Hmm What Pots to use with what medium

[Julez]

G'day All

Okay you have all confused me more than I was. I have been reading and re-reading all about what you use or not use and now I dont have a clue.

Being in Aus and growing mostly Dendrobium with 4 Dockrillia, 2 Phalaenopsis
what do I use.

In the past I have used a commercial orchid mix and a slow release food. Now there's cork, spag, coir,small, med and large bark, charcoal, tree fern, mesh pots, clear pots, hanging wire, wire pots, wood baskets, bush moss, mesh trays, compost, shuttle tray, mounts, perlite to name just a few.
Please enlighten me oh wise ones.

Tia

[kmarch]

There's no "should" when it comes to what pots you use with what mixes. It's whatever combination of pot and mix give your orchid the conditions they require. So some of my Dockrilla are in plastic baskets in a bark-coir mix, some of them are mounted. Most of my Dendrobiums are in a medium bark/perelite/coir/charcoal mix in plastic pots. I like plastic pots better because they dry out more slowly than clay. My solitary phalaenopsis is in a plastic pot, potted in my own paph mix. All of my orchids which are potted are potted in plastic pots. So whatever helps you give your orchid what it wants is what you use. The needs of the orchid will not change, but the method you use (pot type, mix, watering frequency, etc) will. That's why so many people have so many different solutions. They've all managed to come up with what works best for them.

[Andrew]

I grow my Dendrobiums either outside or in a shadehouse in Melbourne. I use plastic port pots or capillary pots for most of my Australian Dendrobiums. I only use terracotta pots for species that don't like wet feet as I find terracotta dries out faster than I can water in Melbourne summers. I'm currently using equal parts orchid bark, graded coir chips and scoria. I changed over from 2 parts bark to 1 part scoria a few years ago. Both work well but I get better root growth with a bit of coir in the mix.

Dockrillia will grow well potted in the same mix but I prefer to mount them, purely for aesthetic reasons. I mount them on cork or weathered wood but I find the latter is quite suceptible to borer attack. I'm not a fan of treefern for natives. I prefer to use bushmoss as I don't like the way sphagnum behaves for me on a mount (if it's not sopping wet it's bone dry and unwettable).

I'll leave it to others to give advice on growing Phals. I'm mainly interested in Australian orchids so the only Phal I grow is rosenstromii (in coir chips).

[Hummer344]

I will apply a rose saying to orchids. If you get 10 orchid growers together, they will have 11 opinions on what to plant orchids in.
The original saying was the following about pruning roses: If you get 10 rosarians together you will get 11 opinons on how to prune.

[Julez]

Thanks Hummer344 I have to agree with you there!
Maybe I should have asked what do you prefer to use here in Melb?

As kmarch said "They've all managed to come up with what works best for them." and I guess thats what I have to do too. Thank you kmarch for your wisdom.

Andrew; "I'll leave it to others to give advice on growing Phals". The only reason I have them is they were gifts from my sons for Mothers day.
I appreciate you telling me your " potting mix recipe" as I am planning to get supplies and pick up my new orchids this week.


Its 12.18pm and it has just bucketed down with hail stones so look out Melbourne its heading your way.

Thanks again

[berniep]

G'Day Julez

Afraid I don't experiment much at all, when needed I buy a bale of compressed coconut husks, (available nurseries) perlite, small amount of charcoal and broken up polystyrene the size of peanuts (greengrocers white boxes).
Bale goes in wheelbarrow and soaks 10 hours or so (expands to 80 litres).
Good layer of styro for drainage and aeration, then mixture in plastic pots to fit plants. I cut down plastic pots if too deep and try and keep them shallow.
One does all only difference is watering and feeding for different types and different spots in shadehouse (shade, humidity, heat etc.)
This seems to work for me.

Cheers
Bernie

[Andrew]

Julez,

Invariably most people growing Dendrobiums in Melbourne use some type of bark or coir chip based mix often with something else added to open the mix up for better drainage. Whatever mix you decide to use, make sure the ingredients are easy to obtain and preferably available from several sources. Comparing the mix Kevin uses to mine, I don't think there is much difference in the water holding capacity and drying time of either mix, despite the different ingredients. Both mixes should work well if you're growing your Dendrobiums outside in Melbourne and the ingredients are cheap and easy to get hold of.

RE: the Phal's. My reason for not growing Phals is because they need heat. I make an exception for Phal rosenstromii because it's native but I'm not the kind of native nut that uses the word "exotic" as a slur. I just don't have enough experience with them to warrant giving an opinion.

[domresvanis]

For Dendrobiums and Dockrillias seedlings I use 3 parts of pine bark(mini or small ), 1 part fine charcoal , 1 part perlite(usually 0.5 cm) and 1 part of scoria(0.5 cm) in plastic pots.After 1 or 2 years I like to mount all of my Dockrillias on tree fern but not all of my Dendrobiums.If you decide to mount them you have to water them much more than when you keep them in plastic pots.

[11Orchid126]

What everyone is saying is that you should learn the properties of each of the mix ingredients. Then you should assess your needs. Do the plants you raise need lots of water? Do they like to get wet and then dry out completely? Do they want to stay mostly dry? Mostly damp? Based on your answers, you can make a mix accordingly.
Or you can start out using someone else's suggestions.

Then monitor your plants closely and carefully. Mix not working so good? Make an adjustment or a complete change. Keep at it until you're happy and the plants are happy.

Yes, it's a lot of work and not a quick fix. Everyone on the forum can say they did their share of poor growing, but it's a learning process. But that's the fun of growing!