which one is better:clay or baskets?

[peeweelovesbooks]

I grow on both. Having said that, if I buy a bigger Cattleya (that I don't decide to divide at the time of purchase) I will use a basket rather than a clay pot. As my older cattleyas outgrow their 6 inch pots, they are going into a basket. I just don't want to risk overpotting and rot with the bigger ones.

I use a combination of LECA and river rock (bought in bags from Home Depot and washed) as a potting mix. So, it's virtually impossible to overwater.

I use some potting medium in the basket. Also, there's this guy on ebay who sells what he calls "Plaskets" which looks like a traditional vanda basket but is much lower. I've been using those since I can put some LECA and river rock in there without it being too much.

I'm also going to experiment this year with wine-soaked cork. One of my friends (and her friends) are avid wine drinkers, and I'd like to see how that works out.

In short, even though clay pots look fabulous, I think I'm slowly moving away from them for the big girls and boys. I have 4 big grammatophyllums and I'm transplanting them into BIG plaskets this spring. I just think they are too big for clay pots now.

[nlm2951]

Yes, I do and love it.

[james mickelso]

Yes. Very nice plant Tucker. (Jealousy rears it's head).

[Leafmite]

I started with clay pots but now I use plastic basket pots or plastic vanda baskets for all my potted orchids. I fill them with lava rock or sphagnum moss and I enjoy watching the roots peep out of them and never worrying too much about them staying wet in the middle. If they dry out too quickly in the winter, I set the basket pots inside of another container to keep the humidity around the roots. The clay pots were so heavy and never allowed me to see how the roots were doing.

[james mickelso]

I second basket type pots. Too many of us have trouble growing orchids simply because of watering issues. Mainly too much water and not enough air movement through the media. Wet roots equals rot. Though I grow in clay when I can find shallow enough pots, baskets are the way to go especially if you are a cronic overwaterer.

[Laserbeak]

It depends on the type of orchid. I like wooden baskets for epiphytes, but they're not good for terrestrials like Paphs and Phrags which need a finer almost regular potting soil-like medium to grow in. I usually use clay riddled with holes for them.

[james mickelso]

good point though most other common orchids like a fast draining media. by common I mean what most of use can find locally.

[nlm2951]

Thanks for your comments. I have a good air movement, in my GH I have a fan, but I have to water more, specially that I use lava rocks, charcoal and leca.