Visually pleasing potting

[tinabee]

I have seen in another forum someplace photos of orchids being grown in glass containers without drain holes drilled into the side, and to be quite honest, the plant looked very healthy. Not to mention, the orchid looked nicer in the glass container than a standard plastic one.

How necessary are the drain holes, and if they are needed, how do you drill glass safely without breaking the container?

[Tarad]

Well first you would need to be concerned about water collecting at the bottom of the glass container. In order to do that you could not water completely only so far and with that said you would have to water more often, because you are not thoroughly soaking. Some mist heavily in this case. I feel this would be very difficult, and why make things harder than they need to be for looks. I agree though it does look cool to have an orchid in glass. I know nothing about drilling glass. Again just my opinion and I am not a big risk taker, so I would no tpersonally go fo ran orchid in a glass container unless you have the time for the work it would take. Tara

[kmarch]

If you look around the forum here and see the orchids grown in glass containers you'll see they are being grown hydroponically. This growing technique is very different than the conventional technique using clay or plastic pots with drainage holes and a bark mix. When using the conventional technique, good drainage is essential for most epiphytic orchids. An organic orchid medium + roots + sitting in stagnant water = dead roots and disaster. The hydroponic technique uses expanded clay pellets which do not decay, and clean water. So to answer your question about how necessary the drainage holes are: If you are growing using a conventional technique, they are a must. If you are growing hydroponically, they are not needed.

[LouisW]

Im still a little skeptical of the orchids sitting in a jar of water. I would like to see a well grown plant with multiple growths before ill be convinced. Untill then I highly recommend that you have drainage.

For those of us who grow Semi-Hydroponically we usually use plastic pots with holes near the bottom. For that method check out Jays explanation. Its on a sticky thread called 'S/H method explained' (I think)

[Tarad]

Louis and Kevin...I have seen photos of orchids in the bark in a glass container and looked up how they were caring for them. It is almost entirely with heavy misting, but as you I would not recommend this way to display an orchid nor care for them, way too risky.

[LunaMoth]

before purchasing my phals, i looked up alot of potting info for them, i know alot of people recommend the clear plastic pots...but for my decor that's a sore eye, i was thinking about glass pots, kinda like small fish bowls, and instead of watering my bark, i could just soak it, so water does not build up in the bowl, and at the same time, expose the roots and have some damp orchid moss to lightly cover them and the roundness of the bowl would keep moisture in, im thinking of doing this anyways, but if anyone has any reasonable objections as to why i shouldn't, please kindly share, i cant bare the thought of killing my honeys because their pots are ugly

[Phalcycle]

I don't fully understand what your proposed method is.
My understanding is that you would like to plant your phalaenopsis orchid in glass bowls, for decor purposes. This is definately okay, as long as you are careful not to overwater. I would suggest though, that the glass container have drainage holes, to prevent root rot.

What do you mean by "instead of watering my bark, i could just soak it, so water does not build up in the bowl, and at the same time, expose the roots and have some damp orchid moss to lightly cover them and the roundness of the bowl would keep moisture in" ?

Are you suggesting that everytime you water, you would have to take the phal out of the glass bowl, and soak it, and then re-plant it into the glass bowl?
That, would be a little stressful for the plant if so.
They (their roots) don't want to be disturbed that often.

If you want a more appealing look, try pot-covers. Buy decorative ceramic or glass pots, and then instead of planting it in the pot, place the whole orchid plant with the plastic pot into the glass one. This will be easier to water, and leave the plant stress free from root damage.

[krpot]

yeah....i tried that... lol.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by LunaMoth

...i was thinking about glass pots, kinda like small fish bowls, and instead of watering my bark, i could just soak it, so water does not build up in the bowl, and at the same time, expose the roots and have some damp orchid moss to lightly cover them and the roundness of the bowl would keep moisture in, ...

I wouldnt' do this. Wet bark and roots with no drainage or aeration of any kind is a recipe for rotten roots. If you insist you must have glass bowls/vases/pots check out the threads here on the forum on how to grow orchids hydroponically in LECA. There is a method by which epiphytic orchids are grown in LECA (inorganic expanded clay pellets) in water.

If you want to grow in bark, then grow them in ordinary plastic orchid pots and just set the entire pot inside a decorative pot.

It's possible to have various types of decorative pots and things - and many forum members here have successfully found (and posted about) decorative options, but of course the first priority has to be providing the plant with the conditions it requires.

[Tarad]

I understand you want a better looking pot but as others will tell you it looks cool but it is not a good way to keep an orchid happy. It will not like it. If you can figure out how to put drainage holes in the glass container, maybe, but I doubt that an orchid would stay happy for long.

