" wide, fluted or something, not giving quite enough width. meh, I'll figure something out, but I think the consensus here was to NOT cut the roots, leave well enough alone. I've been toying with repurposing one of these hanging baskets and lining it with sterile coco fiber pulled apart a bit or tree fern, some type of liner to keep the medium from going out the holes. Possibly get that phal to start going horizontally with the roots. You can set these flat or hang and there is a cute double decker that could be disassembled and use separately. Not exactly the right sizes but some ideas there. They also have different wire besides chicken wire, different shapes. Cute!

Amazon.com: Hanging Display Storage Baskets - Trio of Wall Mount Baskets 1 Large 2 Small Wall Hanging Units for Flowers, Fruits and Veggies, Decorations, and More (Black, Large & 2 Small): Gateway

[Pippa]

If you find a solution that works for your Phal and looks nice, please let me know! Mine lives mostly in my kitchen, so I like it to look nice (and hopefully have the growing medium reasonably contained so I don't end up with bits of bark in my dinner!) Maybe our Phals are long lost twins?!