[shaz]

you can get some really pretty decorative pots.

I have loads - all black, red and orange, all big enough to leave some space around the clear orchid pot.

Using them means I can have them around the house looking pretty and fitting in even when not in flower and I can remove them, swap them round, flush them out when watering...none of which you could to with a glass bowl. I know glass is pretty though - that is how I used to keep all my cacti.

[celt]

I wanted to share something i posted in a different thread. I used the bottom half or so of a 2 liter coke bottle. I just made sure there were plenty of holes in it for drainage. I have 2 pots in particular that are tall and the plastic pop bottle piece fits in really nicely. I get to watch my roots but display the plants nicely too.
Deirdre

[dash3echo]

I agree.Orchid pots can look pretty ugly. I'm gonna post twice b/c i can't post pics or links until i've posted the 5 times. And this is the fifth...

BUT, i think the LECA in glass bowls looks better than anything else i've seen. I picked the bowls up at IKEA. There is a slight drawback in the fact that the glass bowl makes the 'semi hydro' method a little more difficult (b/c you're supposed to have a drainage hole). If you're in a place that has a high humidity, i donno that you would want to do this, but where I am in central Canada, the air is dry. I put about a half inch of water into the bowl at night, and by the next night it's generally gone. I water every second or third day. See next post for pics. I've only had them like this for a month or so, but the plants seem happier than they did before.

[dash3echo]

Here's my flickr account with a few other pics of my semi hydro... tho' lots of the semi hydro containers are not as nice
Flickr: dash3echo's Photostream

[dash3echo]

Cattleya sp.


Laelia Tenebrosa


Cattleya Guttata

Semi Hydro - a set on Flickr

Excuse the grainy pics. I took them at night with my iPhone. BUT, with regards to planting orchids semi hydro w/ LECA in glass bowls... as long as you have large pellets, and you allow the bowl to dry out every couple days, you should be fine. These are newly potted. But i've done this with another Cattleya in a large open-mouth terracotta pot for 2 years. The air is dry here, which may be of importance... I find that growing orchids in bark is frustrating b/c the bark dries too much too soon and the water here is very hard so I cannot just run them under the tap to water.

Anyway, I'll post pics again in the future once these bloom and produce new growths. As of now, the bulbs have all plumped up compared to a month ago, and there are new roots starting on the two on the window ledge. I have a feeling the Tenebrosa, and the Guttata will take a while to aclimatize as they were from Ecuador/ecuagenera

[kmarch]

dash3echo, how many years/months have you been growing these orchids like this?

[dash3echo]

Those are recent transplants (since jan '10). I have an old Cat and a Dendrobium Farmerii that's been growing similar for the last two years, but in terracotta... the terracotta dries out fast so i have to let the pots stand in water. The advantage to the glass is that it'll hold the water a little longer, which means the i can water slightly ess frequently, and the hydro balls will be a little more saturated with water.


Dend. Farmeri


Dend. Farmeri


BLC 'Far Island'


BLC 'Far Island'

[maiseymoo]

tinabee I agree that plastic pots don't always look the best but they are the best for the orchid and their roots. When I am displaying an orchid in flower I move it it from my growing windowsill and put the plastic pot inside a decorative pot and they seem to stand this whilst in bloom, once it is over I take it out of the decorative pot.
On drilling glass, I asked my dad to drill some holes in a glass container as I had the same idea, to put them in s/h in glass but he got carried away and put holes in the side (all the way up) and the bottom so it can of defeated the object, I think he just used a very small drill for a pilot hole and worked his way up the holes were about 8mm, but on some of them you could see where the glass had started to crack.

dash3echo I have some of my phals in s/h and most of the reading I did on that suggested that the pots should have holes about an inch from the bottom of the pot for draining/flushing and air flow, all my s/h pots have holes in and they seem to be doing well.

[dash3echo]

Catt. Sp. Semi Hydro


yes, i have some in standard s/h too, with the hole in the side and a constant level of water in below the hole. I just think the plastic containers aren't the best for contemporary design...they're ugly. If you were to use the glass bowls, you'd want to let them dry out between waterings and fill no more than about 3/4 of an inch depending on where the roots end. But leaving the roots of something like a phal, or cattleya in well airerated water for a day, won't cause any problems; it's the anerobic conditions that cause problems, as well as roots that are left in stagnant water for extended periods of time. There's a chance i'm wrong... but the other orchids i have in the terracotta pots did well except that the terracotta dried out too fast, and so far, any of the plants i've planted this way have done better than they did before.